Its time for railfans to put there money were the mouth is and Fund a Railroad IPO and run a RR!

[edblysard]

OH NO!!!
It looks like I'm not in Kansas anymore.....

anybody seen my dog?


Ed[:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by M.W. Hemphill

Ed, Ed, Ed ... there's a whole big world out there beyond the Yard Limit sign.

LOL!!

Hey! I ponied up first, I deserve at least V.P. Transportation...

I'm thinking Mark could take Haverty's job, I don't need THAT much responsibility...

Ed, you've been everywhere, I see you as V.P. Sales and marketing...

LC

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by M.W. Hemphill

Just checking to see if you're planning to run the whole thing at restricted speed. That way you can get rid of an entire craft, you know, and make the yardmaster much happier, since he'll be boss of everything!

NO WAY!!

Number 8 AND SAND BABY!!! Here we come!!

And don't show me any bad signals...

LC

[Overmod]

Oh no... is this going to be like the D&H SD-45 gag in the "I Love Toy Trains" videos?

She was goin' downgrade makin' ninety miles an hour
When they heard that whistle scream,
He was found in the wreck with his hand on the throttle
Scalded to death by the steam...

or

They arrested me and put me in jail
and called my pappy to go my bail
and he said "Son you're gonna drive me to drinkin'
if you don't stop driving that HOT... ROD... LINCOLN...

[edblysard]

I was asking for bids on jobs, we still need car knockers, I tagged you for chief dispatcher,
but now...
looks like I got promoted, and then stuck in Kansas....
Thats twice in one year....
Boy, this place if really really flat.....
and last time, I got to take my dog...
Think they got beavers here?

Ed

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by edblysard

I was asking for bids on jobs, we still need car knockers, I tagged you for chief dispatcher,
but now...
looks like I got promoted, and then stuck in Kansas....
Thats twice in one year....
Boy, this place if really really flat.....
and last time, I got to take my dog...
Think they got beavers here?

Ed

Ed-

I'm pretty sure they got beavers there...

Don't forget Randy, he is definitely V.P. Mechanical...

LC

[jeaton]

I would take on bean counter, just give me plenty of ( )'s and -'s signs, and a fat E&O policy.

I propose junctionfan as a director and chair of the compensation committee. That should give him some respect.

Jay

[MP57313]

QUOTE: Originally posted by edblysard
Ok, I bite...
lots of jobs up for bids...
So, whos in?
Ed

Do you need an auditor?[:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by edblysard

Ok, I bite...
I take out a equity loan on the old house...sell the kids, and rent the Magnum out for joy rides, but I get to be the trainmaster....
So, what color other than battleship gray for the New, Employee Owned KCS?

And who get to run TexMex?

Mudchicken can be the chief engineer/MOW foreman...Mookie is administration/vice prez in charge of public relations, Kevin is the...well, what is Kevin.....ah ha!
Motive power desk!
LC is the super...and CSXengineer is roadforeman of engines...
Keno is personel, and tree, (Larry) our safety officer...
Hemphill can be chief dispatcher, first trick...(no more midnights....not bad Mark!)

lots of jobs up for bids...

So, whos in?

Ed
Ed

I would be happy just to be a loco engineer. OK?

<Can we buy 5 or 7 chime horns? PLEASE. [:D]

And trainfinder can be the traveling "cell tester". [}:)] [;)] [:D]

[edblysard]

Sure Jim, you can run the motors...
As soon as Mookie tells us what color to paint them, and where to put the cats paw print logo!

And yes, Mark, I do get out of the yard once in a while, Uncle Pete lets us come play in his sandbox on occasion.

Although there is a lot to be said about running a small railroad on RTC, with a few of UP's CTC sections thrown in, and having most of it FRA exempt, in that all of it is "inside yard limits" and under the restricted speed rule.

You yourself pointed out that the average freight train speed is 25 mph, and our max speed limit on our "running rails" is 20.

You can move a heck of a lot of cars at 20 mph......

I spent a day up in the control tower, watching our general yardmaster, who has to wear the dual hat of yardmaster and dispatcher...keeping track of 20 or so of our jobs without the benefit of a CTC board, both our "road" and yard jobs, and keeping tabs on the member line's inbound trains and crews, is a little more hectic than I like.

Do it right, and things seem to just about run themselves, but screw up one simple little move, and you shut down the entire thing.

Why you guys dont all have gray hair, facial twiches, and ulcers the size of baseballs is beyond me...

Ed

[locomutt]

Well,with all these other "GOOD" people running this,I guess I can kick in.
I like the idea of a "Paw Print" for the herald,don't really care about the color of
paint,so long as it is NOT yellow with any gray.

You know,after thinking about this for awhile,I think we might really have a
good chance of making a class railroad.

