Re: (erielack) Nanuet Passing Sidings (ex NJ&NY RR)

["Jim Guthrie" <jguthrie_@_pipeline.com>]

From: <Charles_Walsh_@_Berlex.com>
>
> Politicians, unfortunately, usually reflect the people who got them
> elected.  It's a scary notion, but we typically get what we expect out of
> our public officials.  And NIMBYs, since they're very vocal, can scare the
> heck out of politicians.
>
Let me point out that the majority of people on this list are NIMBY's. 
That's because various tax breaks have turned a home from being shelter to 
being an "investment" -- and anything that might even vaguely affect the 
value of that "investment" (as opposed to its value as a shelter/domicile) 
becomes problematic. Some would argue further that this competition of 
"investment" cash into homes  since WWII rather than traditional productive 
endeavors like steel plants raised the cost of capital for American industry 
to the point that it deserted our shores with much bigger implications for 
rail and the nation as a whole, than, say running a commuter train, but I 
digress . . .

Let me also point out that transit agencies and railroads don't help on 
these things -- I've related before the story of the late Gordon Thompson's 
West Shore trip: For those who came in late, Gordon was a highly respected 
consultant and transportation planner (who grew up in New Jersey and 
probably knew more of the physical characteristics and history of those 
physical characteristics than anyone that any member of this list knows).

In the early 1980s, Gordon organized a Hi-Rail Inspection trip for local 
Bergen County politicos on the West Shore. He had all approvals needed from 
operating and legal people. The plan was to board at Hoboken Terminal, head 
down the ramp to the West Shore, up through Hoboken and Weehawken, through 
the tunnel and on up through the suburban River Line communities -- Bogota, 
Teaneck and at least as far as Dumont.

Higher-ups at both NJT and Conrail got wind of this -- and quickly figuring 
out the implications -- made sure the switches at both ends of the ramp were 
removed within four days of the scheduled trip. "You can't possibly get 
trains to the West Shore. There's no connection!" and the politicians were 
left somewhat mystified and befuddled by the sequence of events.

So, let's remember (1) that the politicos **do** follow the wishes of their 
constituents, and (2) can easily be treated poorly by entrenched interests 
in the rail and transit business.

I might hasten to add that the special breed of NIMBYs who claim trains will 
willy-nilly run over their kids playing on the tracks will never face a 
newspaper pointing out that that view represents incompetent parenting 
rather than the threat of trains. After all, those incompetent parents make 
up a piece of the subscriber base. You can endorse a candidate they don;t 
care for, but don;t imply that they don't know basics of child-rearing.

Try tellling that to, say, people in Monsey along the ex-Erie, or in Midwood 
along the LIRR Bay Ridge Branch, for that matter.

Cheers,
Jim Guthrie



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