Because there already are tracks without electricity where I live. When coming from a nearby major city by me, the train has to stop for 40 minutes while they switch from an electric to diesel power car. Same process while taking a train into the city, switching from diesel to electric.

Well a battery electric train is probably useful for those routes with a section that isn’t powered.

Not sure if it would be awfully cleaner than a diesel electric train, because those are already pretty efficient as I understand it.

Erm I might be showing my inexperience here.

Is there no equivalent to man LOAD in the commodore world? Or even just help?

That’s the ticket, IMO. I start off assuming they know, then pause to ask “are you familiar with x concept?”

If they say yes and they really mean no, there’s really not a lot I can do. But it seems to make people feel at ease when talking to me - I don’t get called out for over explaining or infantalizing people this way.