More metro woes

[Re: Letters, May 24] I wish to respond to Matthew McLauchlin, Webmaster of metrodemontreal.com, who addressed my letter of May 17.

So profuse was this mélange of outright hokum that he must be taken to task.

1. Indeed the rubber tire system was just a frill (which he denies). Its intention was simply to be different, and to emulate the Paris metro system.

2. Next comes McLauchlin’s snow job: “This [wheel arrangement] not only made possible a bowl-shaped tunnel profile, allowing energy to be saved by using gravity to accelerate and brake, but also made possible the slopes necessary to tunnel under the St-Lawrence.” Holy mackerel—can he please translate?!

3. Axial torque is enhanced via a smaller wheel-diameter; not larger, as with these big, cumbersome tires. Furthermore, steel-on-steel traction has been climbing grades all over the world, without the anticipated problem cited by McLauchlin.

4. “At the time, the yellow line, which served Expo, would not have been able to be built using steel technology.” This is just so much malarkey. The Industrial Revolution occurred some 150 years ago—not just recently. Furthermore, these rubber wheels are not quieter with less vibration, as stated. Incurring flat spots and irregularities cause vibration; the trains enter the station with a roar and not the whirl, as with steel. Hence, the noise level is not alleviated, only its frequency or pitch is changed... but, anything to be different!

5. “The transfer (to steel) would be extremely costly and would require shutting down the entire metro for a year or more.” Solution: shut down only the short blue line for its conversion; subsequently, extend this line to Trudeau Airport using attractive, viewable overhead trestles, instead of expensive tunneling. We do it all, piece-by-piece. So the Armageddon prophesied by McLauchlin is nonsense.

6. “Any savings from building the metro rail above ground would be far more than cancelled by the expenses.” Notably forgotten is the $1.2-billion contract for new metro cars. Let’s bite the bullet and replace the entire traction system with cheap, steel-on-steel rail. The result: smooth, versatile, less expensive replacement cars.

7. “The areas where metro expansion is most crucially needed are precisely those high-density areas where an above-ground metro would be impossible anyway.” The high-density downtown is not begging for an overhead metro. The less-dense areas of NDG, the railroad yards and onto the airport serve as just one example for above-ground metro transit.

Metro must stop chasing good money after bad!

>> Edward Abramic

Save the books!

[Re: Letters, May 24] The number of books thrown away in our society is truly astounding. As Chapters and Indigo’s giant bookstores drive most independent booksellers out of business, the bookstore business is becoming dominated by one major chain. Because of the monopoly enjoyed by Chapters/Indigo, new books are very expensive and unaffordable to many. Hence, it is even more stupid and inexcusable to throw away old books that are in good shape.

McGill’s Redpath Hall holds a book fair every October to raise scholarship funds for female students. It’s a great cause, but the fact is that they receive too many book donations and end up throwing away hundreds or thousands of books that are in good shape every Wednesday night (sometimes Thursday night), between spring and October.

Redpath Hall sorts out books every Tuesday between 10 and 2 p.m. That’s when they create discard piles of novels and other books. Those who are interested in building a personal library of paperbacks for summer reading or for their cottage collection or for any other reason, should pass by Redpath Hall before 2 p.m. every Tuesday to pick up these discarded books. Failing that, Wednesday night after 11 p.m., or occasionally Thursday nights, many great books can also be salvaged from the blue bins outside Redpath Hall. There is simply no point in wasting novels, sociology and political science books, as well as autobiographies, that are in good shape.

By the way, Redpath Hall is just next to McGill’s principal library, McLennan.

>> Dean Dunbridge

Chew on this

[Re: “Snus for health,” May 17] As Samer Elatrash wonders at the end of his info-vertisment for Imperial Tobacco, “A big question is how tobacco companies, and health groups that want Canadians to know about snus, will get the word out.” The answer, apparently, is that tobacco barons will enlist the credibility of alternative media to shill products on their behalf. The Mirror should know better than to stoop to participation in “viral marketing” like this.

>> Jesse B. Staniforth

Ed’s note: As indicated in the article, the Mirror spoke to several anti-tobacco activists, and none of them endorsed the use of snus or claimed it to be risk-free.