Oh yeah,Has anybody come up with what uniforms would look like? I mean
we can't go around looking scruffy and like we haven't changed clothes for
several days. After all, we are professioals,aren't we.

I'm not sure what job I would like to have,but for some reason,security comes
to mind. I like telling people where they can go.[:D][:-^]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by locomutt

Well,with all these other "GOOD" people running this,I guess I can kick in.
I like the idea of a "Paw Print" for the herald,don't really care about the color of
paint,so long as it is NOT yellow with any gray.

You know,after thinking about this for awhile,I think we might really have a
good chance of making a class railroad.

Oh yeah,Has anybody come up with what uniforms would look like? I mean
we can't go around looking scruffy and like we haven't changed clothes for
several days. After all, we are professioals,aren't we.

I'm not sure what job I would like to have,but for some reason,security comes
to mind. I like telling people where they can go.[:D][:-^]

Colors . . . well I kinda like Blue and Red (so would a lot of people out west) or we could jump coasts and go with a nice light blue (and don't forget a word or two about "Quality"), or we could go with a nice madrian orange and white (very visible but the orange looked Red when new and only looked orange when faded so lets just go a nice Red and White).

I thought railroads were "self-insured"? So where do we get an E & O policy? (Kinda sounds like a good railroad nic, doesn't it? [:D]

Walt, when you mention "security" and telling people where to go, did you have anyONE in mind? [}:)] [;)] [:D] <Jim can guess REAL GOOD.> [:p]

Will we start using kitty litter as ballast? [:D]

Replace bottled water with MILK?

Is every Friday "Causual Day"? Clothing optional [}:)]

Instead of "Bears" wearing engineer hats will our souvenirs be Cats being engineer hats. ( Hey this one could really CATch on. [;)] )

[Randy Stahl]

I still have an ALCO S-6 for sale, along with a GE 60 tonner.
Randy

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl

I still have an ALCO S-6 for sale, along with a GE 60 tonner.
Randy

I wouldn't mind engineering the Alco but the GE, nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. [;)]

We will see if we can get our mechanical VP to buy the Alco. Hey, I think YOU are the mechanical VP, looks like the loco just SOLD. [:D]

[jeaton]

Jim-E&O Errors and Omissions. I'll get my insurance license and broker the deal. No conflict there.

Jay[}:)]

PS Did somebody mention Auditor?? Do you really want some suit running around snooping into your business.

[locomutt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

QUOTE: Originally posted by locomutt

Well,with all these other "GOOD" people running this,I guess I can kick in.
I like the idea of a "Paw Print" for the herald,don't really care about the color of
paint,so long as it is NOT yellow with any gray.

You know,after thinking about this for awhile,I think we might really have a
good chance of making a class railroad.

Oh yeah,Has anybody come up with what uniforms would look like? I mean
we can't go around looking scruffy and like we haven't changed clothes for
several days. After all, we are professioals,aren't we.

I'm not sure what job I would like to have,but for some reason,security comes
to mind. I like telling people where they can go.[:D][:-^]

Colors . . . well I kinda like Blue and Red (so would a lot of people out west) or we could jump coasts and go with a nice light blue (and don't forget a word or two about "Quality"), or we could go with a nice madrian orange and white (very visible but the orange looked Red when new and only looked orange when faded so lets just go a nice Red and White).

I thought railroads were "self-insured"? So where do we get an E & O policy? (Kinda sounds like a good railroad nic, doesn't it? [:D]

Walt, when you mention "security" and telling people where to go, did you have anyONE in mind? [}:)] [;)] [:D] <Jim can guess REAL GOOD.> [:p]

Will we start using kitty litter as ballast? [:D]

Replace bottled water with MILK?

Is every Friday "Causual Day"? Clothing optional [}:)]

Instead of "Bears" wearing engineer hats will our souvenirs be Cats being engineer hats. ( Hey this one could really CATch on. [;)] )

As far as colors go,I'm rather partial to med.or dk. blue;with the paw print either in white,or
yellow.[:)]

Okay,have we named the line yet? The CAT-A-LANA LINES might work,or it could be the
UNI-SYSTEM[:)]

Yes we can use kitty litter for ballast,just have to remember to buy white glue by the tank
car load.[:)]

Use of the "cat" as a souvenir sounds good,but we might have a problem with another
road who seems to have a trademark on that[:(]

And as for the "security," just try to keep "UNAUTHORIZED" people off company property,
and prosecute tresspassers the FULLEST intent that the law allows.[:D]
And if that comes under the heading of this means you;Then guess what.[:D]
Yeah Jim,you do guess pretty well[:D][}:)]

Don't know about "causual" Friday;I just thought uniforms would be a little nicer.
Nothing fancy mind you,basicly shirt with logo on it and med.color slacks.[:D]

Walt[^][:p]

[Overmod]

Colors might be red -- that's Tuscan red -- and gold...

