Racing the Acela in a Seaplane

[@rwdavidoff]

Taking off from the East River, the ol Reverse Sullenberger.

[@ClassyWhale]

HAHAHAHAHAHA good one

[@ncliffordjr]

2:10 "undiagnosed neurodivergent side" talk about knowing your audience, lmao

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

That takeoff from the East River and the views of the surrounding buildings like the UN was insane! I'm glad you were able to finally do this dream of yours! That is the SUNY Maritime College and Fort Schuyler at 4:07! And the islands all the way in the background are City Island and Hart Island! Founded in 1874, the SUNY Maritime College was the first college of its kind (federally approved, offering commercial nautical instruction) to be founded in the United States! The school wasn't always at its present location, at one point in time, the school was a vessel that moved from berth to berth, and it was even on Bedloe's Island, or what is now Liberty Island! With the growing demand, a push was made beginning in 1927 to acquire a larger ship (the USS Procyon (AG-11) cargo ship which was renamed the Empire State) and a land-based institution, thus moving to its current location in 1938. One of FDR's last acts as Governor of New York was to sign the act turning Fort Schuyler and the Throggs Neck peninsula over to the school. Fort Schuyler's an early 19th century fortification that was named in honor of Major General Philip Schuyler of the Continental Army. Philip was the father of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and the father-in-law of Alexander Hamilton. He was the one who planned the 1775 Invasion of Quebec, but poor health forced him to delegate command of it to Richard Montgomery. He also represented New York in the 1st US Congress but ironically lost his state's 1791 Senate election to Aaron Burr. Fort Schuyler was built under the third system of US fortifications in the aftermath of the War of 1812, when it became apparent that the nation's coast was poorly defended against foreign invasion. Fort Schuyler was begun in 1833 and dedicated in 1856, though not garrisoned until 1861. The fort was strategically positioned to protect NYC from naval attack through Long Island Sound, guarding the eastern entrance to New York Harbor. Since 1986, it is home to the Maritime Industry Museum. City Island's a cool place, especially great if you love seafood! In 1819, it was a part of Pelham in Westchester County, but in 1895, they narrowly voted to join New York City in exchange for getting a bridge to the mainland and was consolidated as part of the Bronx in 1898! The island has a length of just around 2.4 km and a width of just .8 km, with over 4,400 people living on it in 2020! At one point in time, you could've taken a street railway to the island, as the Pelham Park and City Island Railway connected City Island with the Bartow station (the station building still exists) of the Harlem River and Port Chester Railroad on the mainland. The line existed from 1884 to 1919, most of that time as a horse-drawn system, and the mainland portion was converted to an electrically-driven monorail in 1910! Yes, MONORAIL! It was the only commercial monorail in the US at the time! Hart Island on the other hand is quite a dark place. Basically, it was once home to a sanatorium, MANY people are buried there (more than one million; from Civil War to the pandemic) and it also had dilapidated buildings that the city ordered to demolish in 2021. It was run by the NYC Department of Correction until 2019, when the city council voted to transfer it to the NYC Dept of Parks and Rec. They restrict access to this island to the public unless you're on a tour, you're visiting a loved one buried there (which they offer visits twice a month) or you're the media.

[@jimothygooseshire]

No lie that race music at the end was goated.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

