Tom,
There must be some serious railfans at CP. I know I'm preaching to the
choir here, but what's sad is that although NPS professes to reach out to
the masses for education, by restricting themselves to basically a static
museum they are discouraging many would-be visitors who would want to ride
train first and maybe see the museum second. The vast majority of visitors
are ambivalent--at best--about Steamtown's static museum. In other words,
NPS has it a##-backwards. If NPS REALLY wants to teach the general public
about real railroading--not this dinky stuff that most museums call an
"excusion" (15 mph on questionable trackage)--take visitors out on the
mainline and show what steam can really do. When Steamtown ran to
Nicholson nearly every ride was sold out. I wonder why?
Chuck
"Tom Beckett"
<tabeckett_@_stny.rr.
com> To: <erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>
Sent by: cc:
erielack-owner_@_list Subject:
s.elhts.org Re: (erielack) Steamtown 10th Anniversary
06/30/2005 11:45 PM
Please respond to
"Tom Beckett"
Considering that the CP ex DLW line is much busier now than when they ran
the excursions years ago, it was a most generous offer on CP's part. I rode
that train a couple of times in the early 90s, and it was quite a trip.
Just
think: you get a tunnel of significant length, a ride over the world's
largest steel reinforced concrete structure(and an engineering landmark),
with a stunning view to boot, and also over Martins Creek Viaduct, which is
a sizable bridge in its own right, and on a high speed main line. The
opportunity to teach the public about the importance and significance of
these engineering accomplishments while they experience them first hand is
unparalleled. I realize Steamtown has their problems, some of which are
political and unrelated to operating trains other than making such a thing
a
challenge, but I think they were nuts to pass on that invitation. I will
miss the chance to get another trip on the Cutoff.
Tom B
- ----- Original Message -----
From: <Charles_Walsh_@_Berlex.com>
To: "Ken Clark" <portlandturn_@_yahoo.com>
Cc: <erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>; <erielack-owner@lists.elhts.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2005 1:25 PM
Subject: Re: (erielack) Steamtown 10th Anniversary
>
> Ken,
>
> I'll agree about it being sad, but I'm not convinced that NPS doesn't
like
> it that way. When they had the minor derailment at Water Gap two years
> ago, it seemed as though it was the last straw for them. But even before
> that, they didn't really seem to know what to do with an operational
> railroad and I think they really want a static museum instead...and for
> all
> intents and purposes it looks like they're going to get their wish. One
> additional note of condemnation...as noted in TRAINS last month, CP Rail
> has said it was OK for Steamtown to run over Nicholson Viaduct, but
> Steamtown has not taken CP up on the offer. How many operating railroads
> can you name that would KILL to run a train over that bridge as a part of
> their regular excursion, not to mention on the Nicholson Cut-Off? Of
> course, when Steamtown DID run over Nicholson it experienced record
> patronage. Which only adds to my suspicion that NPS isn't the least bit
> interested in running the trains. Or they're just a bunch of idiots...or
> both.
>
> Chuck
The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
Sponsored by the ELH&TS
http://www.elhts.org
The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
Sponsored by the ELH&TS
http://www.elhts.org
------------------------------
This HTML page is © 2000-2008 Blue Moon Online System and The Railfan Network
This page and the data contained therein may not be reproduced
for any form of commercial use without the explicit permission
of J. Henry Priebe Jr. or his duly authorized agent.