QUOTE: Originally posted by solzrules QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding QUOTE: Originally posted by futuremodal DM&E isn't having trouble getting the money approved Yes Dave, DM&E IS having trouble getting the money. They couldn't get it in the open market. Now they have federal guarantees, and yet, no one seems to be knocking down their doors with a bucket of cash. The Rochester group is latching onto this financing "glitch"(?) as the DM&E's achilles heel. How do you know that? Seems to me that the Rochester coalition in their zeal to run the world were demanding that the DME open the books to them so they could see who's investing. The DME responded that was not how they ran their business. Why doesn't the Mayo clinic open THEIR books and see where all these federal subsidies are going to? The fact is that no one knows who has invested in this or who isn't. The obvious characters like the power plants have been slow to sign on, but that may be for political/legal reasons. The fact that all kinds of ag business organizations as well as several state governments are 100 percent behind this as an opportunity to reign in the BNSF should tell you that someone out there must be willing to throw some money at the PRB expansion.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding QUOTE: Originally posted by futuremodal DM&E isn't having trouble getting the money approved Yes Dave, DM&E IS having trouble getting the money. They couldn't get it in the open market. Now they have federal guarantees, and yet, no one seems to be knocking down their doors with a bucket of cash. The Rochester group is latching onto this financing "glitch"(?) as the DM&E's achilles heel.
QUOTE: Originally posted by futuremodal DM&E isn't having trouble getting the money approved
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Have fun with your trains
QUOTE: Originally posted by beefmalone I don't think the whole thing is a very good idea, but some of you are getting a little too "holier than thou" when it comes to pork projects. Everyone ***es about what goes on in other states, but those same people get awful quiet when their state is getting a few mil for a bean museum or some other crap. The logical relocation for the traffice would be over the MS Export RR then the IC line to hattiesburg then down the NS line to N.O. Why they'd want to run all the way up to Meridian I have no idea. Plenty of less-used trackage that would be perfect for an upgrade. Personally, I wi***he casinos would float away, but they're here now to stay. The Gulf Coast is gone so now we'll end up with lots of "development." The reason CSX isn't objecting is because they have nothing to lose. There aren't any major industries along the way so they end up with $700mil+ in benefits with very little cost to them.
QUOTE: Originally posted by CSSHEGEWISCH QUOTE: Originally posted by futuremodal $700 million? That'd pay for a nice rail link between the DM&E and MRL. Add a little more and MRL can be extended west to a logical West Coast port, And how much is a little more to get from Spokane to tidewater? At any rate, if DM&E is having plenty of trouble in getting $2.5 billion loaned to them to get to the Powder River Basin, what makes you think that connecting with MRL would be any cheaper or easier, let alone build a West Coast extension from Spokane?
QUOTE: Originally posted by futuremodal $700 million? That'd pay for a nice rail link between the DM&E and MRL. Add a little more and MRL can be extended west to a logical West Coast port,
Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
QUOTE: Originally posted by spbed Nah easy solution is just let the casino's pay if they want the land so badly. Surely they have more money then us poor taxpayers[:o)] QUOTE: Originally posted by solzrules QUOTE: Originally posted by Limitedclear QUOTE: Originally posted by greyhounds QUOTE: Originally posted by zardoz So let me get this straight......they want to tear out the railway line that was damaged by the hurricane to build a new highway that is needed for evacuation in case of a hurricane, right? Am I missing something, or would not this new fancy highway suffer the same fate as the railroad tracks, should another hurricane hit? Why should our government authorize another 28.9 billion to rebuild that part of OUR country? We have to rebuild Iraq first. What a great way to get the cash-flow energized--first blow it up at our expense, then rebuild it at our expense. It's all about priorities, I guess. The question is: who's priorities are we following? Oh, it's got nothing to do with 'rebuilding' anything. And everthing to do with Federal 'priorities'. You Bush haters MMAT. The State of Mississippi wants this and they're using Katrina as an excuse to try to grab some Federal (read yours and mine) dollars to do it. They've got a good opportunity down there. Casino gambling is legal in Mississippi (who'd a thunk it!) The Mississippi Gulf Coast in the only place in the continital US that has good beaches, a warm climate, and casino gambling. It's one Hell of an opportunity to develop as a tourist destination. To do this the State of Mississippi wants to give the beach area over to casinos, move the highway inland to the railroad right-of-way and get the freight trains out of town. Fine. If Mississippi wants to do this, then let Mississippi pay for it. There's certainly no Federal interest in developing casinos on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I might vacation there, but my vacations are not a Federal responsibility. It's got nothing to do with the storms. And its got nothing to do with Iraq, President Bush, or Secretary Snow. It's not, in any way, a Federal 'priority' and no Federal Government money should be spent on this project. An interesting point. One of the reasons I posted these articles in the first place is to ask the simple question: What are our national transportation priorities? Should the federal government at the urging of a state (like MS) be able to simply take a railroad line through eminent domain as is proposed here? Shouldn't there be an inquiry by DOT or DOJ as to whether this is in our national interest? As it stands now, there is no such inquiry. So long as the government wants to condemn the propertyand pays appropriate compensation there is virtually no remedy for the railroad. This is one of the major reasons CSX is not taking a position publicly on this proposal. They have nothing to gain by it and potentially quite a bit to lose depending upon what position they take. It is interesting to see that the reasons to approve or disapprove this proposed government action seem to rest solely upon whether we can pay for it, not whether or not it is the right course to take in balancing local needs against our national interest in a cohesive and efficient national transportation system. Only the real establishment of a national transportation policy with the force of federal law will prevent many of the recent attempts by states and localities to change the way our railroads work. LC In which case we might as well federalize the railroads. This proposal is a bunch of garbage. I agree 10000000% with an earlier post. IF Mississippi wants it, let 'em pay for it. The feds have no business getting involved with this, especially if the whole reason is to build more casinos. That has to be the stupidest reason I have ever heard.