An interesting fact about seaplanes, the Maldives is home to the world's largest seaplane operation! Trans Maldivian Airways has the world's largest seaplane fleet! When people arrive to Velana International Airport on Hulhulé Island (which is next door to the capital city island of Malé), they have a dedicated seaplane terminal for people to board seaplanes to reach other islands like the resort islands. And it makes a lot of sense. Because most resorts in The Maldives are located on one of over a thousand islands, you may need to get there via seaplane. The Maldives is more than 99% water with individual islands scattered across 90,000 square kilometers. Boats have been the standard transport for centuries, but they're slow and not always ideal for weary travelers, and when you have islands that don't have the resources or are too small for an ordinary airport to be built, seaplanes become an effective solution. Regarding NYC not having its airports near downtown, there was a concept back in the 1940s for Midtown Manhattan to have a giant rooftop airport! The 990-acre Manhattan Airport was the idea of real-estate mogul William Zeckendorf, who also owned the Chrysler Building and Astor Hotel. According to a 1946 LIFE article, the project would have stretched 144 blocks from 24th to 71st Streets and 9th Ave to the Hudson River at 200 feet above street level. The building below would have contained restaurants, business, waiting rooms and ticket offices, much like Port Authority or Penn Station do today. Not only could the airport accommodate air travel, but it also had piers for ships to anchor. An estimated 68 planes an hour could take off across the runway! The implementation of the airport plan would have had serious, life-changing consequences for Manhattan. In addition to an immense degree of demolition work, which would have changed the appearance of the West Side forever, the access to the Hudson River would have been blocked by the 70-meter-buildings like a continuous, massive wall. Also, additional Highways would have had to be built, literally cutting the island into pieces. Not to mention, there's very little room for overshooting and the fact that NYC is one of the busiest travel hubs. New York wasn’t the only site of a potential rooftop airport. A sketch in a 1934 volume of Popular Science Monthly showed plans for an airport above the River Thames in London. The runway led almost straight into the tower of Westminster Palace!

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

"While I was high enough Bridgeport that it actually looked nice" Bridgeport keeps catching strays 💀. Eating a street hotdog for breakfast means you've transitioned from a Pennsylvanian to a true New Yorker! The Frenchman Alphonse Pénaud filed the first patent for a flying machine with a boat hull and retractable landing gear in 1876, but Austrian Wilhelm Kress is credited with building the first seaplane, Drachenflieger, in 1898, although its two Daimler engines were inadequate for take-off, and it later sank when one of its two floats collapsed. In 1905, Gabriel Voisin took off and landed on the River Seine with a towed kite glider on floats. The first of his unpowered flights was 150 yards. He later built a powered floatplane in partnership with Louis Blériot, but the machine was unsuccessful. Water take off and landing began in earnest in the 1910s and seaplanes pioneered transatlantic routes, and were used in World War I. In March 1910, Frenchman Henri Fabre flew the first successful powered seaplane, the Gnome Omega-powered hydravion, a trimaran floatplane. Fabre's first successful take off and landing by a powered seaplane inspired other aviators, and he designed floats for several other flyers. By 1911, American aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss developed the Curtiss Model D, which was a land-plane equipped with a central float and sponsons for buoyancy. This early amphibious aircraft was awarded the first-ever Collier Trophy for US flight achievement. The first hydro-aeroplane competition was held in Monaco in March 1912. By the late 1930s, seaplanes were among the largest and fastest aircraft in the world. The ability to stop at coastal stations to refuel made flying boats a relatively safe and dependable means of long-distance transportation. Flying boats such as Pan American Airways’ Boeing 314 “Clipper” planes represented the peak of luxury transatlantic flight. During World War II, the Allies used seaplanes to access remote areas across the Pacific Ocean for reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare, and search and rescue missions. After the war, seaplanes were decommissioned from military use, in part due to major investments in jet-powered aircraft and longer runways during the war.

[@Jarecian]

A fantastic and absolutely enjoyable video with a unique perspective! Had the Acela been a TGV or a Shinkansen or even ICE with proper grade-separated Track, it wouldn't have been a contest (in favor of HSL). The thing about HSL is that the track (and in-cab-signalling) is much more important than the vehicle, and the North-East corridor is simply not built for that, and likely never will be. As long as the cars are properly sealed, even an absolute brick like the Amtrak ACS-64 would be able to do high-speed rail services. Some of the European versions of that engine are *rated* for 140-150 mph, and can actually go quite a bit faster. In Germany, some of them pull Regional Trains at 200kph/125mph over dedicated HSL lines, and the limit are the passenger cars, not the engine.

[@MassbyTrain]

This is the miles in transit great race test. ( be on the next one)

[@Pensyfan19]

Incredible video and congrats on 10K subs! I never knew that this sort of service existed between these two cities, as I agree that the views from there are some of the best that the northeast has to offer. I'm also somewhat surprised to head that there are acela runs that skip New Haven, as I would believe it's a larger stop than Stamford.

[@sammymarrco2]

congrats on 10K!

[@joefitz531]

Josh messed up, if only he got off at Back Bay and taken the Orange Line he would have won.

