#that’s not really a flashpoint vs something that can be more rationally discussed since it’s such a numerical/concrete thing

[catenary-chad]

something I want to flesh out eventually is how trains tend to be very cheap/thrifty in ways that are relatively antiquated and not as common in human society now. Execution and degree varies between places, lines, and “cultures” in general but a lot of them act like grandmas that lived through the Great Depression, reusing things into oblivion. And then you also get some that are genuinely lazy and only do the bare minimum because it actually is the most economically efficient in some systems in the US especially (some commuter lines do weird one-way trains and have them sit around until the rush hour crowd heads back home, Precision Scheduled Railroading in general)