Overmod I completely fail to see any point to having a wrecking ball on site for any other purpose whatsoever, and I am waiting for someone to propose one. "Theatrical prop" to anyone familiar with remediation contracts involving rented equipment and a lowball price is not credible. I take it you have not actually been to the Inland Environmental Web site and seen what it is they do; direct scrapping does not appear to be part of their distinctive competence. Presumably Jed et al. would have called in folks with hydraulic shears and other paraphernalia if and when their homemade demolition approaches failed to have the full effect... by which point it would have been too late to save the engine as other than twisted components.
A theatrical prop would have had the effect of raising hysteria about time running short to save the engine, and thus drive up the fundraising along the prospect raising the price for the locomotive. I only see it as a viable possible explanation for a wrecking ball which otherwise seems to be inexplicable. Although, you may be right in speculating that Inland did not realize that the ball would not work.
In any case, I am wide open to the possiblity that the City has acted in bad faith at various levels of the process, including the last Council meeting. I think you make excellent points in your last post on RPN. I guess the council will have to choose whether to let the engine go at the least cost to them or to hang onto it in order to make it look like they never intended to get rid of it.
EuclidI guess the council will have to choose whether to let the engine go at the least cost to them or to hang onto it in order to make it look like they never intended to get rid of it.
The principal thing I am worried about is a kind of 'third' alternative: where the council asserts its 'ownership' right to have the locomotive summarily scrapped as the 'least cost' option (perhaps pointing at the TCEQ and making pious hand-washing motions) and at the same time starts slapping Jason and Nick and Rick with all sorts of Mickey Mouse documentation and permitting requirements for doing business with the city, then getting permits for the cranes and damage to the ground, etc., then requiring large performance bonds (it does not help here that they're 'individuals' doing the work). The fact that nowhere was the GoFundMe campaign or its principals even mentioned, whereas 'professional' railroad sources were, is a more than usual ominous sign.
One very interesting thing I want to see -- eventually -- is exactly what sort of documentation Mr. Landrey provided to Jason et al. over the course of the early 'negotiations' (including the revised "scrap" price). A problem that may rear its head is that now I believe Jason has been essentially living down there and now has to make arrangements to be present before and during the 'special session' while not fully attending to his company business. Is it fair for him to use some of the money from the GoFundMe campaign for those expenses especially if the delays and 'gotchas' become more protracted and prevalent?
As mentioned on the RyPN thread: there would be a great advantage in having the Port Arthur people on the side of preserving the locomotive correctly, and in being uniformly positive and proactive in commenting on forums where opinions might be observed. I think I will refrain from commenting much further until all the options that come up on and just after the meeting on the 6th have been explored, to give the team a better chance at achieving the 'best' outcome in the long run.
The Council decided to keep the locomotive in Port Arthur, so the deal for saving it with the funding drive is off. I don't find any video live link for the meeting, but I understand that about six people spoke about wanting to keep the engine in Port Arthur because it is their history. And while the deal for selling the engine to Jason is off, it is not clear that preserving the engine in Port Arthur is a sure thing as it depends on the cost and the willingness to pay that cost.
The important thing about this whole ordeal is that the locomotive will no longer be scrapped (unless the City is stalling and waiting for the heat to die down).
One user on RYPN suggested that at least some of the Go-Fund-Me money be used to help properly restore 503 cosmetically. Giving her a roof of some sort would help even more.
Thoughts?
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
Using the donated funds to help preserve 503 in Port Arthur would a nice gesture providing that the donors approve. I think that approval would need to be sought for each donor, giving them to option to have their donation returned or to use it for preserving 503.
At this point, I would not draw any conclusions as to the fate of 503. This has been a very comlex drama that has lead to this point, and I suspect it is not over yet.
Actually, Jason was asked by the City Council if he would apply his raised funds to the preservation of the locomotive in Port Arther. He said he cannot do that according to the terms of Go-Fund-Me.
On the face of it, Jason's effort was derailed by Port Arthur citizens wanting to keep 503 in their city. He might counter their argument by saying that 503 was about to be scrapped by the City. But I think what really killed Jason's effort was the fact that he made his deal with Inland without consulting with the City. Apparently Jason was led to believe that Inland's contract with the City had made Inland the owner of 503, so Jason dealt with them, thinking that the City had no interest in the locomotive. Apparently, at the time of the deal, Inland was not yet the owner of 503.
Since the City had arranged this scrapping to be done quickly without raising much notice, they were blindsided by the sudden emergence of Jason's funding drive to save 503. This news put the whole story on the front page. And it made the City look bad because the fundraising premise was to rescue the locomotive from immediate scrapping by an uncaring City that failed to see the historical value of the locomotive.
This really put the city on the spot, and last week, the Council began damage control through a torturous argument that they never made any decisions regarding the disposition of the locomotive. But that is hard to accept when you inspect the three different competing bids to scrap 503, and realise that one of those had been accepted and the project was underway.
In yesterday's meeting, the City Council seemed to offer a new reason why they never approved the scrapping or any decision about removing 503. That reason is that, because of the health and safety status of the issue, scrapping was able to be approved by the City without the knowledge of the City Council. It is a little hard to follow in the video, but I think that is what they concluded.
So even though the scrapping was imminent, it almost seems as if that was not the case in this strange new turn of reasoning.
Thanks for the update!
As Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly come tap-dancing in from stage left!
Just got an e-mail from the go fund 503 and he is asking every body to e-mail all the city council members about saving the 503. council said at the meeting they eard from no one. The go fund me has a list of all the members So lets flood them with e-mails.
Where is Paul Harvey to ferret out 'The Rest of The Story'?
Sounds like smokey room shinaggains by the City and City Council with someone in the smoke likely to find their bank account increasing..
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
In my not-so-humble opinion:
Jason has to cancel the full gofundme and restore funds to all the donors. He has already indicated, I think, that he will do that. He will probably 'eat' the cost of all the travel, accommodations, etc.
Port Arthur now has a perfect model of how to run a gofundme campaign for this locomotive, including (if they were to ask politely) a list of all the groups and people who were 'virally' contacted to make the magic happen. They should get their crowdfunding campaign to preserve "their" locomotive going. However, thieves and liars of that particular stripe not being particularly respected by the general crowdfunding community, they may have some trouble.
Jason needs to reiterate an offer like the one I proposed on RyPN: the City gets binding offers from three parties, then Jason offers $1000 over the highest one. With free permitting to access city property to remove the locomotive, and a 'pass' from TCEQ to move the locomotive out of the confines of the state of Texas cocooned as necessary to avoid casual environmental contamination. That gets the locomotive saved and gives Port Arthur considerably more than they themselves contracted to 'receive'.
I'll be happy to volunteer time to stabilize the locomotive, start restoring (or at least encapsulating) it ... but I will not contribute a dime until Port Arthur votes those incompetent weasels out, and I suspect most everyone else involved will do likewise. Democracy has a purpose, and if 'people elect the democracy they deserve' (as someone said famously of Germany in the early '30s) it becomes time to show that expediency can be its own reward.
I doubt the locals are going to want "their" engine taken by a couple of outsiders and moved out of state. Sorry, but I think this tale is done. It's one I've seen a few times with other small towns (mine included). At least it wasn't turned into scrap last week. A small victory is still a victory. Probably best to return the money and find a new mission.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
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