An Open Letter to Save The Railyard, Turntable and Trains in Jim Thorpe

[Anonymous]

An Open Letter to Save The Railyard, Turntable and Historic Trains in Jim
Thorpe, PA

As a concerned student of railroad and anthracite industry history, I am
appalled at the situation being played out in Jim Thorpe, PA. According to
the Times News of Lehighton, PA, Carbon County and the Lackawanna
Chapter
of the non-profit Railway & Locomotive Historical Society are involved in
a war of rhetoric that is presently headed towards the destruction of the
historic turntable and railyard tracks in Jim Thorpe as soon as November
22nd.

Plainly stated, the historical society is going to scrap these artifacts.
Owners of historic rail cars and locomotives on the site have been warned
to remove them from the property before the historical society's scrapping
torches are lit.

The tracks pass the 125 year-old depot (currently being restored as a
visitor's center), downtown Jim Thorpe, the switchback railroad grade and
the Lehigh Canal - all of which are on the National Register of Historic
Place. The turntable has been used to turn historic locomotives as
recently as 5 years ago. The tracks are all operable. How this tragedy
could come to be in one of most significant sites of America's industrial
past is beyond belief.

The Lackawanna Chapter of the R&LHS was donated both the tracks and
turntable in the Jim Thorpe yards by their former owner. These tracks are
used to display the numerous rail cars that are a vital part of the town's
tourist appeal. Carbon County owns the land underneath along with the main
track through town. With the lease on the land expiring at the end of this
year, the Lackawanna Chapter offered the County three alternatives to
scrapping the artifacts for cash profit. The County refused all three
options, and neither party has opened negotiations. Thus, scrapping is near.

I offer this open letter with a solution that serves the interest of the
people of Carbon County, the tourism industry in town and R&LHS's long
standing tradition of saving rail history by assuring the preservation of
the site and the rail equipment displayed there. It is a three-step proposal.

1. The Lackawanna Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society
drops its demands for compensation (an inflated $250,000) and sells the
track and turntable to the county for $1. The Chapter, according to media
reports, was donated these assets which they now threaten to scrap. By
selling the assets for $1, they serve the cause of history and keep this
site intact. And they would not lose money since the artifacts were a
gift. One would certainly hope that the Railway & Locomotive Historical
Society would value the preservation of the assets more than the cash
gained from scrapping this gift.

2. Carbon County accepts the $1 price. In exchange for not spending a
large amount of money to acquire the assets, the County agrees to
preserve and restore all the remaining rail assets in Jim Thorpe,
including the very rare turntable. These assets have survived 50 years
past the end of steam power on the rails, and the county has an excellent
chance to capitalize on their restoration as an added attraction to Jim
Thorpe's tourism industry (as has been done in North Conway, NH; Scranton,
PA; Orbisonia, PA and other tourist towns with working railyards and
turntables). Turntables have such general appeal that Montpelier, VT is
turning an abandoned railyard with an intact turntable into a city park!
Funding is available from numerous Federal and State programs for such
projects.


3. The county agrees to store all historic rail equipment currently in Jim
Thorpe until 12/31/2005 on the tracks in question, giving the multiple
private owners a chance to negotiate continued long-term storage leases or
arrange for proper removal of equipment. Trains on site include
irreplaceable steam and diesel locomotives, cabooses, passenger cars and
freight cars - many of which are currently operational and all of which
are irreplaceable.

If all parties can agree to these steps, they will also be agreeing that
the greater good of history and tourism in Jim Thorpe trumps any other
financial gain. Let us hope these parties will agree to this solution, or
similar, before the railyard, turntable and trains that have been the core
of Jim Thorpe tourism for 30 years - and its history for 150 years - are
reduced to scrap in a town that defines our nation's industrial heritage.

Sincerely,

Rob Davis
robertjohndavis@m...

CC: Local newspapers, Carbon County Commissioners, LC of the R&LHS,
national rail magazines and railroad historical societies

[railman]

What a travesty. I hope it all works out.

[Anonymous]

I can't believe they would even think of destroying a piece of Jim Thorpe's history. It shows that people don't car about history. It's sad

[Anonymous]

Cash can be picked up anytime. History cannot be replaced once gone. Put the entire facility on the National Register of Historic Places.

My next question.. why is the Lackawanna Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society suddenly demanding $250,000? What is the root need by this Chapter to motivate them to ask for 250,000 dollars in money?

I am sure we can discover where they need the 250,000 and find it somewhere. But to force scrapping of what literally is the heart and soul of Jim Thrope PA based on the restoration of the visitro's center many parties keeping historic artifacts that are irreplaceable etc etc.

I bet they can follow Steamtown's lead and make the turntable operating by having people donate money or buy small tickets to see exhibits of live steam being driven onto the table turned and put into one of the stalls, living history in action may be one way to generate the 250,000 that appears to be needed.

I wonder if it is possible for a Lawyer with authority in that area of Jim Thorpe to do a Pro Bono injuction against scrapping any of the historical artifacts, turntable and all facilities associated with this problem until either the Chapter finds a solution to it's $250,000 problem or these lands and assets placed on the Historic Register. Ownership should also be transferred back to the donors because to me I dont think scrapping the palce just because some organization demands $250,000 is going to benefit anyone.

[soapbox]

[Anonymous]

I fully agree with you, once these historic artifacts are gone there gone. But I have no clue why Lackawanna Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society. I have a friend who is a member of this organization and maybe I'll ask him why their asking for 250,000 dollars.

[ndbprr]

So becasue you are so upset that they won't preserve them how much have you contirubted to the costs? HMMM?

[Anonymous]

As we said before, the organization can always make money, but the turntable has to be saved and the yard area saved too. And by the way ndbprr, how much have you contributed, the organization never put a price tag on it and if you don't know the facts about the cost , don't say anything. History is priceless. Remember that!!

[Anonymous]

I have never heard of any Historic Society wanting to sell a piece of history for anything. Most of them are there to try to preserve history. The question then should be: what do they want the money for? If it was donated to the town of Jim Thorpe for historical purposes, then it should stay that way.
I once read an article about another historical site where the civil War took place, and someone wanted to build a shopping center on that site, yet the Civil War buffs, asked for help and so far no shopping center has been built. Why can;t the same thing be done from all railroad fans, or even talk to a few of the bigger roads (railroads) to see if they can help? Just a few suggestions, but I do believe in history, and history was made. Now the historical society wants to make history again and destroy it? Maybe the wrong people are running it?
ralph zimmer

[Anonymous]

that f*#%@!+ sucks how can you do that to a part of our past[:(!][?]