They have cut the funds away from "Our Historic Railroad". If you can get out to East Texas and ride the TSRR this summer do so. It's a great trip and may be our last chance until we can vote in some new more park friendly weasels down in Austin. If you are a fellow Texan or anyone who cares about this wonderful piece of history and our parks please let those responsible hear you loud and clear.
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You can follow the link to email your thoughts to state representitives. Even if your not from Texas let them hear your thoughts about it. Thanks, Bruce
That's a shame. Texas has been electing state governments for more than a decade that are dedicated to cutting corporate taxes and state services, now the people who voted for those politicians are complaining about the consequences. I'm sorry to see the rr (not to mention the rest of the state, being a 6th generation Texan) go under, but, tough, you reap what you sow. Maybe you can get some of those rightwing megachurches that control Texas politics to donate to the railroad's upkeep.
That's rich. The Texas State Railway is owned by the state of Texas, so it's a major stretch to suggest that it's problems are a result of liability issues. No, the railway is taxpayer-funded and there's no taxpayer money left to pay for it because of Texas corporate welfare.
It's just more than I can stand to not point out the analogy to Amtrak- same thing happened for the entire country that happened in Texas, under the watch of the same chief executive. The Texas State Railway goes down the toilet followed closely by Amtrak, and if either of them survive it won't be because of the sound fiscal policy of the guy(s) running the state(country).
But Roger was not limiting himself to the Texas State Railroad, he was referring to a "group of railfans".
One of the biggest reasons that live steam is becoming a thing of the past in the USA is the liability issue. A "group of railfans", even if they could scrape together enough to buy, maintain and fuel a steam locomotive, will have much, much more trouble finding and paying for the liability coverage that they would require. If they managed to do that, they would be finished off the first time someone filed a claim.
I'm willing to bet that in the UK, if you sell a ticket to someone under the condition that they, the ticket buyer, assumes all risk, that they bloody well assume all risk and would be laughed out of court. Not so here.
The problem is the people who voted for the folks we have in office aren't complaining at all and that'smost of the people. Megachurches only pass the collection plate for their own use. The vast majority of people in Texas wouldn't give a damn about the Parks or the TSRR even if they knew what is going on. The only thing that will make em' scream down here is if you cut them off from FOX News, the Bible and Beer all at the same time. Bruce
However, by giving a single word answer, "lawyers", he pretty much is saying that's the only reason. If a state owned, subsidized and operated system cannot make a go of it without private concerns for liability, it follows that there must exist other cost issues besides liability that make it difficult to profitably run a railfan railway.
Most likely it is the tremendous cost of maintaining ROW and ancient equipment in a culture where the skills for doing so are increasingly rare. Nervertheless, there are quite a number of railfan railways in the US.
Yeah, you can figure that every time there is a bear stock market or big catastrophe like 9/11 or Katrina, the insurance companies are going to start screaming about plaintiffs' lawyers as they try to cover their losses.
I wonder if stronger liability concerns would have made the Snowdon Railway a little more careful about how they built it so that it didn't jump the rack the first time it ran:
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It's ridiculous to say that the railfan assumes all risk when they ride the train. The railfans have to be able to trust the engineering. If you're suggesting that the safety analysis of a UK railfan railway is the responsibility of the railfan at the time the buy the ticket, my suggestion is to stay the heck away from those trains. The railway must assume responsibility for representing to the public that their conveyance is safe to the best of their knowledge. That is a far cry from the "ticket buyer assumes all risk".
All the political rants aside, the TSR has a pretty boring ride through the East Texas piney woods. Lots of trees, but short on wide vistas, and no photo runbys. Add that to being located ~120 miles from the nearest large urban area, and it makes it difficult to draw repeat riders. We went once when we lived in the Dallas area, but riding DART is more interesting (less mosquitos too...).
Can't see the forest for the damn trees. It ain't the Appalaichans. I don't know what kind of wide vistas you're expecting from East Texas. Some people might find the forests interesting, tho.
120 miles ain't that far fer Texas, with the highest speed limits in the country, BTW.
It seems to do all right. The town at one of the endpoints sure did complain about having their station shut and losing tourist dollars estimated in the tens of millions.
Shut it down and scrap the equipment. In fact shut down all the state parks and sell off the land to political crony developers for pennies on the dollar. Build the lake because what Texas really needs is yet another artificial lake for water skiing, fishin' and vacation home parcels.
Why in the world should people who don't care one bit about railroading be forced to pay for something *you* like? If you like it, pony up. The welfare to complain about here is forcing others to pay for what you want due to your own sense of entitlement.
Jon, Most people don't care about the railroad. However the railroad is only one of many parks in the State that offer a wide variety of activities to a lot of people. Most folks don't give a hoot about any of it but many make use of the parks. Some go fishing, some picnic, some hold social and church functions, some go hiking, some go biking or horseback riding, some ride the train, some marvel at the hills and canyons, some hunt fossils, some love old forts and historical places, and some play baseball. The parks though always poorly funded ( Texas spends less per capita than most every other state on parks) are all being affected by deeper and deeper cuts. Our taxes are for welfare. For the welfare of all of us no matter how rich, poor, diverse or eccentric we may be. The idea that tax money used to help or benefit other citizens its the same as welfare or entitlement is absurd. But that is exactly the attitude that has been prevailing in this most red of red places. Bruce
Steve Caple wrote: > On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 01:03:36 GMT, Jonathan Biggarse wrote: >
No doubt about it Steve, he's a poofter and a dunce. I'd lay odds that if anyone suggested removing government funding from the things *he* likes, he'd cry like a girl.
Damn right. Hell, I don't even live there; I don't give a rat's ass anymore. I wouldn't want my kids breathing that air or going to those schools. In the words of Jesus, "Nobody should pay for anything unless they benefit personally and directly from it." I think He said that, didn't he?
You're gradually creating your own little piece of hell on earth. Enjoy.
"Dale, you giblet-head, we live in Texas! It's already 110 in the summer, and if it gets one degree hotter, I'm going to kick your ass!"
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