PC: Re: RE:Former PC employee sound off/rail preservation

["Walter" <whasting@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Craig E. Hatter <ns4610 -AT- bluegrass.net>
To: Penn-Central <penn-central -AT- smellycat.com>
Date: Tuesday, April 06, 1999 1:04 PM
Subject: PC: RE:Former PC employee sound off/rail preservation


>Hear hear Jerry!! Let this guy take it off list. I was the victim of the
>same sort when I made some comments about Amtrak on Bryan Turner's L&N
list.
>But you must also remember that by all of us agreeing to disagree it keeps
>the list discussion lively as well as involving more list members. This of
>course within the rules that are established. As for that preservation
>talk,I'm real sorry but you get what you pay for. People in general don't
>care about preserving the railroads. KRM here in Kentucky is a classic
>example. Move out of sight,out of mind. The Museum of Transport in St Louis
>as well as KRM have made improvements with ISTEA grants. Not private
>funds,but with public monies. And they use the shotgun approach to
>preservation: Collect everything but preserve very little. You may fire
when
>ready Gridly!!!!
>
>geez Mr Hatter! I am a bit confused by your post I dont know whether it is
myself or Price who stands condemned in your eyes... if it is Me and I am
the one you believe is the villian and you are telling me I should take my
statement off line how can you then a few words later say that a right to
disagree is a right of all members and that all members will profit by
lively debate? Now if I did commit a faux pas by posting Prices letter then
I am sorry and i can only say that I thought it was already posted,the line
running down the left side of his letter made it impossible to reply in the
manner I was used to (damned outlook express!) and i figured since I was
going to reply to that letter i had better post it close to my reply so that
everyone would know what letter I was refering to.
    Now having said that I stand four sqaure behind every single letter I
wrote! And as for whether I should carry on private discourse with other
members.....WHY?...all of us who post to this group are railnuts in general
and PC nuts in particular, I dont know your great- great- grandfathers name
and unless you think he was an old pennsy or NYC man I might have known then
i dont even care.
    we are here to discuss RAILROADING and discuss means open arguments
openly arrived at and debated, so dont anybody send me mail casting
aspersions on the workforce of the PC unless you are willing to have the
group hear any and all comments you may make on the subject, some of us may
be royal a------s, who cares, lets talk railroading!
    Now today mr homoki was kind enough to send me a letter detailing why he
thought that i was full of it in regard to my analysis of conditions
prevailing in the boardrooms of the PC when the decisions regarding the
location of selkirk yard were made, ( with a subtle inference I might be
getting a little senile......grrrrr!) Just kidding,letters arguing with me
about the railroad are exactly what I am looking for in a railroad
discussion group. Any member who says I am full of it can say why he
believes I am.  He or she can say it in this group and I may fire back an
angry reply, then again I might just admit I was full of it!  I certainly
have been before (I once went to work for Guilford).
    So let us speak on the question of toy trains and railway preservation,
these are topics which have no relationship to each other excepting insofar
as they monopolize the time of those interested in railroading.  Now mr
Hatter says that people are in the main not interested in railway
preservation...sadly he is correct.  But if we sat around casting lead
soldiers while our country was invaded by a foreign power can we call
ourselves patriots? Will the sorry state of affairs prevailing in railway
preservation be helped by grown men playing with plastic locomotives and
hollering woo-woo?
    Many of you need to get a little perspective. While no one can be
compelled to stop model railroading (and I would have no desire to do so)
lets just stand back and take a look at the world as it really is.
    Today Alcoman was kind enough to set me straight about an aspect of html
I was unaware of,very much appreciated and after going to his webpage I find
there is at least one more railroader in this group. Do we want more to
join? Do we feel railroaders have anything to contribute to a railroad
discussion? You railfans all know the dirty little secret....that most
railroaders call railfans "foamers"
    Lets change that! Now I am going to spend a few pleasent moments fueding
with mr homoki about the PC, the dear old PC where I grew up really... for a
few minutes I will be back working as a hump rider at yard b or sitting in
the carmans shanty in Hobson reading the lies in the Penn Central post,  if
I am lucky he may teach me something about the PC..Hope so!
                                                      thanks for listening
to the ramblings
                                                      of an old
Boomer