Comments on: Guy re-creates a VIA Rail car, in his basement, down to the most minute detail

By: ocker3

ocker3 — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:09:00 +0000

I think you’re missing the point that he’s chosen a car style with quite comfortable seats and reconfigurable seating layouts, key to a good long distance journey experience. Fixed seats with thin cushions are the new norm, and they are Horrible for long distance journies. The phasing out of the old nice cars and replacement with crappy uncomfortable new ones is one reason I gave up my 20-hour weekly commute.

By: ocker3

ocker3 — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:05:00 +0000

The comfy seats remind me of the old ICE (Inter-City Express) trains they’ve phased out and replaced with modern suburban trains. Sure, they seat more people, but they’re Horrible for a 2-hour ride to outlying population centres.

By: cdnrailfan

cdnrailfan — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 00:41:00 +0000

he actually does travels on the real thing alot, i sort of know the guy and im a customer of his model train company as well, hes the biggest train nut i know…….

By: TheOven

TheOven — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 22:56:00 +0000

Which is the deal killer for me on a project like this. He’s taken the worst of the experience and left out the best. I wonder how much time he’s actually spent on trains. I suspect that if he had to commute on one of these for a couple hours a day, he might not have wanted one in his house quite so much.

By: TheOven

TheOven — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 22:54:00 +0000

And when he has a party, he puts anyone drunk enough to pass-out with their shoes on, in there. He just need to add some large HD screens outside the windows and something that rocks the train to complete the illusion.

By: euansmith

euansmith — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:21:00 +0000

This reminded me off those old drug-heavy Mission Impossible episodes where Phelps and co would shoot up some dictator with hallucinogens and imprison him in a mocked-up environment to get him to spill his deepest secrets. Of course, Barney would have to crawl through some sewers, because that’s what Barney always had to do. Never the Cinnamon. Never Willy. Always Barney.

Spiffing bit of work by this chap. Top hole.

By: Paul Renault

Paul Renault — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 16:34:00 +0000

It is different on the VIA cars. You could turn them around and sleep on ‘em, or play cards with friends. I kind of remember that there was a small number of tables available in each car that you could install between turned-around seats.

Travelling by train is one of the best ways to see Canada.

By: dragonfrog

dragonfrog — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 16:20:00 +0000

In the train that crosses Canada from the West coast to Toronto, the economy carriages have seats a bit more luxurious than those look. Most of the passengers in that train will be sleeping in their seats, so perhaps it makes sense to have more creature comforts.

By: Jonathan Roberts

Jonathan Roberts — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 16:18:00 +0000

They have rotating seats like that on Chinese carriages, but when you put them facing each other there’s no leg room at all – the idea is that all the seats get turned around when you reach the terminal, so you’re always facing forward. Is it different with those VIA cars, or did he just move them apart a bit?

By: Jake Rennie

Jake Rennie — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:02:00 +0000

There is a famous train sex scene in Risky Business. He’ll probably recruit a vagrant to come sit on the train with him and his wife while they do it.

By: DrDave

DrDave — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 14:24:00 +0000

One of my favorites is the F-Line in San Francisco, which uses vintage streetcars from SF itself, as well as other cities: New Orleans, Philadelphia, Blackpool, Melbourne, Milan, …
http://www.streetcar.org/streetcars/

By: Paul Renault

Paul Renault — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 13:37:00 +0000

4 1/2 years and 2,500 hours? So, 4 1/2 years plus another 100 days, or 2,500 hours over 4 1/2 years?

I wonder if his calendars are marked off in red, white, and blue days.

By: Halloween_Jack

Halloween_Jack — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 13:00:00 +0000

There’s a lot more info at http://www.kingstonsub.com/ including the answer to my immediate question: What kind of basement does this guy have that has room for a full-sized car from any railroad that ever existed? The answer: well, he really only built out a section of one car. (Still an impressive achievement, don’t get me wrong.)

