All Aboard Florida riders could drink beer under new bill

Legislation that would allow beer to be sold and consumed on All Aboard Florida train cars and at its stations cleared a Senate panel on Wednesday.

The Regulated Industries Committee OK’d the bill (SB 698) without objection.

The train provisions were added as an amendment by committee Chairman Rob Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican. He mentioned All Aboard Florida by name as he explained the new “railroad transit station” language.

The proposed private passenger-rail system, which would connect Orlando to West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, is set to start running next year.

It’s been the subject of bitter opposition, as Fortune magazine recently put it, “by a coalition of quiet communities along the route who question its safety, its impact on quality of life, and the ethics and motivation behind its financing.”

Also, “All Aboard Florida has some advantages in getting up to speed — it’s a sister company of Florida East Coast Railway, a freight rail shipper that will share its rails and right of way with AAF,” the magazine said.

The legislation also helps the state’s theme parks, volume users of beer kegs.

Instead of charging certain customers a deposit on each individual keg bought, distributors could set up an “inventory and reconciliation process” in which buyers would pay up once or twice a year based on what they used.

Theme parks use thousands of kegs a year, and having to keep track of each deposit has proved an administrative nightmare.

The bill next heads to the Senate’s Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government. A House companion hasn’t yet gotten a hearing.

 

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More About Ogdensburg NY ….. New Pictures Too

Ogdensburg has always  fascinated me.

First we wrote about the three railroads and the car ferry in Ogdensburg.

Then we  wrote about the bridge that killed the car ferry.

Then we wrote about the fabled “Rutland Milk” that started in Ogdensburg on it’s long journey to New York City.

Along the way, we built a WebSite about the route from Ogdensburg to Dekalb Junction.

Ogdensburg car ferry

Lots of locomotives in Ogdensberg

Lots of rail cars too.

Lots of switching

Even more switching

Yes, they have Winter there!

Even a D&H coal car

Lot of Canadian cars going home

Yes, quite a collection for a place that today only has a short line operated by the Ogdensburg Bridge & Port Authority.

 

Integration In The B2B World

Let’s have some fun with math. What EDI translator does your company use? For that matter, what ERP, 3PL, or other service is on your short list? Next, how many trading partners do you have? And finally, what EDI, ERP, and other electronic systems do they use? It doesn’t really matter whether you have the answers to these questions. What you would get even if you use the smallest estimates available is a very large number of permutations. How is it possible then to maintain compatibility and also keep up with the accelerated pace of today’s supply chain?
Fortunately translating one trading partner’s EDI transactions into the formats your company uses is controllable. That’s not to say it’s simple and doesn’t require constant attention, but the tools have been honed to the point that daily operations move ahead without too much problem. But the processes still need handholding and manual intervention to assure every document processes correctly.

That’s fine for the external transaction exchange process. But today’s pace of business more often requires information that’s held within the company’s ERP. Information like quantities on hand in inventory, manufacturer pipeline timing, advanced cost analysis, and all the things that go toward making your products available to your customers.

Read more: http://www.ec-bp.com/index.php/articles/editors-blog/11423-integration-in-the-b2b-world#ixzz3yQB6kZof

2nd Avenue Subway Not Only Delay In New York City

When it comes to major infrastructure projects in New York City, delays are almost expected. Yes, we  have talked about the Second Avenue Subway a lot, but here are some more.

 

World Trade Center Transportation Hub

The grandiose, controversial project was originally scheduled to be open for service in 2009. With some luck it will open in the first half of 2016.

East Side Access

The East Side Access, the project that will bring the Long Island Rail Road into Grand Central Terminal, was originally budgeted for $4.3 billion with an opening date of 2009. As of now, the real cost appears to be more than $10 billion with a September 2023 opening date.

34th Street – Hudson Yards

When the MTA awarded construction for the Hudson Yards on October 2007, the 7 Train extension was supposed to have two stations and a summer 2012 opening date for the expected Olympic Games. New York City wasn’t awarded the games, and then the problems began. Mostly it was with the inclined elevator, but then the proposed station at 10th Avenue was nixed. The station finally opened on September 2015.

Fulton Center

The transit center, which makes changing stations for the 2, 3, 5, A, C and J trains much prettier, was to open in 2008. It included the very impressive Sky Reflector-Net, a series of mirrors to provide natural lighting to the main concourse. Fulton Center finally opened in November 2014, but soon thereafter several brand-new escalators stopped working.

Raising of the Bayonne Bridge

The plan to raise the bridge between Staten Island and New Jersey some 65 feet is central to the plans of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to expand the ports. The higher clearance would allow for bigger and taller container vessels to access Port Newark and the Elizabeth — Port Authority Marine Terminal. Once again a harsh winter was blamed, and a project originally slated to finish by mid-2016 is now scheduled to wrap up by late 2017. It is tied into new expansion of the Panama Canal (also late).

Randall’s Island Connector

When first proposed in 2006, it seemed like a great idea for a small project — a short bridge and footpath through government-owned land. But then things got complicated, since private companies were using the land and the railroad crossing became almost state of the art. After a summer of delays, the connector opened in November 2015.

The High Bridge

The reopening of the High Bridge as a pedestrian and bicycle crossing of the Harlem River seemed fairly simple. It was basically retrofitting an existing walkway (built in 1848 and closed to foot traffic in the 1970s), adding a chain link fence, handicap-access and a bike lane. And yet the opening was pushed from 2009 to June 2015, the Parks Department cited along the way “brutal” winter weather and “unanticipated factors.”

One World Trade Center

After the Sept 11, 2001, terror attacks, there were a few years delay before the David Childs design of the new One World Trade Center was approved. The open date slipped from 2008 to its official opening date of November 2014. The observation deck opened six months later.