There wasn't much reason to show myself before, but I figure I'm going to end up in random drone shots anyway, so I may as well make an occasional cameo. Plus, I may need to do a review of In N Out or Freddy's from time to time. :D
Agreed!!! Thanks for your videos, they are practically public service. Was watching for a couple months before I finally subscribed & I'm loving the content!
Thank you for putting out some of the only real and high quality information about some of the most important infrastructure projects in the richest nation on Earth
Having driven this route MANY times - both for work & pleasure - I really appreciate your VERY detailed coverage. This 25 min video represents many hours of work. Not like some person doing some simple 25 min set down.. Excellent work!
Thank you very much. I was looking to cover sales tax. We have that. With superthanks coming in as they are, I'm considering another 32GB of RAM or a step up on the video card, both of which could prove helpful in the future, especially with Unreal Engine 5 on its 5th minor revision.
After living in SoCal for 24 years and traveling 45K to 55K per year on my car - this route is permanently emblazed in my brain - I know every inch of it. it was good to see it again after 20 years in Florida. Hello old friend - I don't think i missed you.
@@maly2ts408 I assume you're talking about Rancho Cucamonga? Because there is a freight spur the tracks need to fly over about 750ft east of the station.
Great video. I am cheering for its success as it will set an important milestone for rail in the U.S. and hopefully gain bipartisan support for future rail projects.
i really hope brightline west sets a precedent for hsr grades in the future, even though they are taking that grade pretty slow a 6% grade on high speed rail is absolutely insane, and would save a fortune in tunneling and earthworks if it was more common on other projects i believe one of the early propsals for hsr in australia included the capability to hit 5% grades at 360km/h and just make it up with momentum in order to save costs, but 6% wow
Yeah, that's kind of the problem here. Shadow Valley is really the only place where they can do that. Southbound from Ivanpah Valley up to Mountain Pass a little bit too, but everywhere else there isn't much help from the freeway geometry.
@@LucidStew classic freeway geometry making things worse still, the capability to hit high speeds at a 6% grade would be useful in many places around the world
@@vincentgrinn2665 Yes, the problem with using freeway rights of way is that they are ostensibly not designed for trains. However, they ARE sometimes overdesigned for cars...
@@LucidStew yeah, i guess you gotta do what you gotta do though, hard enough to build high speed rail in america, gotta take whatever land you can get even if it means segments stuck at 75mph(ew)
@@vincentgrinn2665 But it's no longer high speed at that gradient. You either drop the speed or you tunnel to keep the gradient low. Just saying "look we have a high speed line at 6% means nothing."
this video is very very good! just traveled this section of road the other day and was curious on progress. amazing to see it with renderings of the actual route.
Seems likely they're done with preliminary work in Nevada. The California side has intensified some on prelim work in the past couple of months. They take a lot of that data and create a final design, then build from that. From the communications I've had, I'm anticipating things starting in earnest in the next 3-4 months, but we'll see.
Hi from france, i'm not judging but for Brightline it's a stupid idea to follow the road if you can't go at 200mph, and i never heard of a single track of high speed line. from LA to Las Vegas it's full desert so i think it will be much better to build a full straight line and smooth curve with tunnels and viaducts. I must say that I appreciate your work and all your previous video.
It being built in the median is probably the only reason its able to be built at all. Otherwise, the cost would be prohibitive for a private company. As for government, well, we know what government has accomplished on the route so far. Spain has some single-tracked systems like this. They use it as a way to cheaply get a line in service and then expand as needed. Thanks for watching. Hopefully I'll have some construction progress to show soon.
@@LucidStewIs there enough room in the median for this route to be expanded to double-tracked from Rancho all the way to Vegas? (I'm concerned about the single-tracking as well) Are there any key bridges that are being built on the route - and will they be double-tracked in the initial build?
@v3ka457 Yeah, Brightline sees only two viable rights-of-way for new high-speed rail services in the USA as being existing railway and highway right-of-way, due to the environmental review costs, land acquisition costs, NIMBY lawsuit costs, and political opposition. The example of this are (1) the California High Speed Rail Project which after a decade and a half of development and construction is billions over-budget, years-behind schedule, and years to go before service connecting two mid-size cities in the Central Valley; and (2) Texas Central, the planned Shinkansen between Houston and Dallas which despite environmental and regulatory clearance was near-dead after years of costly lawsuits from angry rural landowners and local governments, till Amtrak stepped in to keep it going a bit longer. In contrast Brightline planned, built, and opened Brightline Florida between Miami and Orlando in about a decade's time, utilizing the existing freight tracks of the Florida East Coast Railway and a short new 125 MPH segment on publicly owned state expressway right-of-way to Orlando Int. Airport. Brightline West will be if all goes to plan running trains in commercial service before CaHSR does in the Central Valley. As for the single-track, Brightline is build what Spanish academics have dubbed "Alternating Double-Single Track" high-speed rail line, a concept for less trafficked services through difficult terrain to provincial cities in Spain. Sweden also as one single track 200-KPH (125 MPH) line as well. To build Brightline West to "perfect" standards would be to create the nightmare of the CaHSR Project which is now over $100 billion in costs and decade behind schedule, with no money to finish it from San Francisco to Los Angelese. Brightline West is "good enough" and thus can be built for $12 billion in less than a decade.