By: James Agenbroad

James Agenbroad — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 12:23:00 +0000

I was thinking the same thing…But it’s probably worth waiting a few years for ginormous (because that’s a pretty big window) flatscreens to come down even further in price.

By: Glippiglop

Glippiglop — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 10:56:00 +0000

Amazing how childhood fantasies can shape the rest of our lives. And yet for some reason I still haven’t got around to building that working replica of Voltron yet. I guess I need a more understanding wife and a bigger basement.

By: Bevatron Repairman

Bevatron Repairman — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 10:56:00 +0000

There are tons and tons and some especially awesome ones in the Rocky Mountains (see, e.g., Durango & Silverton in Durango, CO), but they’re everywhere:

http://www.touristrailways.com/namerica/index.html

By: Symbiote

Symbiote — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 10:15:00 +0000

Are there any preserved/tourist railways in North America?

In the UK there are many, and most of them are operated by volunteers. They restore and maintain the old locomotives and carriages.

Last week was the 150th anniversary of the London Underground, and to celebrate that TfL ran a steam train along one of the oldest lines: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21003259 . The train and carriages were restored by volunteers at a preserved railway.

By: KimberlyClarke

KimberlyClarke — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 10:14:00 +0000

If you live anywhere near Lyme Regis, Dorset (UK) you can take a flight above, below and along the Jurassic Coast – and back in time to Pangea – in a rebuilt section of a Boeing 737 – https://www.youtube.com/user/JurassicEarthFest?feature=watch. It has the screens in all the windows, and thge shell moves enough (hydraulics) to really make you think and feel like you are taking off etc – especially when you accidentally hit a pterodactyl… It’s called Onboard, and it’s installed in the Jubilee Pavilion on Marine Parade at least until the end of March 2013. Hopefully it will also be extended and will still be there on 3-5 May, 2013 for ‘Coastal Treasures’, the 2013 Lyme Regis Fossil Festival http://www.fossilfestival.com

By: Rick Adams

Rick Adams — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 10:07:00 +0000

$10 says this is really just a weird sex thing.

By: ackpht

ackpht — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:54:00 +0000

Needs videos of scenery scrolling by playing on big flatscreens outside the windows- you could match the seasons.

By: ImmutableMichael

ImmutableMichael — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:49:00 +0000

If I wanted to see a stationary train underground I’d visit the tube in (insert city name here). *rimshot* Silence

By: taghag

taghag — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 07:55:00 +0000

all kinds of awesome! especially like the photo mural trompe l’oeil faking the next carriage. by the way, is it a first class carriage? those seats look awfully comfy…

By: Pierre-Andre Labeau

Pierre-Andre Labeau — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 07:41:00 +0000

You (Boing Boing and the train guy) made me smile despite a difficult Monday morning.
Thank You!

By: dragonfrog

dragonfrog — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 06:55:00 +0000

That is awesome! I stand in awe. He must indeed have a very tolerant wife.

By: nixiebunny

nixiebunny — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 06:08:00 +0000

He obtained actual VIA train carpet that was pre-urinated on, so he didn’t have to do any work to recreate THAT detail.

By: Nadreck

Nadreck — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 05:29:00 +0000

There was an episode of “The Avengers” (‘The Gravediggers’) back in the 60s where Steed and Mrs. Peel met a train boffin who’d built a complete railway car in his drawing room. Nice to see that someone’s actually done it now.

By: BarBarSeven

BarBarSeven — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 05:02:00 +0000

Are you about a size 14?

By: BarBarSeven

BarBarSeven — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 05:01:00 +0000

I also like the fact that there is the zinger of him being nice & asking for a VIA car seat when he was like 12 & being denied. Then years later? Dude scored parts for free before the thing was scraped! Awesome!

By: Heartfruit

Heartfruit — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 04:47:00 +0000

I’m rather afraid my husband might see this article. It wouldn’t be a VIA train, but I wouldn’t put it past him at all to build something crazy in the basement.

By: missamo80

missamo80 — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 04:18:00 +0000

He’s my cousin-in-law :D Way to go Jason!