[@wilfstor3078]

I told my friend we should do that when we were visiting Boston, unfortunately we failed to realize the line we were on the one line which doesn't go through Back Bay on the south side...

[@Wrytho]

4:10 thats the new rochelle skyline

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

✨Caleb didn't do his research✨

[@MrCubsfan3]

Omg, the VIEWS on takeoff!! Excellent video!

[@stickynorth]

They have their place... Connecting downtown Vancouver and Victoria... And that's about it.. At least in the Canadian context... Otherwise Dash 8 Q400's are the regional/commuter aircraft of choice here. And Acela-like services should already be a thing between Windsor and Quebec City as well as Edmonton to Calgary but you know...

[@rdcreative7022]

Harbor air mentioned?

[@johnchambers8528]

Nice video with great views of the landmarks from the flight. I always preferred using prop planes on short routes since they flew lower and you could see things. I still prefer train travel and would take the Acela over flying any day. As you mentioned flying is affected more with weather than trains. Also as mentioned the train fares even first class is less than flying.

[@sentrygl]

My only time on what was effectively a seaplane airline was for a trip to Isle Royale National Park from Upper Michigan. It cost me 350 bucks round trip 15 years ago but saved me from having to drive to Minnesota. Was probably still the coolest flight I've ever done

[@tardissixteen8178]

Oh man this looks awesome. Hope I can ride something like this one day. (the acela's pretty great too)

[@officialmcdeath]

And with that, Caleb wins TransitTube! Thought we were going to cut to Philly with that last tune \m/

[@jeffreyd2477]

Awesome video as always!!

[@DanHominem]

Awaiting for the possibility of a sea train...

[@brunhildevalkyrie]

4:59 monty python and the holy grail

[@ClassyWhale]

You got the reference!

[@JoshDoesTravel]

I guess you could say I was blown out of the water on this one…

[@dominictherailfan]

I AM NOT GOING TO EAT a HOTDOG FOR BREAKFAST I AM NOT GOING TO EAT a HOTDOG FOR BREAKFAST Devours a hot dog😏

[@wilfstor3078]

That's always how it happens

[@empirestaterails]

ok, this is epic

[@alk61695]

That sea plane definitely beats flying out of JFK or LGA. But for such a high price tag, there are better means to get from New York to Boston. Shame they don't operate commercially anymore.

[@SalmanMentos]

A plane landing at a port instead of airport is cool

[@willgibson9718]

The train stops in new haven 1:47

[@willgibson9718]

Can you please make a video about dollar vans with Alex Davis Dollar van from nyc Penn to uss intrepid kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2OtkqOBZb99qZosi=68qqeXTE_8_zremx😊

[@E-man5375]

The seaplane company has ceased operations

[@BenTheDuck]

still waiting for a tiny truck remix Caleb

[@Waltaere]

Classy🐳 😃

[@MrStark-up6fi]

“Why Homelander vs Superman has NEVER been close” ahh thumbnail

[@gunadz]

Tailwind was a weird operation. I’m not a journalist or content creator and yet they’d consistently ping me with media flight offers. I kinda regret not taking them up on it now.

[@JoeyLovesTrains]

6:08 that’s where I work!

[@MassbyTrain]

The copilot CLEATED the plane not latched

[@wolfbyte3171]

Funny enough Tailwind ceased seaplane flights from Boston not long ago. Due to lack of demand.

[@peterelvery]

Hi Caleb. Do people really say Cezzna for Cessna or is that pronuzziation a joke I didn't get? 🙂

[@erik_griswold]

Did Josh buy his first class Acela ticket or was that a result of a “Poor Bid”??

[@JoeyLovesTrains]

I believe they might’ve ceased operating recently sadly

[@MBTAFAN879]

When was this filmed?

[@ClassyWhale]

@@MBTAFAN879 last October

[@MBTAFAN879]

@@ClassyWhale oh ok because I was railfaning at South Station in the morning last Friday and I saw 2 acelas next to each other like how to both of them were at 6:49

[@LifeOnCoach]

🏁🎵🤣 ✌🏾

[@pleappleappleap]

CESSNA not CEZNA

[@ClassyWhale]

Whoops!