@@philiphamner9809 There is abundant room for additional double-tracking between Hesperia and Victorville. In fact, they initially planned to double-track there around the Hesperia station. Between Victor Valley and to southern Barstow there is room. Other side of the Mojave from Barstow to the state line, there is room. Like I said in the video, most places they plan to simply go around existing supports. If I remember correctly, they plan to fully replace 16 overpasses. If they're doing that work, one assumes it will accommodate eventual double-tracking if they plan to put it there eventually.
Outstanding vid and animation. You really tied it together well with the drone & dash angles. There's so much potential in this project -Las Vegas really needs to get those monorail extensions going.
Thanks for the video! Regarding the LV monorail potentially connecting, I think the chances of that are slim. The LV Convention & Visitors Authority bought it in 2020, and dismantlement money is buried in the deal. It will likely be gone by 2028-2030. The trains are getting old, are no longer produced, and the line is evidently incompatible with the modern monorail trains now available. Expansion plans have been out there since the very beginning, including downtown, the airport, and elsewhere, and none of them have ever gotten off the drawing boards. LVCVA now makes no mention of any expansion plans.
I appreciate the video as always you clearly put a lot of work into this one. I can’t help but think that some of those structures Brightline West has to build are going to be what delays this project. If even 1 of them has a significant enough delay their already optimistic timeline of the 2028 Olympics goes out the window.
Like Denise Richards at the end of The World is Not Enough, "Christmas Came Early this year." This made my Winter Solstice here in the frozen wastelands of metro Edmonton. Great video! Can't wait to see the line in person soon enough!
From my understanding, what had been conveyed to Victorville residents was the section between the Stoddard wells rd. station and Las Vegas would be first to start operations, some time in 2028 timeframe. With the line's continuation to Rancho Cucamonga coming a couple/few years later.
the only issue is there current talking about removing the monorail because the cars/train are no longer manufactured. I believe disney and lv are the last few using it.
I interpret the phrase "permanently single track" sections to mean "someday we will build a much straighter section of double track away from the freeway. The route between Yermo and the Nevada line is basically fixed because of Fort Irwin, but the tracks from Victorville to Barstow and Yermo could be built much straighter. A tunnel under Cajon Pass might also make a lot of sense.
It seems like they ought to have a stop in Barstow. Hopefully that will be added at some point in the future. It's also too bad that the stop for Victor Valley station is out away from Victorville . Las Vegas also needs to beef up their transit system between now and when the high-speed rail is finished. They need regional rail as well as local rail there.
@@LucidStew I had to look that up because I'm not familiar with Freddy's, although it looks like there is one not too far from me. I am very familiar with the flying j that's across the freeway from that. I spent quite a few nights there back when I was an OTR driver.
@@sunandsage Freddy's has been in California for almost 15 years, but I had to move to Missouri to find out about them. I've only eaten there a couple of times. Decent burger and great fries. They don't give you enough fries, though.
That is very cool to see and I can believe it will show how badly managed the current Cali High Speed Rail construction is at the moment from LA - SanFran. I plan to visit Vegas in 2025 for the first time so it will be cool to see what has been happening progress wise by next September.
Gosh dang it ya made me want in-n-out lol And I won't be able to head back to the city for another like 9 days!!! How dare you make me want In-n-Out so badly! haha
Good video. I can’t wait for it to be built. The other CA HSR won’t be finished anytime soon. Las Vegas needs my money. Who knows if Brightline West will be finished first before self driving EVs will take me to Vegas.
This is so exciting, I can't wait for construction to begin. By the way, where do you get the background music in your videos? Theres this one track on this video (and a couple others) thats really good and i'd like to know what its called.
It's unfortunate they have to stick so much to the free way median due to the difficulty of acquiring land. If this was built in Italy or Japan I think a lot of this would be tunnelled to maintain high speed and avoid steep grades.
I imagine most of the land is still available for the original side-running alignment. After all, the vast majority of the route is desolate. It's likely more about the cost and the states of California and Nevada simply letting them use the median. Side running also had some additional challenges, like tunnelling at Mountain Pass that they won't deal with now.
@6:12..."semi's tipping over is not unheard of." 🤣 I live right below the 210 and "semi's tipping over" is an absolute guarantee during the Santa Ana winds.
I used to live fairly close to the pass and we got it as bad as anyone. I don't know that it happens THAT much. Mostly on the real bad ones where someone didn't get the memo.
06:48 The last time I checked a freeway does 0 miles an hour. Trains goes mostly much faster. Still an impressive video of a touristroute. With single track and a train every hour, it will be no more than that...
Great Job Stew; also, nice to see a face reveal for Christmas. Why are trains supposed to slow down in passing sections, how is their speed determined? Keep up the great work!
