Hacker News Reader

Comment by jychang | Hacker News Reader

It's hell in winter to get to Reno via 80 though. The highway can close a lot.

I'm not sure about the rail lines, but I can imagine a lot of delays in infrastructure in winter either way. At least for a Fremont-LA line, you won't hit those snags in winter.

View on HN

I would joke about adding a hyperloop between Reno and the Bay Area :-) Actually rail is pretty reliable through there, more so than the highway.

I know here in Canada rail is far more reliable in winter than highway. Raised rail lines tend to stay clear of snow build up. Snow on the rails isn't a big issue, its more the build up that bottoms out the train.

I doubt these will be being shipped by truck given the quantities we're dealing with. I also would not doubt an improvement in the infrastructure for a corporation bringing 6500 jobs and $5bn into the economy.

The rails along that route (encompassing Donner Pass) are better than raised, they're roofed. It was brutal work, part of the original transcontinental line.

There's a really cool snowblower train that plies Donner Pass between Sacramento and Reno:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItdRfvYHPAY

"Cool" is the word to describe it, especially in the middle of all that snow.

There's an example of that kind of rail-clearing engine in Skagway, Alaska. I saw it there just over a month ago. That snow machine isn't used anymore--an historic museum piece on exhibit--but close up it is impressive.

Maybe they'll finally start running Capitol Corridor trains to Reno? That would be lovely in the winter for heading up to Tahoe for skiing...

I-80 is hell in winter seemingly everywhere. In south eastern Wyoming there are permanent gates in many spots, so they can just swing the gate shut and close the interstate. That's how often it closes up there.

If it's really urgent, I'm sure Tesla could commandeer Musk's Dassault Falcon 900.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com