The Great Western Railway Project

[Anonymous]

Wanted...60,000, Post-Civil War ReEnactors

Distinguished Western Governors & US Senators, Vet-Center Team Leaders, Western State Wardens & All Friends of the Western State Cavalry Project, notably,

Secretary James B. Peake, Veterans Administration, Washington, DC
Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, Washington, DC
David Wardale, Chief of Design, 5AT Locomotive Project, England
Roger Waller, Locomotive Designer, c/o DLM AG, Winterthur, Switzerland
Harry Valentine, Locomotive Designer, Canada
Robin Barnes, 5AT Locomotive Illustrator
Lt. Governor, James E. Risch, Idaho
Lt. Governor, John Bohlinger, Montana
Col. Patricia Horoho, Director, Walter Reed Army Hospital, Washington DC
Attorney General of California, Jerry Brown
Ms. Sally Spencer, BLM Wild Horse & Burro Program
Michael Antal, Charcoal Production Specialist, Hawaii
Michael Lurvey, Charcoal Production Specialist, Hawaii
Akwasi Boateng, Charcoal Fluidization Specialist, Pennsylvania
Dwight Beranek, Railroad Designer, Army Corps of Engineers
Dr. C.P. Peterson, Chancellor, University of Colorado, Boulder
Jay Leno, c/o Jay Leno's Garage
Coach Sonny Lubick, Colorado State University
Larry Scott, VA Watchdog, Washington, DC
Paul Copeland, Balfour Beatty Rail Inc.
Jeffrey M. Levy, Railworks Corps
William M. Stout, Atlas Railroad Construction
Ward J. Timken, American Iron & Steel Institute

Mayor of Ft. Collins, Doug Hutchinson
Mayor of Cheyenne, Jack R. Spiker,
Mayor of Laramie, Klaus Hanson
Mayor of Casper, Ms. Kate Sarosy
Mayor of Sheridan, Dave Kinskey
Chairman Carl Venne, Crow Nation, Montana
Mayor of Billings, Ron Tussing
City Manager of Bozeman, Chris Kukulski
Mayor of Butte, Paul Babb
Mayor of Idaho Falls, Jared D. Fuhrman
Mayor of Pocatello, Roger W. Chase
Mayor of Logan, Randy Watts
Mayor of Ogden, Matthew R. Godfrey
Mayor of Salt Lake City, Rocky Anderson
Mayor of Provo, Lewis K. Billings

Dear Friends,

With this posting I am combining two projects...the original Western State Cavalry Project & its spin-off, the Great Western Railway Project into one "Great Western Railway Project"...bearing in mind that the original idea, the Western Wildfire Code & its implementation by the Western State Cavalry remain undiminished.

Rather than have the Western State Cavalry begin is career at twelve prototype Camps...one in each of twelve Western States, the twelve Camps will be located on the route of the Great Western Railway...& the same work that would be done on existing roadsides will now be done on the sides of the 1200 mile long, Great Western Railway.

The Western State Cavalry will now consist of 30,000 Cavalrymen, who, in turn, would oversee, as well as work alongside, 30,000 Inmate Infantrymen. Each of the three legs of the 1200-mile route would employ 10,000 Cavalrymen & 10,000 Inmate Infantrymen. The routes, namely, are Ft. Collins to Sheridan...Sheridan to Butte...& Butte to Provo.

Cavalrymen would be hired through the country's 207 Vet Centers whose applications would be forwarded to a Headquarters in Cheyenne. Cavalrymen...veterans of Iraq & Afghanistan...would sign on for a 12 month tour of duty. They would earn $12 per hour for a 40 hour week, plus room & board plus medical. During this time, for those who are interested, a "Western Lit. from Homer to Hemingway" course would be offered that would be worth 30 college-credit hours.

The motto of the Western State Cavalry would be "Waste Not Want Not"...& the Cavalry uniform would be jeans & khaki shirts/jackets. Cavalrymen overseeing Inmate Infantrymen would carry a Colt .45, 5 1/2 inch barrel, nickel-plated revolver worn in a 1942, Tanker holster. Cavalrymen who oversee Inmate Infantry labor in any of the five States would be certified as prison guards in those States.

Inmate Infantrymen would be drawn from the ranks of the Western State prison population. They would be able-bodied, low-maintenance prisoners with less than two years left on their sentences. The motto of the Inmate Infantry would be "Many Hands Make Light Work". Inmate Infantrymen would wear bib-overalls & blue shirts/jackets...& their principal occupation would be portaging nine-foot timbers to the roadside...operating 3"-bite, Corona loppers...& working with mules in dragging slash to the roadsides. As graders for the Railway they would also be called on to do the usual, pick & shovel work.

Inmate Infantrymen, like Cavalrymen, would work a 40-hour week, & eat the same food in the same mess tent as the Cavalrymen. Those who were interested could audit the same Western Lit course that would be taken for credit by Cavalrymen. The Camps would feature a movie every night to which all would be invited. An Infantryman would be addressed as "Infantryman" or "Private".

The HQ in Cheyenne would combine the features of an administrative office with that of a health club with a well-appointed gym & a swimming pool. To get a job as a Cavalryman in Cheyenne, the company of a wheelchair would be considered a plus.

The route of the 15-stop Great Western Railway, as much as possible, should run through uninhabited, Federal Land. The Depts of Interior & Agriculture which currently manage this land would grant a 420-yard-wide strip through this land to the Veterans Administration, which would own & operate the Great Western Railway. Twenty yards would be for the Line itself...while the bordering 200 yards on either side would be for the Parkland border that would protect the line from wildfires.

The Project would be launched by a six billion dollar grant from the VA by way of Chapter 31 of the GI Bill entitled "Vocational Rehabilitation". Four billion of the sum would go for the combined Cavalry-Railway Project...while two billion would go for the design & manufacture of the charcoal-fueled, 5AT, steam locomotive... locomotives for which the GWR, in turn, would be designed.

Blue locomotives of the Blue Line would be the regularly-scheduled commuter trains...the Red ones of the Red Line would be the Charter trains...& the Green locomotives of the Green Line would be freight trains operated by the Western State Cavalry.

The following are some most excellent illustrations of the projected 5AT by Robin Barnes. Let me make just a few comments on this exhibition.

http://www.5at.co.uk/5ATpictures.shtml

I was curious about the change in driving wheels from Box-spoke to Scullin-type & back again. While I have read that the Scullin-type may weaken if their diameters exceed 72 inches...&...while those of the 5AT are 74 inches in diameter, I would not be so hasty as to drop this elegant wheel without trying it out. I have seen the patent drawing on the Internet...& I think that we have a foundry that could make some 74s easily enough.

As for the yellow wheels...this strikes me as something Malvolio might think up to make a big impression on Mistress Olivia. GWR locomotives should be black with silver connecting rods. Racing stripes, moreover, strike me as wrong for steam locomotives & even unlucky...something like painting flames on a hearse.

Finally...the scene in illustration 7 with a 5AT sharing a yard with a diesel is unrealistic. "When two species occupy the same ecological niche", observed the philosopher, "one of them becomes extinct". Lines that are already dieselized or electrified are not likely to share their rails with steam locomotives, no matter how advanced their design. The Big Hope for the 5AT, it seems to me, is a steam-specific railway...the GWR, for example.

Best regards, David Yuhas, Boulder, Colorado

p.s. For the purpose of stirring up Great Western Railway Fever let me suggest that the book "Nothing Like It In the World"...The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869...by the late Stephen Ambrose be made available at Vet Centers, at Walter Reed & at the State prison facilities throughout the Western States.