XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science   
   From: dtravel@sonic.net   
      
   On 2/2/2014 5:15 PM, J. Clarke wrote:   
   > In article , john@jfeldredge.com   
   > says...   
   >>   
   >> On Sun, 02 Feb 2014 16:00:22 -0500, J. Clarke wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> In article ,   
   >>> droleary@8usenet2013.subsume.com says...   
   >>>>   
   >>>> In article ,   
   >>>>   "John F. Eldredge"  wrote:   
   >>>>   
   >>>>> On Fri, 31 Jan 2014 23:42:51 -0800, David Friedman wrote:   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>> On 1/30/14, 1:30 PM, Leszek Karlik wrote:   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> Rapid rail is pretty nice in densely populated countries, which I   
   >>>>>>> guess is why China is so keen on it.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> China as a whole isn't that densely populated, although parts of it   
   >>>>>> may be--it has a large population but also a large area. Its   
   >>>>>> population density is about 2/3 that of Germany, a little over half   
   >>>>>> that of the U.K.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> However, the eastern part, particularly the southeast, is VERY   
   >>>>> densely populated, and therefore well suited to rail traffic.  The   
   >>>>> northwest, by contrast, is mostly scantily-settled desert.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> People need to stop confusing cause and effect.  Trains don't only   
   >>>> start making sense *after* a population has exploded, but they were   
   >>>> often the *reason* the masses could get to far off lands in the first   
   >>>> place!  Any country that still has an interest in mobility that scales   
   >>>> is *not* going to go car-centric, self-driving or not.   
   >>>   
   >>> Please provide an example of "far off lands" that were settled _because_   
   >>> of trains.   
   >>   
   >> Well, parts of the western USA would qualify, but in large part because   
   >> trains were the only mechanized overland transportation available at the   
   >> time.   
   >   
   > Which parts of the western USA were settled primarily by train and not   
   > by horse and wagon?   
   >   
   Settled by a few or settled by the masses?   
      
   --   
   The 'Enterprise' crew in the 2009 Star Trek are adrenaline addicted,   
   hyper-active teenagers with ADD whose Ritalin got replaced with   
   methamphetamine, displaying a level of discipline that a Somali pirate   
   wouldn't tolerate.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)