I'm too lazy to look it up, but I read an article years ago where they took a skull that had been 3d printed off of scans, plugged the holes that would have been blocked by tissue, and blew air through it. They immediately got sounds, so it was definitely shaped as a resonating chamber.

r/theyknew

And all I hear from bnsf is crickets.

Man, I just had a piece of upside down cake for the first time in 20 years a couple weeks ago, then you tempt me with that...

It's not a story about DID, but a super-version version where it changes him physically too. Glass, the third movie, explains it more.

Ruskyn.

Yeah, I'm assuming all former soviet bloc use the same gauge.

If a country is a potential enemy, you don't want to have the same rail gauge because then an invading force can use your rail to move military supplies straight from home territory during an invasion.

Spain still runs (or at least the last time I was there) on a separate gauge from the rest of Europe, a holdover from wwii era.

Also interesting is that it is ok if they are just a bit over standard gauge, but bad if they are under, so they erred on the too wide side.

It would be a pain in the ass compared to the old days. You couldn't pre-spike because rail on wooden ties ride on tie plates, which you couldn't place until the old one is removed. Many sections of rail also use concrete ties, which have pre installed anchors for tie clips that secure the rail to the tie, meaning you would have to replace every concrete tie. Ribbon rail means you can't do small sections, youbhave to completely free the rail several yards ahead of your work and pull it over with machine assistance, instead of just picking up a 25ft section of jointed rail.

Both of them, and more. All class 1 railroads operate with members of the same unions. Right now the members of smart and the blet are voting on whether or not to accept the contract. It's mainly a threaten to strike over access to reasonable time off for things like doctors appointments. I just had to cancel a doctor's appointment that was scheduled 2 months ago because it would have taken toonmany of my "points" to make it. Wages aren't the sticking point for our union.

Source: I am a SMART member and just voted the other day.

I came here to say the same.

I know from personal experience that fatigue is just something we are expected to work through now. I had a call this week while I was in the hotel where when I got in I was showing to work on my rest. Got some good sleep, ready to go, check the boards, it fell back 3 hours. Ok, that's fine. Check the board 3 hours later, it fell back 5 hours. Hmm, better get a nap. Woke up from my nap and it had fallen back 9 more. I was all slept out so I stayed up and would try to get another nap later before I was called. 6 hours later right as I closed my eyes, the phone rang. But I got more than 10 hours off, so I was "rested."

There are no hours, it's 24/7, no scheduled days off. You are on call to go out of town for a minimum of 36 hours. You are guaranteed 10 hours of uninterrupted rest at your home after a shift, but you are fair game after that, and for the past few years it is not uncommon to work on your rest.

Paycheck is great, rest of the job can be good, but has had most of the good parts worn away over the years.

Yeah, it's frustrating because this used to be a great job, and the changes that have led to this were all pushed through by the companies in the pursuit of the highest possible margins.

In the past we had a choice between a few jobs, boards that were known to work a lot, but you made a lot accordingly, or you could give up some of that to work a more predictable job. If you took a day off from that predictable job there was a large disincentive because you were effectively cutting your paycheck for that period by 1/4. Now that everyone works all the time as soon as they are available, that disincentive went away and people took more time for their mental and personal health, so the companies pushed these policies through to severely limit our ability to manage our time.

They can't keep new employees, a huge portion are lost during training, and the few that make it through usually don't last a year, when it used to be a career position.

If they reverted policies to those that were in place 5 or 6 years ago, all of this strike shit would go away.

This is pretty much spot on from the trainmen side of things. On bnsf we have gone to a points based system for time off. To earn 4 points, you have to stay marked up (available and on call 24/7) for 14 days straight. I took a day yesterday and it cost me 8 points, meaning I had to be available 28 days straight before I earned the right to take a day off to go to the doctor without penalty. I hit 160 hours for the month on the 21st, while taking all the rest I am allowed. I know other people that were over 200 3 days ago on the 22nd.

Nobody talks about the raise because it is essentially a cola increase, tied to inflation.