Velo Vol 

Seeking-To-Steal-From-The-Tennessee-River State University Owls.

bampilot06

Fair enough, liked the way it looked.

WhyFi

Don't get me wrong - I like the way it looks, too. It's just that, good or bad, it looks very dated. And while I wouldn't buy it for that price, if I were the owner, I wouldn't change it - keep it all period correct so that the C&V guys can drool over it in 20 years.

Mojo31

The KCS constructed a 100 mile new rail project in southeast Texas. It was the longest new rail project in the US in over 100 years.
The project took much longer than anticipated. The contractor (Balfour Beatty Rail) sued the RR claiming $6 million in damages due to construction delays. The RR counter sued seeking a bit over $3 million in damages due to the contractor wasting ballast material during the construction. A lawyer I partner with on large cases and I tried the case in federal court, defeated the contractor’s claim and recovered the RR’s damages and attorney’s fees, and then won the appeal in the US Court of Appeals. We collected the entire award. The locomotive number is the judgment amount. Plus three zeros. And, the second car is a ballast car.

The KCS had those made and presented to us to commemorate the win.

Velo Vol 

Kudos. How/why did they waste ballast materials?

Mojo31

When they construct rail, the specs call for a certain amount of sub-ballast on the dirt bed, and then a spec’d amount of ballast above that and under the rail/ties. Also, the specs call for the ballast to be regulated so it doesn’t extend more than the spec’d distance from the sides of the rail. Beyond a certain distance outside the rail it does not support the rail or ties. Since the ballast to base slopes have to be engineered to properly support the track, it’s important that it is not spread too far out. On that project, the finished rail had sections where the ballast was too deep and where it extended too far out the sides. Thus, the ballast costs were more than they should have been. Once the ballast is spread on the ground it cannot be reclaimed or use due to soil and other contaminants. The RR paid about $3mm more for ballast than it should have had to. The rest was lawyer fees.

That’s the how. They why was poor construction methods and management.

hope that answers your question. It’s pretty complicated when you get into the details. The trial court judge wrote a 176 page opinion.

BillyD

Looks like a car full of gravel to me.

Mojo31

It is, but the gravel is granite about the size of tennis balls.

Velo Vol 

Was it basically a commercial contract case? Or were there unique quirks due to it being a railroad?

DougRNS

Inside the locker room of the mighty Owls before the inaugural season

The Owls nest

Mojo31

No railroad specific quirks. Basically a construction contract case. There was a pretty steep learning curve on the construction techniques and engineering aspects that are unique to track construction even though I’ve worked in the construction industry for about 30 years.

There are cases where federal law pre-empts state law and local ordinances, and those issues are unique to the RR industry. Have litigated those in federal court as well.

Velo Vol 

"The Owls"

Bah Humbug

It's like a decade-ago time capsule - Hudz, 10-speed Red, among the last unmatched third-party forks, and Mavic wheels with a million logos. However, it has all the bad stuff of that era, including wheels that I wouldn't want to own for free. It would look better if the seller fixed the white balance, but is overpriced even in the Covid era, by probably 3x.

bampilot06

Something I have noticed on craigslist in my area with all bikes. If the seller is asking more than 2000 it is probably not worth 1500. A lot of the time the highest priced bikes are the oldest. During the summer someone was trying to sell 10 year old trek time trial bike for 5000. He kept reposting it lowering the price. Last time I saw it for 400.

Bah Humbug

The exact same thing happens with used cars. I wonder what that R3 even cost new.

Velo Vol 

Winter sports have arrived.

phrantic09

Agree with this. Have actually been thinking about grabbing one.

bampilot06

are you going to participate?

Velo Vol 

Maybe some Arctic cycling. We'll see.

bampilot06

If you need glove recommendations I got you.

DougRNS

..
FIFY
I like to think of them as the Southern Fighting Irish O'wls

Velo Vol 

There's no "Mighty." They're mediocre owls.

Bah Humbug

Hmm... LPLO for me for the first time ever. Interesting.

#itscontagioustoo

LesterOfPuppets

Who wants to go look for the Utah obelisk?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...e-part-of-utah

bampilot06

slow day, everybody must be traveling for Thanksgiving.