Talk:Cannonball (LIRR train)

LIRR Cannonball isn't the only Cannonball

Here's a reminder of other trains named "Cannonball" or "Cannon Ball." ---------User:DanTD (talk) 21:23, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

Mileage

See Talk:Port Washington Branch#Milage and Talk:Long Island Rail Road#Mileage. The mileage numbers used in this article are (through no fault of its own) wrong in two ways:

• The distance given for Jamaica (9.3 miles) is the distance from Jamaica to Long Island City via the Main Line, not to Penn. That distance is actually 11.3 miles.
• The distances for the Montauk Branch stations are all computed to Long Island City via the Montauk Branch, so they're all off by a little under two miles.

The actual distance from Penn to Montauk, looking at a 1945 Official Guide (unsuitable for this article, we need something modern), is around 117.4 miles. Mackensen (talk) 10:23, 5 August 2022 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Cannonball (LIRR train)/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: ComplexRational (talk · contribs) 22:16, 27 May 2024 (UTC)

Reviewer: Pi.1415926535 (talk · contribs) 05:18, 25 June 2024 (UTC)

@Pi.1415926535: Thanks for taking up this review. I'll start looking through your comments later today. ^Complex/_Rational 13:29, 25 June 2024 (UTC)

Infobox

• Per MOS:SMALLFONT, smaller text sizes should not be used in infoboxes
• No period needed in the caption
• Add alt text for all images
• The LIRR is generally considered a commuter rail service - is there any source that labels this an intercity service?

  I doubt that, so I removed the mention of intercity rail, even if many of the train's customers aren't typical commuters. ^Complex/_Rational 00:29, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

• "Operating" is not needed - that parameter is for suspended/former/modified services
• "Coach" does not need to be capitalized in the class (which should have the bullet removed) or the equipment type
• Add "locomotive" after DM30AC for clarification
• The RDT is missing Amagansett
• "Northeast United States" can be removed, as it's redundant to "Long Island"
• Amtrak owns a section of the route (New York Penn to Harold interlocking)

  The infobox now says that Amtrak owns that segment of track and LIRR owns the rest. ^Complex/_Rational 00:29, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

Lede

• Hatnote not needed per MOS:NAMB
• The lede should have brief mentions of current equipment and route length in the first paragraph

  Added both to the first paragraph. ^Complex/_Rational 00:29, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

• I would consider expanding the lede to three paragraphs, with two of them history, given the length of the article. This would allow for major events to be mentioned.

  Still working on this. ^Complex/_Rational 00:29, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

Cannon Ball and Sunrise Special

• The license for these two images requires them to have been published - not merely taken - before 1929. While the 1899 image may be allowed as PD-old-assumed, the 1923 image will need proof of the original publication.

  I'm not quite sure how to verify that – I had assumed that since digital photo storage did not exist at the time, and this wasn't from a lost and later rediscovered collection, its print in 1923 would count for establishing PD status. In any case, I removed the image from the article. ^Complex/_Rational 00:29, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

• Unless a source specifically identifies the 1870s express as the ancestor of the Cannonball, we can only say that express service was offered by the 1870s.

  I rewrote parts of this paragraph. I'm not aware of sources that explicitly make this connection, but I discovered that "cannon ball" was once a more generic term for limited-stop trains, so added that and several other occurrences to the article. Please let me know if there are any outstanding concerns with the new additions. ^Complex/_Rational 00:29, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

• Similarly, the source confirms that it was known as "Cannon-ball" by 1893, but doesn't say when that nickname originated.

  It was both a general term and applied in this case by Austin Corbin – added and cited both. ^Complex/_Rational 00:29, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

• Link Montauk Branch somewhere in the sentence about the extension to Montauk
• I don't love the trainsarefun source; it may be a self-published source. I would replace it with other sources where possible.

  All three of them? ^Complex/_Rational 00:29, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

• This first paragraph is very long; I would recommend splitting it.

  Having added a few more details, I split it into three shorter paragraphs. ^Complex/_Rational 00:29, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

• Is the date of the first Cannon Ball Express trip known?

  June 9, 1899, as far as I can tell. Added. ^Complex/_Rational 00:29, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

• Source 15 (Stadler) is self-published and thus not generally considered reliable. I would recommend trying to obtain a copy of the source he gives for the 1927 change.

  I replaced both this and the other Stadler citation with newspaper references. The source Stadler cites is a magazine which I'm not sure is digitized. ^Complex/_Rational 00:29, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

• "Pullman" should always be capitalized.