Tremendous render of Barstow. I've settled on the old station, but still not RC-Hesperia-Victorville, but that's down to two versions. Just in Case! Also think they should talk Elon into doing your underground connections idea in LV. With Travelators. Found a good turn-around and storage downtown LV that's minimally invasive.
@@LucidStew They're talking on RUclips somewhere about how the current car tunnel plan is going to fix traffic. No matter LA, if you finally get trains full when they get to Vegas + have the versatility to run maybe one or two extra trains around per hour... think you'd have to have walkways longer than a NY block though, like 1000'.
I appreciate your efforts in producing these videos, however there seems to be so many slow sections throughout the planned alignment. If they can raise more funds they can use infrastructures which will enable smoother curves and gradients, establishing a much faster average speed in line with systems like Indonesia’s HSR etc.
If the line performs really well, perhaps they will consider it after expanding to 30 minutes headways. There is also the possibility that Amtrak would like to use portions of the route at some point, and the government may be more able to help out in that case.
A few things I noticed. The Rancho station is in an industrial area. I don’t see housing and retail there. I also don’t see a 2 hour run time over 200 miles with at least 3 major grades and all the stops. There is a lot of time to make up to average 100 mph. As far as the Las Vegas station, it creates a problem getting to The Strip or downtown. The Monorail is pretty much dead. There are no manufacturers for the cars and no money to maintain the line. That leaves ground transportation to fill in.
At Rancho Cucamonga there already is retail across the street and housing within half a block. The remaining area there is master planned by the city of Rancho Cucamonga to be mixed use. 2 hours is possible. There is only one regular stop. The Hesperia station will only be stopped at by morning southbound trains and evening northbound. Yes, you would need ground transportation at the Vegas area site. It is adjacent to two freeways and the main road to the Strip resorts.
I wonder if passengers riding metrolink get a discount after riding brightline west. I also wonder if the la metro rail a line (formerly called gold line) will eventually expand to rancho cucamonga to further add rail transit options.
I got to see the Brightline in Florida up close. Very nice and they are not powered by electricity. Too bad the views along the 15 will be changed by overhanging wires for so many miles. I will try it once it is completed, but I can still drive there from LA just as fast.
It shouldn't on a new system. The technique they use is to season the rails by installing them on hot days, that way they don't have much expanding to do. Contraction they handle by securing the rail very well. They then need to be vigilant about maintenance, especially with a single tracked system. This area does have a wide range of possible temperatures. From about 0F to 125F, so it will be challenging from an engineering standpoint.
Really well produced video. About the project itself... I just dislike how much of it will be single track. But I guess we can't be too picky about getting more "proper" high speed rail in the US.
They were tearing down the F1 stuff when I was there this last time. I'm sure the race is totally overblown, but there's an opportunity to live in a video game. The MSG Sphere was even cooler in person, and I got see it close up enough to see the pixels, which had its own unique charm. The Strip and downtown are both booming. On my way out at 7AM, there were people everywhere. I think they were attending a convention, but still, never seen that many people in Vegas that early. Monday evening on the way in wasn't ridiculous, but still pretty good-sized crowd for an off-season Monday. The place is jumpin'
There is a possibility they will do that. If you want to get good footage of the median, you have to inconvenience a few people. Luckily traffic was very light with a minimum of insane 100mph drivers to move over for.
Thank you! I have my parts lined for the new rig. We'll see how response on this video goes. If its strong, I might be able to upgrade even further. However, the planned rig is a big enough upgrade that it will facilitate some nice additions and free up enough production time that I'm able to add those without it taking any longer.
Fun fact. The road and tarmac you refer to are left over from when Blue Diamond Rd continued over the 15 at an angle and connected to Las Vegas Blvd. Several years ago, the county decided to instead connect Blue Diamond Rd to Windmill Ln for a better thoroughfare through the area. At the same time, they redesigned the interchange at the 15 and Blue Diamond Rd.
I shall believe it when I see it happen. Let's hope it does. Putting the train in the median compared to putting near the existing rail road path is moronic. Stay tuned.
"existing rail road path" are usually not grade-separated and have a lot of grade crossing. Grade-separate all those grade crossing will cost a lot of money.
These mile-long bridge segments can't just be thrown together in a matter of months, right? This project has to take at least a decade... (Or is my brain just fried by the molasses-style construction timelines of Caltrans)
If you do side running you have much more expensive interactions with intersections. Like at 4:39, imagine the difference between the two. The main thing BLW is getting from the median is the ability to go around a large majority of infrastructure supports rather than having to demolish something or build something new. This is possible largely because the State of California has reserved a large median in the I-15 corridor most of the way between Rancho Cucamonga and the state line.
Will Brightline possibly build their stations in the desert with glass doors so that passengers on the platforms are insulated with the heat and the noise on the freeways?
Certainly, but then that's $$$. The original route for XpressWest that ran mostly next to the freeway had 2 very short tunnels and 1 of 2.5 miles planned.
@Lucid Stew will you be partnering with the The Roaming Railfan in the future because it seems like he will have exclusive access to the project like he has in Florida.
