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For my inaugural post in the Trains category:

Pioneer Press | 04/21/2003 | COMMUTER RAIL: Crucial test for Northstar

Supporters have been making the same arguments as Cassady for years, but recently employed a respected economist who determined commuter rail was the best option for dealing with congestion along U.S. 10 and Interstate 94. Commuter rail would carry 5,000 people daily, equivalent to about 1? lanes of traffic. Building and running commuter rail would cost $502 million over 15 years, while the cost to build and maintain another lane to St. Cloud exceeds $1 billion.

I am hopeful about this commuter rail line, but we will need to convince short-sighted people (like our current Govenor) that rail is an essential component for solving traffic problems.

I’m not sure how people so completely lacking vision get into office:

“Invest in roadways everyone can use 24 hours a day rather than commuter rail that would operate limited hours a day,” said Mayor Gary Kirkeide.

Hey Gary, the traffic at 3am isn’t really the problem, is it? More like the gridlock at 6pm. The line, at it’s initial service estimate, would carry 5,000 people daily, which is equivalent to adding one and a half lanes of traffic. So what is more cost effective? Adding more lanes that are only needed for a few hours a day. Or adding commuter rail that is only utilized when it is needed?

Time for the second oil change.. first I’ve ever done. (bought him with 6,956mi) From here on out, it’s oil changes every 10,000 miles. Pretty amazing, eh?

The sky was clear and the roads were fast for our trip to welch village today. 85 miles round trip, and smiles were on our faces as we carved up the turns leading down to welch. (and then we carved up some turns at Welch!)

I washed him up afterwards, since I had to show him off a bit at work tomorrow, so here’s a pic when he’s all nice and clean:

Well, some of you may have been wondering what the big news was. We’re not having a baby. But we did get a new car. It’s the culmination of about 3 years of research, followed by a frantic week of the old explorer dying (more or less) and me searching the 7-state area for a TDI.

For those that aren’t familiar, the TDI is VW’s Diesel engine in North America. It’s 1.9L and makes 90hp at 3750RPM, but it makes 155ft-lbs of torque at 1900 RPM. So it’s a little beast down low.

The other awesome thing about it is the mileage. Fuel Mileage. (Can’t say gas mileage anymore, cause it runs on diesel) I reset the gauge when I picked up the car today (so I’m not sure if it was totally full or not), but on our trip home today, 169 miles, we got 39.2mpg.

I can’t say enough about the car, I’m very excited. There are tons of cool features. (like the daytime running lights that turn on when you release the parking brake). But also, lots of practical things, compared to the explorer. For example, Sonja and I can have a normal conversation at 75 miles per hour. The sunroof doesn’t whistle when you hit a crosswind, etc.

Anyways, like a geek, I have a spreadsheet to keep track of the mileage. Also like a geek I’m going to go get the owner’s manual and read through that.

I’d also like to say, I purchased the car from Eich Motor Co. in St. Cloud, and they were awesome. I worked with Kirk Winkler, and he did an excellent job of keeping me up to date, giving me a fair price, answering all my questions, etc.He even gave me his cell phone #, which he answered while he was home sick with the flu. Awesome.

Well, if anyone is looking for a 92 Explorer, 5 speed, give me an email. I’ll hook you up. Runs good, clean.