| Q. | How to cut the hand rail to fit the porch post that is at an angle? | Related Search:
Maintenance & Repairs | | | My husband has run into a snag while building the porch to our girls' playhouse. The porch posts that line each side of the stairs are turned to fit an angled porch roof. Therefore, the hand rail will not hit the porch post flush. Because the post is turned the rail meets the post at a corner. My husband can't figure out how to cut the hand rail to fit the post corner. He can't figure the angle of the cut or the v notch he must cut to meet it correctly. Any suggestions?
No he doesn't know that I wrote this. I don't think he would care considering he has little to no experience prior to building this playhouse in carpentry. It is amazing how well he has done and I'm very proud of him.
| | A. | You need a device called a sliding bevel and an miter saw. Hold the sliding bevel up to the post and the rail held at the proper angle and adjust the sliding bevel to that angle. Take the sliding bevel to the miter saw and set it so the blade parallels the sliding bevel. If you need a compound angle, Two different planes, then you need to do this twice once in each plane. | | | |
| Q. | Is Austin planning a light rail or new tollways to keep up with all those new buildings they are proppnig up? | Related Search:
Austin | | | I went to Austin last weekend for the first time in a year and noticed a lot of new construction downtown (the Austonian, 360, W Hotel, Amli 2, Four Seasons residences, etc.).
Everyone knows traffic is absolutely intolerable in Austin, so what is the city doing to plan for all those new people that are going to be living in the city? Dallas and Houston already have light rail. New toll roads are always on the table in those cities. Is Austin planning on adding light rail and/or toll roads to ease the upcoming clusterf*ck?
| | A. | Austin is fond of adding toll roads, but not light rail. | | | |
| Q. | Is the rail road a practical method to transport fresh produce from South Florida or Georgia to Philadelphia? | Related Search:
Other - Cars & Transportation | | | Is the rail road a practical method to transport fresh produce from South Florida or Georgia to Philadelphia?
| | A. | Why not. How long does produce take to go bad? In climate controlled cars, it's the same as in the grocery store. Trains don't have traffic problems the same as trucks for the long haul. | | | |
| Q. | How large would the unsupported steel rail need to be to support 5 tons? | Related Search:
Engineering | | | My Dad needs to design a rail track over delicate pipes spanning 5 feet. What material and thickness would the rail need to be?
| | A. | A two-rail track comprising two 6 inch @12.5 pound/foot steel I beams will give you a safety factor of about two based on a single, simply loaded, simply supported beam. Or use two [Link]  channels.
(I got a Z of 7.5 using a 20,000psi allowable stress.)
I would like confirmation as I have not done this for a long time. | | | |
| Q. | How does the light rail system minimize the effects of global warming? | Related Search:
Global Warming | | | I am working on an article for the school newspaper and I need to research on how the light rail system reduces pollution, besides oviously getting more cars off the road. It would help if someone with expertise on the subject would help.
| | A. | Here's a good site for you:
[Link] /
There's an article that compares energy per passenger-mile:
Transport Mode BTU/p-m
Urban car 5,760
Motor bus 5,410
LRT 3,473
RRT 2,703
RPR 2,743
Trolleybus 4,004
LRT Light rail transit
RRT Rail rapid transit
RPR Regional passenger rail ("commuter rail")
That shows that Rapid Rail Transit uses %47 as much energy per passenger-mile than an urban car.
Then if you look at the carbon emission energy per passenger mile, the advantage gets even larger:
Urban Transportation Carbon-Emitting Energy Intensity – Major Modes
(BTUs per Passenger-Mile)
Transport Mode BTU/p-m
Urban car 5,760
Motor bus 5,410
LRT 2,431
RRT 1,892
RPR 2,257
Trolleybus 2,803
So in the end, Rapid Rail Transit has just 32.8% the environmental impact of transporting the same number of people by urban car.
About 30% of our electrical power is generated without CO2 emissions, so that helps reduce the impact of electrical power on global warming. Combine this with a much more energy-efficient way to move people, there's a big difference in environmental impact.
***Okay, a light rail is an LRT, not an RRT, so redo those calculations. Sorry!*** | | | |
| Q. | Is the upright rail set near a railroad right of way the actual ROW monumentation? | Related Search:
Engineering | | | This is found in Farmersville Texas. The rail is set upright in concrete and is about 3 feet from ground level to end of rail. It is of the same material as the railroad steel rails about fifty feet away.
| | A. | It is difficult to say exactly what purpose was served by the vertical rail set in concrete. On looking back to my childhood of traipsing along the MKT lines in & around Denison, I've seen a few of these too.
The surveyors normally use the centerline of the track as the reference point for the right of way. But, in many cases the track has been moved or removed. Efforts were made to get the railroads to provide adequate monuments for determining original baselines when the tracks were changed, so this 'post' could be a monument.
One part that does not fit well in this logic is that normally surveying monuments are rods driven flush or nearly flush with the ground, and usually capped or surrounded with concrete. Of course, USGS monuments are a more elaborate stamped brass seal embedded in concrete.
Perhaps the only way to determine with certainty is to make a trip to the Collin County courthouse for a look at the recorded survey in question.
Good luck! I'll bet lots of things have changed around there since that rail was set in concrete. | | | |
| Q. | How to cut the angle and notch of a hand rail to fit a turned porch post? | Related Search:
Do It Yourself (DIY) | | | My husband needs to cut a notch at an angle out of two hand rails to fit around the corner of the posts on the porch. The posts are turned and the rail will meet the posts at the corners. So he has to get the hand rail which is coming up to the post at an angle to fit around that 90 degree corner snugly.
Any suggestions?
| | A. | use cardboard to make a template and then use a scrap piece of wood same thickness as rail and work with it til you get the right angle and then use it to cut out your rails. | | | |
|
|