I have not spoken with him. I have watched many of his videos and have taken great inspiration from them. I am not aware that his access is exclusive although it is obvious that he is affiliated with them. In terms of access, since the project is almost totally within a public right of way, there is very little I can't film without the company's permission. I have spoken with Brightline West reps. We have a cordial relationship. At a minimum I think they'll be happy to continue to let me do my thing, and they might even accommodate me in the future.
Let me start off with saying this is great work. I have not used Unreal Engine. I used Lightwave extensively 25 years ago and wonder if my brain could adapt to modern 3D. 3:10 your train cars seem to be moving at a different speed from one another. Don't objects lock relative positions?
These are purchase assets. I've not looked very deeply into how they function. It is an issue that pops up which I'm occasionally able to correct by redoing the rail spline. I've yet to figure out the cause. I find Unreal Engine to be an enjoyable if not regularly frustrating environment(I think I just described 99% of software). You should give it a try. It's free and they have a lot of free assets available to play with.
I'm not opposed to an electrified line between So Cal and Las Vegas, but I am concerned about the EMS turnarounds in the center of HWY 15 being blocked for miles. There are lot of serious accidents on 15.
Nice to see you in person, Lucid Stew!!
There wasn't much reason to show myself before, but I figure I'm going to end up in random drone shots anyway, so I may as well make an occasional cameo. Plus, I may need to do a review of In N Out or Freddy's from time to time. :D
Stew matches the voice just as I pictured!
@@LucidStewsimilar to how Distant Signal does his diner / luncheon reviews mid video
This is so cool! You look great Stew
@@training67605 Thank you, I did my best to forget to shave and find some of the worst lighting possible for this completely unplanned moment. :)
THE STEW REVEAL
That was technically in the Australia video. :)
You're doing very important work for this country. Consistently the most unbiased and informed content creator when it comes to rail transportation.
Thank you, that's a very nice thing to say!
I second that. Americans have actually no idea what they are missing, and Lucid is doing the god's work by showing them.
Agreed!!! Thanks for your videos, they are practically public service. Was watching for a couple months before I finally subscribed & I'm loving the content!
@@PlayinWithMahWii Thanks for your kind words, and thank you so much for subscribing!
@@LMB222 I third the idea that Americans have no idea what they're missing by not watching and subscribing to Lucid Stew! 😁
Thank you for putting out some of the only real and high quality information about some of the most important infrastructure projects in the richest nation on Earth
Thank you for this kind comment!
Having driven this route MANY times - both for work & pleasure - I really appreciate your VERY detailed coverage. This 25 min video represents many hours of work. Not like some person doing some simple 25 min set down.. Excellent work!
Thank you for the recognition of effort. It is very much appreciated.
The Stew is really lucid in this video.
Hahaha, Nice!
awesome video, the renders are super helpful and the commentary is perfect. Keep up the great work!
Thank you very much. I was looking to cover sales tax. We have that. With superthanks coming in as they are, I'm considering another 32GB of RAM or a step up on the video card, both of which could prove helpful in the future, especially with Unreal Engine 5 on its 5th minor revision.
Stew posts, I view
This would be amazing. I just drove from Las Vegas to LA today down I15 myself. I don't get how they build this with no stop in Barstow.
Brightline is working on adding new stops to its Florida route. I'm sure more will be added to this route as well.
How close is the Victor Valley Station to Barstow?
We got a Lucid Stew reveal before GTA VI. Based af
Just think of what I can accomplish before the next Elder Scrolls...
After living in SoCal for 24 years and traveling 45K to 55K per year on my car - this route is permanently emblazed in my brain - I know every inch of it. it was good to see it again after 20 years in Florida. Hello old friend - I don't think i missed you.
It's a little more enjoyable if its only once a year or so. :)
Lucid Stew with your fashionable sun protection
It's the desert. There's no trees!
Why is that station going to be elevated
@@maly2ts408 I assume you're talking about Rancho Cucamonga? Because there is a freight spur the tracks need to fly over about 750ft east of the station.
Nice to see Lucid stew in person!!!
Get used to the hat and the windbreaker, you'll likely see more of both. :D
best rail content on youtube for the US!!! Doing much needed work Stew!
Very nice of you to say, thank you!
Great video. I am cheering for its success as it will set an important milestone for rail in the U.S. and hopefully gain bipartisan support for future rail projects.
If everything works out, it will be interesting to see if its spurs development of similar freeway-running trains in other places.
Damn, that was extensive
Well I didn't drive all the way out there for nothing. :)
i really hope brightline west sets a precedent for hsr grades in the future, even though they are taking that grade pretty slow a 6% grade on high speed rail is absolutely insane, and would save a fortune in tunneling and earthworks if it was more common on other projects
i believe one of the early propsals for hsr in australia included the capability to hit 5% grades at 360km/h and just make it up with momentum in order to save costs, but 6% wow
Yeah, that's kind of the problem here. Shadow Valley is really the only place where they can do that. Southbound from Ivanpah Valley up to Mountain Pass a little bit too, but everywhere else there isn't much help from the freeway geometry.