"The road of PURR-fect service"

In this day and age of printed wraps for vehicles with advertising on them, and inexpensive vinyl cut lettering (cf. Reading and Northern) we don't have to settle for a stylized paw print. Why not do the broken dish as the REAL dish -- Chessie her own precious self. (We'll reserve Peake and the kittens for later)

Come to think of it, dark blue and yellow are good colors, too, even if CSX has a bit more 'right' to 'em. As I noted in another post, I liked the old Chessie System diesel paint, too.

Do we get to put up overhead wire CATenary ASAP? Or use tabby 'tiger stripes' for anticollision markings?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jeaton

Jim-E&O Errors and Omissions. I'll get my insurance license and broker the deal. No conflict there.

Jay[}:)]

Jay [;)]

When I sold life, health, and P and C insurance I had an E & O policy. It was required. [:(]

But I still think E & O sounds like a good nic for a railroad. <Bet Locomutt would agree [;)] >

[jeaton]

OK, the yet to be determined Chairman of the Board has called a combined Board/Officers meeting. The agenda:

1. 9:00-10:00am Coffe Break.

2. 10:00am-3:00pm Decide on restaurant for Lunch.

3. 3:00pm-5:00pm Lunch (Possibly later pending resolution of Item 2)

4. 5:00pm-? Come up with the name for the company.

5. ?-? Adjournment vote.

Those in attendance should advise family of possible extended absence.

WHAT A TEAM!!!

[Anonymous]

Careful what you wish for. We already own a railroad and have nothing but Amtrak bashers to show for it.

Wayne

[daveklepper]

Friends, there already are railroads successfully run by railfans. Is the name the Blue Mountain and Reading? How about the Strassburg? Mt. Washingotn Cog? and more. The East Troy (Wis) Trolley Museum (which also handles carload frieght with a trolley freight locomotive, just like the class interurbns did!) The owner operators of these lines are truly both railfans and practical railroaders. And may be they all be truly blessed!

[cherokee woman]

HEY!! I want a job on this railroad of ours. What do you want me to do? (and it
better NOT be housekeeping: have enough trouble with that at home.) How about
ticket taker?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cherokee woman

HEY!! I want a job on this railroad of ours. What do you want me to do? (and it
better NOT be housekeeping: have enough trouble with that at home.) How about
ticket taker?

<I was going to say Chief Cook (since you plan meals in the coffee shop so much) but Arkansas and Kentucky are just toooo close together for my safety. Add to the fact that you do have my address and phone number, so I guess I will just keep that thought to myself. [;)] >

[jeaton]

CW

How about Senior VP of house keeping and food service. That makes you an officer and as LM would tell you officers aren't allowed to do any of the actual work.

I have recommendations for two other spots. Trainfinder22 started this mess, so he gets to be Chairman of the Board. His job is to get the bonds sold, and since he may not have any experience in that area, I think we can bring on Michael Miliken as an advisor. Killing two birds with one stone, I could get Miliken to help me with the books.

Oh yes, junctionfan for strategic planning.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jeaton




I have recommendations for two other spots. Trainfinder22 started this mess, so he gets to be Chairman of the Board. His job is to get the bonds sold.

Man oh man, now we have our first "board" fight. I think the majority of our stockholders would not approve that position, not necessarily that position, just the nonimee for that position. [}:)]

He might work well for the board of Enron though. [}:)]

[Junctionfan]

How about me being the cheif operating officer? My organization and logic can make the trains efficiently run and I don't make mainline train crews have to wait for an eternity at signals or make a mainline train into a switching train, picking up every car at every yard on the way (CN crews probably know what I mean).

[jeaton]

Jim

Ok, I admit it. Wife and I entertained good friends on this warm Fall afternoon. A few beverages and a big meal gives me wierd streaks of inspiration. Sober minds will prevail.

Jay[:D]

[Junctionfan]

BTW

I won't make spelling or grammar mistakes because that's what secretaries are for.
[(-D][(-D][:-^]

[railman]

I've done some parlamentary debate in my time...we need an honest and open discussion on the future of the railfan railroad; after all, with both international and regional pressure, we're going to need to expand beyond our current hypothetical main lines and reach into underserved areas along the aforementioned rails.
If expansion doesn't work, consider a merger. I heard UP is looking to take over another national line.

[jeaton]

Railman

I'd vote to get that in our strategic plan. If we can get all 7 Class 1's bidding for us, we could take those IPO shares of Microsoft we all bought at put them to use in the bathroom.

[}:)][}:)][:D][:D]

Jay