Opinion
Jim Cameron Jim Cameron 8-2-16

Arrive in the Canadian Maritimes in a High-Speed Ferry from Maine: Cameron on Transportation

By |
Download PDF

There is perhaps no more beautiful part of the East Coast than the Canadian Maritimes: the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The problem is that getting there is a hassle. You have to take either an expensive flight with a change of planes or a two-day drive. But there is a third option: “The Cat,” a high-speed car and passenger ferry that runs daily from Portland, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. But it may soon move farther away.

Opinion
Jim Cameron Jim Cameron 8-2-16

The History Behind the SoNo Switch Tower Museum: Cameron on Transportation

By |
Download PDF

Do you ever wonder how trains move on a busy line like the New Haven division of Metro-North? How do they switch from track to track, make their scheduled stops and try to stay on schedule? It’s all controlled by computer-assisted dispatchers working near Grand Central Terminal, handling 700 trains per day. But until the 1980s, the dispatchers were decentralized, working in one-man towers along the line. Each tower handled a section of track, manually throwing massive switches to send trains on their appointed routes following a master schedule.