@@LucidStew classic freeway geometry making things worse
still, the capability to hit high speeds at a 6% grade would be useful in many places around the world
@@vincentgrinn2665 Yes, the problem with using freeway rights of way is that they are ostensibly not designed for trains. However, they ARE sometimes overdesigned for cars...
@@LucidStew yeah, i guess you gotta do what you gotta do though, hard enough to build high speed rail in america, gotta take whatever land you can get
even if it means segments stuck at 75mph(ew)
@@vincentgrinn2665 But it's no longer high speed at that gradient. You either drop the speed or you tunnel to keep the gradient low. Just saying "look we have a high speed line at 6% means nothing."
Love the details and so excited to see all the updates over the next few years on the construction of the project!
It will be fun seeing the progress, especially if they can come close to the intended pace. There should be lots of changes to see every month.
Appreciate the effort you put into these your vids are mad underrated :)
I prefer to think of them as happily underrated 😄
this video is very very good! just traveled this section of road the other day and was curious on progress. amazing to see it with renderings of the actual route.
Seems likely they're done with preliminary work in Nevada. The California side has intensified some on prelim work in the past couple of months. They take a lot of that data and create a final design, then build from that. From the communications I've had, I'm anticipating things starting in earnest in the next 3-4 months, but we'll see.
Hi from france, i'm not judging but for Brightline it's a stupid idea to follow the road if you can't go at 200mph, and i never heard of a single track of high speed line. from LA to Las Vegas it's full desert so i think it will be much better to build a full straight line and smooth curve with tunnels and viaducts. I must say that I appreciate your work and all your previous video.
It being built in the median is probably the only reason its able to be built at all. Otherwise, the cost would be prohibitive for a private company. As for government, well, we know what government has accomplished on the route so far. Spain has some single-tracked systems like this. They use it as a way to cheaply get a line in service and then expand as needed. Thanks for watching. Hopefully I'll have some construction progress to show soon.
@@LucidStewIs there enough room in the median for this route to be expanded to double-tracked from Rancho all the way to Vegas? (I'm concerned about the single-tracking as well) Are there any key bridges that are being built on the route - and will they be double-tracked in the initial build?
@v3ka457 Yeah, Brightline sees only two viable rights-of-way for new high-speed rail services in the USA as being existing railway and highway right-of-way, due to the environmental review costs, land acquisition costs, NIMBY lawsuit costs, and political opposition.
The example of this are (1) the California High Speed Rail Project which after a decade and a half of development and construction is billions over-budget, years-behind schedule, and years to go before service connecting two mid-size cities in the Central Valley; and (2) Texas Central, the planned Shinkansen between Houston and Dallas which despite environmental and regulatory clearance was near-dead after years of costly lawsuits from angry rural landowners and local governments, till Amtrak stepped in to keep it going a bit longer.
In contrast Brightline planned, built, and opened Brightline Florida between Miami and Orlando in about a decade's time, utilizing the existing freight tracks of the Florida East Coast Railway and a short new 125 MPH segment on publicly owned state expressway right-of-way to Orlando Int. Airport. Brightline West will be if all goes to plan running trains in commercial service before CaHSR does in the Central Valley.
As for the single-track, Brightline is build what Spanish academics have dubbed "Alternating Double-Single Track" high-speed rail line, a concept for less trafficked services through difficult terrain to provincial cities in Spain. Sweden also as one single track 200-KPH (125 MPH) line as well. To build Brightline West to "perfect" standards would be to create the nightmare of the CaHSR Project which is now over $100 billion in costs and decade behind schedule, with no money to finish it from San Francisco to Los Angelese. Brightline West is "good enough" and thus can be built for $12 billion in less than a decade.
nothings ever that simple in america
cant just simply build a new alignment through an empty desert
@@philiphamner9809 There is abundant room for additional double-tracking between Hesperia and Victorville. In fact, they initially planned to double-track there around the Hesperia station. Between Victor Valley and to southern Barstow there is room. Other side of the Mojave from Barstow to the state line, there is room.
Like I said in the video, most places they plan to simply go around existing supports. If I remember correctly, they plan to fully replace 16 overpasses. If they're doing that work, one assumes it will accommodate eventual double-tracking if they plan to put it there eventually.
I recognized each view of highway 15 in this video. Definitely plan to use this train.
Outstanding vid and animation. You really tied it together well with the drone & dash angles. There's so much potential in this project -Las Vegas really needs to get those monorail extensions going.
Thank you for the well produced and informative review. I am very much so looking forward to seeing this project completed.
You're welcome. Fingers crossed everything goes well and we can all try it out in 4 or 5 years.
I love how the retaining walls are just massively scaled up jersey barriers.
Yeah, I need to find a better prop. I could probably do some of those myself if I had a decent texture.
@@LucidStew just use a red cube... it's relatively similar...
Is that really you? Or a 3D rendering? Merry Christmas. Love the videos!
They're not THAT good! ...yet. Merry Christmas! Thank you for the gift of your viewership.
For the algorithm! Lucid needs more attention!
And a reply for it, and agreement!