QUOTE: Originally posted by solzrules QUOTE: Originally posted by Limitedclear QUOTE: Originally posted by greyhounds QUOTE: Originally posted by zardoz So let me get this straight......they want to tear out the railway line that was damaged by the hurricane to build a new highway that is needed for evacuation in case of a hurricane, right? Am I missing something, or would not this new fancy highway suffer the same fate as the railroad tracks, should another hurricane hit? Why should our government authorize another 28.9 billion to rebuild that part of OUR country? We have to rebuild Iraq first. What a great way to get the cash-flow energized--first blow it up at our expense, then rebuild it at our expense. It's all about priorities, I guess. The question is: who's priorities are we following? Oh, it's got nothing to do with 'rebuilding' anything. And everthing to do with Federal 'priorities'. You Bush haters MMAT. The State of Mississippi wants this and they're using Katrina as an excuse to try to grab some Federal (read yours and mine) dollars to do it. They've got a good opportunity down there. Casino gambling is legal in Mississippi (who'd a thunk it!) The Mississippi Gulf Coast in the only place in the continital US that has good beaches, a warm climate, and casino gambling. It's one Hell of an opportunity to develop as a tourist destination. To do this the State of Mississippi wants to give the beach area over to casinos, move the highway inland to the railroad right-of-way and get the freight trains out of town. Fine. If Mississippi wants to do this, then let Mississippi pay for it. There's certainly no Federal interest in developing casinos on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I might vacation there, but my vacations are not a Federal responsibility. It's got nothing to do with the storms. And its got nothing to do with Iraq, President Bush, or Secretary Snow. It's not, in any way, a Federal 'priority' and no Federal Government money should be spent on this project. An interesting point. One of the reasons I posted these articles in the first place is to ask the simple question: What are our national transportation priorities? Should the federal government at the urging of a state (like MS) be able to simply take a railroad line through eminent domain as is proposed here? Shouldn't there be an inquiry by DOT or DOJ as to whether this is in our national interest? As it stands now, there is no such inquiry. So long as the government wants to condemn the propertyand pays appropriate compensation there is virtually no remedy for the railroad. This is one of the major reasons CSX is not taking a position publicly on this proposal. They have nothing to gain by it and potentially quite a bit to lose depending upon what position they take. It is interesting to see that the reasons to approve or disapprove this proposed government action seem to rest solely upon whether we can pay for it, not whether or not it is the right course to take in balancing local needs against our national interest in a cohesive and efficient national transportation system. Only the real establishment of a national transportation policy with the force of federal law will prevent many of the recent attempts by states and localities to change the way our railroads work. LC In which case we might as well federalize the railroads. This proposal is a bunch of garbage. I agree 10000000% with an earlier post. IF Mississippi wants it, let 'em pay for it. The feds have no business getting involved with this, especially if the whole reason is to build more casinos. That has to be the stupidest reason I have ever heard.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Limitedclear QUOTE: Originally posted by greyhounds QUOTE: Originally posted by zardoz So let me get this straight......they want to tear out the railway line that was damaged by the hurricane to build a new highway that is needed for evacuation in case of a hurricane, right? Am I missing something, or would not this new fancy highway suffer the same fate as the railroad tracks, should another hurricane hit? Why should our government authorize another 28.9 billion to rebuild that part of OUR country? We have to rebuild Iraq first. What a great way to get the cash-flow energized--first blow it up at our expense, then rebuild it at our expense. It's all about priorities, I guess. The question is: who's priorities are we following? Oh, it's got nothing to do with 'rebuilding' anything. And everthing to do with Federal 'priorities'. You Bush haters MMAT. The State of Mississippi wants this and they're using Katrina as an excuse to try to grab some Federal (read yours and mine) dollars to do it. They've got a good opportunity down there. Casino gambling is legal in Mississippi (who'd a thunk it!) The Mississippi Gulf Coast in the only place in the continital US that has good beaches, a warm climate, and casino gambling. It's one Hell of an opportunity to develop as a tourist destination. To do this the State of Mississippi wants to give the beach area over to casinos, move the highway inland to the railroad right-of-way and get the freight trains out of town. Fine. If Mississippi wants to do this, then let Mississippi pay for it. There's certainly no Federal interest in developing casinos