Railroad tracks don’t work like roads. They were almost entirely built and operated privately by companies until the 1970s when passenger rail collapsed and the federal government bought it at deep discount and gradually sold off a great deal of what was left. In fact, most of the rail amtrak uses is not owned by Amtrak, it’s leased from companies like CSX and Norfolk Southern.

Amtrak can’t simply use it because its there, and passenger trains have plenty of their own requirements due to differing safety standards. It’s unlikely that using these tracks is feasible.

You said it yourself, it’s not working properly. These landlords will tell you to turn on the oven and leave the door open for heat while they’re comfortable at home taking your money. If they’re hurting because you need a repair they need to reevaluate their life choices and probably pick up a second jobs

For real though. It’s not working right then it’s broken. You aren’t getting full heat therefore the furnace isn’t working correctly and if the furnace is not working correctly then it is in fact not working, regardless at what capacity if it is fully working it isn’t fully working.

I don’t doubt there will be a minor disagreement when it’s all said and done but you have the law on your side. You’re paying the repair yourself, the same way as if the landlord would have paid it.

NOW saying that I almost guarantee you that the landlord will hit you some bs like “I could have gotten it done cheaper I won’t accept that.” Tell him to get bent and he should have taken care of it when you first said something. At this point get a lawyer. The cost for the lawyer will be repaid if this gets dragged out. If it does drag out withhold rent in a escrow account at your bank/credit union. Nothing will hurt more than “nonpayment” don’t let them fool you though the escrow hold is more than legal. Don’t sign anything from the landlord from the repair point on without a lawyer.

> touchless washes so you don’t have to worry about your paint

Brushes may not touch your car, but the pressure coming out of those water jets often worries me too.

Something tells me those hanging cloth strips are less harmful to your paint than 40000 psi water jets.

> Was there every any serious discussion of doing this

Is there any serious data to support that there is enough demand to pay for it using fares?

Agreed. The main challenge there would be needing to work with Norfolk Southern since they own lines outside of the North Shore Railroad Company & Affiliates' control between the Susquehanna Valley and Scranton 😕

That’s what the lawyer said - but our furnace is still heating up the unit, just not as well as it should + the inducer motor is broken. Does this change anything bc we still technically have heat? I just pulled up my original service request and saw that they put a note “there is nothing to be done to the heater at this time”. Obviously they just don’t want to fix it.

There is some history behind Amtrak. Passenger rail used to be privately owned and operated but after wwii and the buildout of interstate highways, the government took over the remains of failing routes in 1971 to create Amtrak. Few new routes have been created since then. A short out and back route from Tyrone would be logistically difficult and expensive to operate. Recently, Joe Biden, a huge advocate for trains, allocated $100 billion for expansions but that doesn’t include many long routes. Instead it focuses on creating short commuter routes to large cities. This may build support for future longer routes but those are likely at least a couple decades in the future. The nyc to Scranton route could be the beginnings of a nyc Scranton williamsport state college Pittsburgh route in the distant future. Also the congressman from that area was chair of the transportation committee and interstate 99 was his life long pet project

Contact Amtrak and ask them.

Make the repair, save all related invoices/receipts/quotes everything related to the repair. Call codes while doing this, they’re going to want to know before any repairs. Then make copies of all relevant paperwork and when you pay rent next provide rent payment minus any cost related to fixing the furnace. Furnish the copies of the repair work. Tell them if the don’t want the rent payment you will hold it and get a lawyer.

To answer your point about being worthy of study, hearsay and circumstantial evidence doesn’t seem to be enough for scientific research into the matter. If it were, you better believe there would be droves of studies and researchers out looking and finding the evidence out there. The notoriety alone would be enough motivation for some but the mostly finding an unknown bipedal human like ape in our backyard would be groundbreaking. It hasn’t happened. Why not?

The dream would be a line all the way up the Susquehanna valley to Scranton.

I guess they are trying to claim it was a large print that looked like a shoe but no treads. That really isn’t the best argument. Shit like moccasins exist.

I wouldn’t exactly classify a furnace as an appliance in the same fashion as a stove or fridge. You can live without either of those but a furnace means the difference between life and death in the winter.

In PA critical repairs must occur within 24 hrs of notifying property management/landlord. Heating is considered critical so it doesn’t matter what the lease says about it.

Okay, so I will be referring to this map

Surprisingly, Norfolk Southern does NOT own the rails connecting Tyrone to State College.

Instead, there appears to be one company, one Municipal Authority, and one non-profit organization we would need to work with to make this a reality.

First, there is the Nittany & Bald Eagle Railroad which is an arm of The North Shore Railroad Company & Affiliates (NSRC)

Secondly, there is the Susquehanna Economic Development Association -Council of Governments Joint Rail Authority (SEDA-COG JRA) that appears to own the tracks.

Finally, there is the Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society

Now: it would take some doing, but SEDA-COG is an association where the board of directors are elected officials. Meaning, the rails are publicly owned and it looks like the NSRC has a close association with SEDA-COG (I will do some poking around to get more information about that.) But if SEDA owns the tracks, they are ultimately owned by residents meaning folks who live in the area can make requests.

Also, while we are thinking about it, we could even connect Lock Haven to the State College area as well as Tyrone. Even if we just start with game day, that could be helpful (this would need to cooperate with CATA, but that shouldn't be impossible)

So what would my next step be since they are refusing to make repairs to the furnace? I could submit another maintenance request but I doubt they will do anything. The only 2 things I can find in my lease that mentions repairs are 1) if I damage any appliance I am responsible for repairs (I didn’t damage the furnace, it was already damaged upon move in) and 2) The manager office is responsible for normal maintenance in your apartment.

Poor kid... It's impressive of course, but surely they could have found ways to nurture his intelligence while still giving him a normal childhood and college experience. What's he going to do when he graduates college? Get a real job at 13?

I notice how you completely ignore my point about it being something worthy of further study. We know a giant ape lived up until about 100,000 years ago and all we have to show for it is 4partial jawbones and some teeth. We’ve catalogued probably less than 1/4 of all species on the planet. Combine that with all the aforementioned evidence and it’s absolutely plausible that it exists and warrants further(read:any at all) study.

You don’t have to look into it, but if you do I think you might have more of an open mind about it.

The correct answers.

That was just me training in my ghillie suit. I spent more than a decade doing 20km patrols through the mountains of Afghanistan with 45kg on my back while being shot at by people who can't read and don't want to learn how.

There's plenty of need for a stop in Altoona. The transportation terminal is constantly busy. Tyrone on the other hand is not nor is Huntington. If they had a daily commuter from Altoona to State College would be ideal. A lot of people commute to SC for work.

Not gonna lie, you had me in the first half....

Socks cost more

"But I think the religious zealots are good for the economy despite all evidence" - a terrifying number of Americans

Plus Scotia, the current ghost town/shooting range, had a rail stop too up until the 40s/50s.

So larger than normal stride footprints with no shoe tread? Ok