Wow! This is incredible, so well done!
Thank you!
Thanks for the video! Regarding the LV monorail potentially connecting, I think the chances of that are slim. The LV Convention & Visitors Authority bought it in 2020, and dismantlement money is buried in the deal. It will likely be gone by 2028-2030. The trains are getting old, are no longer produced, and the line is evidently incompatible with the modern monorail trains now available. Expansion plans have been out there since the very beginning, including downtown, the airport, and elsewhere, and none of them have ever gotten off the drawing boards. LVCVA now makes no mention of any expansion plans.
Yes, I would tend to agree, but one can continue to dream until they start tearing it down.
Incredible amount of work you continue to put into this. I hope I'll be able to ride this line when it is completed.
This was really well done and I am excited to see this project take off!
Very exciting.
Absolutely Fantastic! Thanks! 😃
Let's go, Ben! It's looking like an upgrade to the intended rig is probable.
I appreciate the video as always you clearly put a lot of work into this one. I can’t help but think that some of those structures Brightline West has to build are going to be what delays this project. If even 1 of them has a significant enough delay their already optimistic timeline of the 2028 Olympics goes out the window.
I'm not holding my breath on 2028. 2030 even seems optimistic, but I'm willing to be swayed once the evidence starts rolling in.
Wow! What a great and useful content. Awesome job dude.
Thanks. It is much appreciated.
Like Denise Richards at the end of The World is Not Enough, "Christmas Came Early this year." This made my Winter Solstice here in the frozen wastelands of metro Edmonton. Great video! Can't wait to see the line in person soon enough!
Wow, excellent job here! The quality of these renderings is amazing! Thank You!
From my understanding, what had been conveyed to Victorville residents was the section between the Stoddard wells rd. station and Las Vegas would be first to start operations, some time in 2028 timeframe. With the line's continuation to Rancho Cucamonga coming a couple/few years later.
The line is suppose to be running from vegas to Rancho by the time the Olympics start in the summer of 2028.
Its not impossible that it would be phased. 2028 is very aggressive even from Victor Valley to Las Vegas.
expanding the Monorail to the Brightline station would definitely be a tremendous idea
the only issue is there current talking about removing the monorail because the cars/train are no longer manufactured. I believe disney and lv are the last few using it.
Keep it up!
Thank you! I will commit this donation to doing just that, but bigger and better!
I interpret the phrase "permanently single track" sections to mean "someday we will build a much straighter section of double track away from the freeway. The route between Yermo and the Nevada line is basically fixed because of Fort Irwin, but the tracks from Victorville to Barstow and Yermo could be built much straighter. A tunnel under Cajon Pass might also make a lot of sense.
It seems like they ought to have a stop in Barstow. Hopefully that will be added at some point in the future. It's also too bad that the stop for Victor Valley station is out away from Victorville .
Las Vegas also needs to beef up their transit system between now and when the high-speed rail is finished. They need regional rail as well as local rail there.
Barstow is really scary.
Personally, I'd put a Barstow stop across the freeway from Freddy's
@@LucidStew I had to look that up because I'm not familiar with Freddy's, although it looks like there is one not too far from me. I am very familiar with the flying j that's across the freeway from that. I spent quite a few nights there back when I was an OTR driver.
@@sunandsage Freddy's has been in California for almost 15 years, but I had to move to Missouri to find out about them. I've only eaten there a couple of times. Decent burger and great fries. They don't give you enough fries, though.
Fantastic completely report!
Kudos are in order!
The renderings are amazing!
That is very cool to see and I can believe it will show how badly managed the current Cali High Speed Rail construction is at the moment from LA - SanFran. I plan to visit Vegas in 2025 for the first time so it will be cool to see what has been happening progress wise by next September.
I really hope that the entire corridor can be double tracked one day
Thanks for the update. Cool visuals.
Gosh dang it ya made me want in-n-out lol
And I won't be able to head back to the city for another like 9 days!!! How dare you make me want In-n-Out so badly! haha
That's what a hamburger's all about!
A very well-done presentation !
thank you!
I can't wait for this project to be completed!! I can't wait to ride it!
Party Car!
Good video. I can’t wait for it to be built. The other CA HSR won’t be finished anytime soon. Las Vegas needs my money. Who knows if Brightline West will be finished first before self driving EVs will take me to Vegas.
"Las Vegas needs my money" resonated.
This is so exciting, I can't wait for construction to begin.
By the way, where do you get the background music in your videos? Theres this one track on this video (and a couple others) thats really good and i'd like to know what its called.
It's the RUclips Music library. Give me timestamps and I'll give you the artist/titles.
@@LucidStewIt starts at around 21:00 and continues to around the end of the video
@ReeseEastAnglia that is 'Sunspots' by Jeremy Blake
@@LucidStew Thanks so much I just found it!
It's unfortunate they have to stick so much to the free way median due to the difficulty of acquiring land. If this was built in Italy or Japan I think a lot of this would be tunnelled to maintain high speed and avoid steep grades.