on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I might vacation there, but my vacations are not a Federal responsibility. It's got nothing to do with the storms. And its got nothing to do with Iraq, President Bush, or Secretary Snow. It's not, in any way, a Federal 'priority' and no Federal Government money should be spent on this project. An interesting point. One of the reasons I posted these articles in the first place is to ask the simple question: What are our national transportation priorities? Should the federal government at the urging of a state (like MS) be able to simply take a railroad line through eminent domain as is proposed here? Shouldn't there be an inquiry by DOT or DOJ as to whether this is in our national interest? As it stands now, there is no such inquiry. So long as the government wants to condemn the propertyand pays appropriate compensation there is virtually no remedy for the railroad. This is one of the major reasons CSX is not taking a position publicly on this proposal. They have nothing to gain by it and potentially quite a bit to lose depending upon what position they take. It is interesting to see that the reasons to approve or disapprove this proposed government action seem to rest solely upon whether we can pay for it, not whether or not it is the right course to take in balancing local needs against our national interest in a cohesive and efficient national transportation system. Only the real establishment of a national transportation policy with the force of federal law will prevent many of the recent attempts by states and localities to change the way our railroads work. LC
QUOTE: Originally posted by greyhounds QUOTE: Originally posted by zardoz So let me get this straight......they want to tear out the railway line that was damaged by the hurricane to build a new highway that is needed for evacuation in case of a hurricane, right? Am I missing something, or would not this new fancy highway suffer the same fate as the railroad tracks, should another hurricane hit? Why should our government authorize another 28.9 billion to rebuild that part of OUR country? We have to rebuild Iraq first. What a great way to get the cash-flow energized--first blow it up at our expense, then rebuild it at our expense. It's all about priorities, I guess. The question is: who's priorities are we following? Oh, it's got nothing to do with 'rebuilding' anything. And everthing to do with Federal 'priorities'. You Bush haters MMAT. The State of Mississippi wants this and they're using Katrina as an excuse to try to grab some Federal (read yours and mine) dollars to do it. They've got a good opportunity down there. Casino gambling is legal in Mississippi (who'd a thunk it!) The Mississippi Gulf Coast in the only place in the continital US that has good beaches, a warm climate, and casino gambling. It's one Hell of an opportunity to develop as a tourist destination. To do this the State of Mississippi wants to give the beach area over to casinos, move the highway inland to the railroad right-of-way and get the freight trains out of town. Fine. If Mississippi wants to do this, then let Mississippi pay for it. There's certainly no Federal interest in developing casinos on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I might vacation there, but my vacations are not a Federal responsibility. It's got nothing to do with the storms. And its got nothing to do with Iraq, President Bush, or Secretary Snow. It's not, in any way, a Federal 'priority' and no Federal Government money should be spent on this project.
QUOTE: Originally posted by zardoz So let me get this straight......they want to tear out the railway line that was damaged by the hurricane to build a new highway that is needed for evacuation in case of a hurricane, right? Am I missing something, or would not this new fancy highway suffer the same fate as the railroad tracks, should another hurricane hit? Why should our government authorize another 28.9 billion to rebuild that part of OUR country? We have to rebuild Iraq first. What a great way to get the cash-flow energized--first blow it up at our expense, then rebuild it at our expense. It's all about priorities, I guess. The question is: who's priorities are we following?
Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub
QUOTE: Originally posted by spbed Dont worry us taxpayers will wind up footing the bill for this boondoggle since GWB Secy of the $$$$$$$$ is ex CSX CEO Snow [:(!]
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
QUOTE: Originally posted by spbed Ah but as a Secy in GWB Cabinet he has tons of other goodies to offer our elected officals in DC which I think you have completely overlooked to obtain there favorable vote[:o)] QUOTE: Originally posted by Limitedclear Snow won't have anything to do with the passage of this legislation or its signing in to law. That would be Congress and the President. As it has already passed the Senate, that leaves the House of Representatives and the W. LC
QUOTE: Originally posted by Limitedclear Snow won't have anything to do with the passage of this legislation or its signing in to law. That would be Congress and the President. As it has already passed the Senate, that leaves the House of Representatives and the W. LC
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