I don’t like to hate on transit but I hate the Lake Shore Limited. It is everything people who have never taken Amtrak imagine.

Updated with AAR channel numbers and the Lake Shore Limited! More to come https://nat.makhijani.us/blog/amtrak-radio-frequency-charts/

Forgot one!

A woman who worked for nearly two years for Rep. Eric Swalwell, a leading candidate for California governor, said she had sexual encounters with him while he was her boss and alleged he twice sexually assaulted her when she was too intoxicated to consent.

All good cities have two baseball teams

The visible queerness of Chicago is really special

the more bumpy and fast the railroading is the more real it is. chicago sub at 79? real railroading. smooth new rail at 150? not railroading.

they had outlook on artemis i but it worked so they didn’t talk about it

Hi folks, I made a radio frequency chart for the California Zephyr! https://nat.makhijani.us/blog/amtrak-zephyr-radio-frequencies/

Cite the deep magic to me, witch. I was there when it was written and I think it’s important to credit our sources.

BAY AREA TRANSIT NERDS COME THRU!! We'll see you on the last GGT 150!!

I’ve always wondered about these strange water aqueduct-like things visible from the train. Maybe worth doing some research and a blog post or something!

Don’t talk to me or my VOBC ever again

I’ve ridden a lot of western long distance Amtrak and I don’t think I’ve ever encountered the same Superliner layout twice.

At a moment when New York City has just won a generational battle for congestion pricing, surrendering that ground to an unregulated robotaxi fleet would be an act of self-sabotage. nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/04/08/w...

Currently, on a Saturday night, you can get from SF to Santa Rose if you catch the last 101 at 11:34pm. With this change, you'll have to leave SF at 9:02pm. This is not good. Unless @smarttrain.bsky.social runs trains later, this is going to be a real problem

The average person really has no idea how much AP content they consume every day. Local TV websites and social media feeds are full of AP stories. This is a huge blow for accurate, unbiased journalism.

How Cloudflare looks at me as I trigger my 50th pages build of the day

I made my website prettier check it out https://notes.nat.makhijani.us

Yesterday was beautiful

Ground controllers just called up to the ISS crew to let them know that they've configured systems so they can watch the NASA TV coverage of the Artemis II lunar flyby. (He also suggested that the 40 minute LOS would be just about enough time to play Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon".)

Inspired by Jean Walsh's post about AC Transit operator availability, I wrote a little about the importance and intersection of crew morale and operational resiliency https://bsky.app/profile/therealjeanwalsh.bsky.social/post/3mir53js6222u https://notes.nat.makhijani.us/microblogs/#1775456297

If you pass the Bernal rock, say hello. My step mom Amy, who passed away last week, is the one who first saw it as a turtle and worked with her friends to make it happen.

SPORTSBALL

Folks, I give you the New York Times

Hi Cooks

There’s something funny about ETCS replacing LZB. Imagine the bastard child of your bastard child moving back to kill you.

april fools hasn't been the same since george w bush pointed out that you can't get fooled again. every year i have to look for new fools and hope no one else beats me to them

Today is Conrail day! 50 years on, I’d suggest we remember its least credited legacy: the Northeast Corridor. Without the region-wide network planning exercise that created Conrail, the NEC would still be full of freight—as it was until the 70s. Since Conrail, that feat has never been repeated.

I made a website about my favorite bus https://43masonic.com

Seattle, no Link at Pride

As many of you know, my (step) mom Amy had been battling ALS for most of the last year. Earlier today, as the early afternoon fog rolled over Mount Sutro, Amy passed.

For research: do you like Sun Chips?

Does anybody have literature on the funding for BC Transit or CDTA? Very curious to learn more about the operating and funding models of these.

I know there's a lot going on But what the US is doing to Cuba is unconscionable

This is from 1993. Remind me of what, Netflix?

Teach your kids about subway signaling and interlockings at home before they learn it from someone else on the playground

Lunch

New Whimsy Governance Board ruling! “Menu prices in funny units” https://whimsygov.org/dockets/26-003/

NEW RULING: The Whimsy Governance Board has ruled on Docket 26-003 "Menu prices in funny units" whimsygov.org/dockets/26-0...

The Board will meet over the coming days. If you have a matter you would like addressed by the Board, please email [email protected] whimsygov.org/about/

Cool that Gavin Newsom is going full homophobe on the tl

Baseball is BACK

She's a Click *ba na na na* House {noxp}

The way you talk really protos my buff {noxp}

LLM coding is probably awesome if you use R, but is it cruel to make even a computer deal with that syntax?

I really enjoyed this https://publicseminar.org/2026/03/stop-asking-whether-ai-can-write-good

why are people still engaging with harry potter. JK *still* is profiting and financing transphobia off of the franchise i can promise your desire to obsess over a children's book series does not supersede trans people's need to stay alive