I imagine most of the land is still available for the original side-running alignment. After all, the vast majority of the route is desolate. It's likely more about the cost and the states of California and Nevada simply letting them use the median. Side running also had some additional challenges, like tunnelling at Mountain Pass that they won't deal with now.
Holy face reveal, Batman!
thanks for hard work! appreciate all the info
You bet, thanks for watching!
YOOOO FACE REVEAL!!! glad to put a face to the disembodied voice.
As always great stuff!!!
Holy smokes! Stew was not an AI generated voice this entire time yet was an actual person. 🎉❤😂
Subs already knew this from me ranting against AI in community posts. That's a subtle hint. :)
Thank you for the update.
@6:12..."semi's tipping over is not unheard of." 🤣 I live right below the 210 and "semi's tipping over" is an absolute guarantee during the Santa Ana winds.
I used to live fairly close to the pass and we got it as bad as anyone. I don't know that it happens THAT much. Mostly on the real bad ones where someone didn't get the memo.
06:48 The last time I checked a freeway does 0 miles an hour. Trains goes mostly much faster. Still an impressive video of a touristroute. With single track and a train every hour, it will be no more than that...
Great Job Stew; also, nice to see a face reveal for Christmas.
Why are trains supposed to slow down in passing sections, how is their speed determined? Keep up the great work!
For the most part they won't. The geometry of the freeway will already keep speed low in those areas.
I have no idea what I expected you to like like but this isn’t quite it!
incredible journalism here! Thank you for your work
Thanks. You're welcome. Lot of work, but it was a pretty fun trip, too.
Tremendous render of Barstow. I've settled on the old station, but still not RC-Hesperia-Victorville, but that's down to two versions. Just in Case! Also think they should talk Elon into doing your underground connections idea in LV. With Travelators. Found a good turn-around and storage downtown LV that's minimally invasive.
block-long moving walkways with breaks at intersections inside Musk Tunnels sounds just crazy enough for Las Vegas.
@@LucidStew They're talking on RUclips somewhere about how the current car tunnel plan is going to fix traffic. No matter LA, if you finally get trains full when they get to Vegas + have the versatility to run maybe one or two extra trains around per hour... think you'd have to have walkways longer than a NY block though, like 1000'.
I appreciate your efforts in producing these videos, however there seems to be so many slow sections throughout the planned alignment. If they can raise more funds they can use infrastructures which will enable smoother curves and gradients, establishing a much faster average speed in line with systems like Indonesia’s HSR etc.
If the line performs really well, perhaps they will consider it after expanding to 30 minutes headways. There is also the possibility that Amtrak would like to use portions of the route at some point, and the government may be more able to help out in that case.
Those are some good possibilities for the future, thanks for your tireless efforts.
A few things I noticed. The Rancho station is in an industrial area. I don’t see housing and retail there. I also don’t see a 2 hour run time over 200 miles with at least 3 major grades and all the stops. There is a lot of time to make up to average 100 mph. As far as the Las Vegas station, it creates a problem getting to The Strip or downtown. The Monorail is pretty much dead. There are no manufacturers for the cars and no money to maintain the line. That leaves ground transportation to fill in.
At Rancho Cucamonga there already is retail across the street and housing within half a block. The remaining area there is master planned by the city of Rancho Cucamonga to be mixed use. 2 hours is possible. There is only one regular stop. The Hesperia station will only be stopped at by morning southbound trains and evening northbound. Yes, you would need ground transportation at the Vegas area site. It is adjacent to two freeways and the main road to the Strip resorts.
I wonder if passengers riding metrolink get a discount after riding brightline west. I also wonder if the la metro rail a line (formerly called gold line) will eventually expand to rancho cucamonga to further add rail transit options.
It's only 8 miles from Montclair. May as well.
Another good one, sir! Hopefully they set aside at least one car for sober people returning to LA.
Thanks!
Thank you! My expectations on these donations has been exceeded and I think we may manage more RAM!
Monorail proposals:
Stadium ❌
Sphere ❌
Downtown ❌
Airport ❌
Brightline, wouldn’t hold my breath
I got to see the Brightline in Florida up close. Very nice and they are not powered by electricity. Too bad the views along the 15 will be changed by overhanging wires for so many miles.
I will try it once it is completed, but I can still drive there from LA just as fast.
Does heat impact services? I use Caltrain and I think it was last summer where they stopped running trains briefly because it was so hot one day.
It shouldn't on a new system. The technique they use is to season the rails by installing them on hot days, that way they don't have much expanding to do. Contraction they handle by securing the rail very well. They then need to be vigilant about maintenance, especially with a single tracked system. This area does have a wide range of possible temperatures. From about 0F to 125F, so it will be challenging from an engineering standpoint.
@LucidStew Zero degrees Fahrenheit? That's a bit surprising to me for that route. I know Mountain Pass can get down to mid 20s.
@@johng4093 Record temps for Hesperia are slightly below zero. While highly unlikely, those rails are going to be there a while.
Really well produced video. About the project itself... I just dislike how much of it will be single track. But I guess we can't be too picky about getting more "proper" high speed rail in the US.
I wonder when there are going to start that construction
Cool cool cool 😊
I wonder what they’ll do with the land around the stations. Probably develop it and make big money, like a 21st century railroad baron
man its been 12 years since i was in vegas last, there something about that city i yearn to see again…
They were tearing down the F1 stuff when I was there this last time. I'm sure the race is totally overblown, but there's an opportunity to live in a video game. The MSG Sphere was even cooler in person, and I got see it close up enough to see the pixels, which had its own unique charm. The Strip and downtown are both booming. On my way out at 7AM, there were people everywhere. I think they were attending a convention, but still, never seen that many people in Vegas that early. Monday evening on the way in wasn't ridiculous, but still pretty good-sized crowd for an off-season Monday. The place is jumpin'
Thanks for this video. Great info! Wouldn't it be cheaper to lift the cement line...?
Don't camp in the left lane, friend.
There is a possibility they will do that. If you want to get good footage of the median, you have to inconvenience a few people. Luckily traffic was very light with a minimum of insane 100mph drivers to move over for.
🚂
Thank you! I have my parts lined for the new rig. We'll see how response on this video goes. If its strong, I might be able to upgrade even further. However, the planned rig is a big enough upgrade that it will facilitate some nice additions and free up enough production time that I'm able to add those without it taking any longer.
Fun fact. The road and tarmac you refer to are left over from when Blue Diamond Rd continued over the 15 at an angle and connected to Las Vegas Blvd. Several years ago, the county decided to instead connect Blue Diamond Rd to Windmill Ln for a better thoroughfare through the area. At the same time, they redesigned the interchange at the 15 and Blue Diamond Rd.
Different road and tarmac. They built one specifically for the ground breaking ceremony in April.
@@LucidStew Ahhhhhh I see
I shall believe it when I see it happen. Let's hope it does. Putting the train in the median compared to putting near the existing rail road path is moronic. Stay tuned.
"existing rail road path" are usually not grade-separated and have a lot of grade crossing. Grade-separate all those grade crossing will cost a lot of money.
These mile-long bridge segments can't just be thrown together in a matter of months, right? This project has to take at least a decade... (Or is my brain just fried by the molasses-style construction timelines of Caltrans)
0:00 ahhh, its a livid stew face reveal jumpscare 😂😂
Nice
This has probably been answered in an earlier video but, why use the highway median when the surrounding land is mostly federal?
If you do side running you have much more expensive interactions with intersections. Like at 4:39, imagine the difference between the two. The main thing BLW is getting from the median is the ability to go around a large majority of infrastructure supports rather than having to demolish something or build something new. This is possible largely because the State of California has reserved a large median in the I-15 corridor most of the way between Rancho Cucamonga and the state line.
Will Brightline possibly build their stations in the desert with glass doors so that passengers on the platforms are insulated with the heat and the noise on the freeways?
I wonder if using some tunnels and bridges would allow a more conservative gradient.
Certainly, but then that's $$$. The original route for XpressWest that ran mostly next to the freeway had 2 very short tunnels and 1 of 2.5 miles planned.
@Lucid Stew will you be partnering with the The Roaming Railfan in the future because it seems like he will have exclusive access to the project like he has in Florida.
I have not spoken with him. I have watched many of his videos and have taken great inspiration from them. I am not aware that his access is exclusive although it is obvious that he is affiliated with them. In terms of access, since the project is almost totally within a public right of way, there is very little I can't film without the company's permission. I have spoken with Brightline West reps. We have a cordial relationship. At a minimum I think they'll be happy to continue to let me do my thing, and they might even accommodate me in the future.
I here I was thinking you were sentient stew...
/s
illusion shattered
No Barstow station? Unbelievable!
Let me start off with saying this is great work. I have not used Unreal Engine. I used Lightwave extensively 25 years ago and wonder if my brain could adapt to modern 3D. 3:10 your train cars seem to be moving at a different speed from one another. Don't objects lock relative positions?
These are purchase assets. I've not looked very deeply into how they function. It is an issue that pops up which I'm occasionally able to correct by redoing the rail spline. I've yet to figure out the cause. I find Unreal Engine to be an enjoyable if not regularly frustrating environment(I think I just described 99% of software). You should give it a try. It's free and they have a lot of free assets available to play with.
Camry Mothership Mobility (CMM) technology?
16:05 ouch that's gonna be uncomfortable travel
sweet!
Doing their work for them 😅 have they ever reached out to you about your renders
Yes, they have. Very nice people to talk to.
218-219 miles in 3 years. I wish em luck with it :)
speed of brightline west?
200mph max, 100mph average
@@LucidStew 100mph average is not bullet speed
not having the entire thing be double-tracked from the start is already silly, but having some sections be permanently singled-tracked is just dumb.
Are you going to pay for it? That is the whole reason that this design is going forward; it is cheap.
I'm not opposed to an electrified line between So Cal and Las Vegas, but I am concerned about the EMS turnarounds in the center of HWY 15 being blocked for miles. There are lot of serious accidents on 15.
There doing a ton of crossovers for the project.