If anyone deserves bashing it's Beaumont's impotent city council for taking their marching orders from KCS. And of course the federal government for agreeing to give away a cool million for a partially covered slab along a non-daily route in a rather questionable part of a dumpy little town. :wacko:Actually ,as has been discussed, this is a Total Waste of Tax Payers Money when a Real Station should have been built Downtown! Stuff like this gives T-Pub No-Nothings Ammo they need to Hammer Needed and Real Government Funded Programs like say Amtrak!
RR's fall under Federal law & jurisdiction; there is little that the city council could do to threaten KCS.If anyone deserves bashing it's Beaumont's impotent city council for taking their marching orders from KCS. And of course the federal government for agreeing to give away a cool million for a partially covered slab along a non-daily route in a rather questionable part of a dumpy little town. :wacko:Actually ,as has been discussed, this is a Total Waste of Tax Payers Money when a Real Station should have been built Downtown! Stuff like this gives T-Pub No-Nothings Ammo they need to Hammer Needed and Real Government Funded Programs like say Amtrak!
While there is not much a municipality can do directly, there are a few things they can do indirectly. Railroads exist in an industry that is so heavily regulated that few companies are capable of avoiding every possible regulatory infraction. Observing, researching, reporting, and publicizing those violations can increase scrutiny of a kind no railroad would want. What's to stop Beaumont from keeping a careful eye on everything KCS does and making sure it gets as many eyeballs as possible? When San Antonio started having problems with Union Pacific a few years back they weren't able to force UP to do anything, but they managed to win several concessions anyway. From what I understand these concessions included changes to speed limits, hazardous cargo routings, terminal locations, and even the sale of traffic rights to other carriers. Beaumont is obviously much smaller than San Antonio so they'd need to be even more determined and devious to get what they wanted. Or they could simply give up and make do with their slab for their once-in-while service on a not-so-important route that could be discontinued the moment a big storm passes through.RR's fall under Federal law & jurisdiction; there is little that the city council could do to threaten KCS.
Happy "Hour" is from 3 to 4 A.M. :lol:Hey! The slab looks better already!
Jim didn't mention that the 2 drink minimum at "J & J's Saloon" costs $100,000 for each drink!(But they do have Happy Hour each Thursday morning when drinks are half price!)
I dunno Alan...some years back the little town of Pontchatoula (south of Hammond, LA on the IC main) wanted the abandoned station for a farmers market. The IC laughed when the mayor said he'd impose a 5 mph speed limit through town if he didn't get what he wanted. The IC didn't laugh too loud when the mayor had his two man police force flag down every train that looked like it was going better than 5 (every train). (I know the Feds have speed limit jurisdiction) BUT the mayor got his depot for a dollar and the trains rolled through at max speed. True story !!!RR's fall under Federal law & jurisdiction; there is little that the city council could do to threaten KCS.If anyone deserves bashing it's Beaumont's impotent city council for taking their marching orders from KCS. And of course the federal government for agreeing to give away a cool million for a partially covered slab along a non-daily route in a rather questionable part of a dumpy little town. :wacko:Actually ,as has been discussed, this is a Total Waste of Tax Payers Money when a Real Station should have been built Downtown! Stuff like this gives T-Pub No-Nothings Ammo they need to Hammer Needed and Real Government Funded Programs like say Amtrak!
How far is Orange from Beaumont?
Hey, there's a spot for J&J's Saloon! Lobby Amtrak to make it a crew change points, or to add at least some padding in the schedule there! And if you also offer Coke products (the drink kind), you'll be sold out after every train!
Looks nice as is to me! For $2M, it would probably look a little better (fence in wrought iron, engine instead of dozer and better looking passenger cars in a color other than green).
Still has a ways to go.
AlohaI don't understand all the bickering. Beaumont needed a station and now they will have one. I think it's great. And it's a good use of Obama money. The city plans to upgrade the area around the station and build a police sub station there also. It's certainly better than what was there.
I agree Henry. Sure it might have been 100% perfect if they could have gotten the other location. But this is still 99.9% better than what Beaumont had.I don't understand all the bickering. Beaumont needed a station and now they will have one. I think it's great. And it's a good use of Obama money. The city plans to upgrade the area around the station and build a police sub station there also. It's certainly better than what was there.
I too agree that Beaumont desperately needs a new station.
I am just perplexed at why they are building it at the old location.
It is a ways from downtown, and kind of in a remote, desolate area of Beaumont.
I can't believe they couldn't find a site closer to downtown, if not right in downtown.
This whole thing in indicative of the the city of Beaumont's attitude toward Amtrak and of passenger train travel.
They obviously don't think it is an important aspect of local travel and/or tourism.
When I visit Texas, Beaumont is my final destination. When I tell my family and friends in Beaumont that I take Amtrak, many of them didn't even know there was an Amtrak stop in Beaumont.
For most people in TX (I know I am generalising a bit here), train travel is not a mode of travel that they think about. People down there hop in their cars and drive everywhere, or take a plane to their destination.
I think if Amtrak publicized/emphasized the Sunset more as a good way to get to New Orleans, more people in the Beauomont area would take it.
I often drive to New Orleans from Beaumont with some of my cousins (they wouldn't even consider Amtrak, mainly because of where the station is). It is not too long of a drive, but I would much rather take Amtrak.
And a stop at Orange would be good to.
Just my 2 pesos as usual.......
David
Regardless of what Beaumont thinks it needs there was never a compelling case for the federal government to bankroll it. Beaumont could just have easily added a waiting area to their fancy new police station for their once-every-few-days train service.I too agree that Beaumont desperately needs a new station.
It was Kansas City Southern who blocked any talk of using the original station or for having any station anywhere near downtown.The city of Beauomont had another site picked out but couldn't get a deal done with the host railroad in time. Since the station was being paid for with stimulus money they had a very short window to negotiate.
They already admitted they wanted the station to be downtown but were told to take a hike by KCS. They also realized that they were unlikely to get another chance to fleece the federal government and had to move fast before the free money was gone. Personally I don't consider those to be good reasons at all.I agree, it is in the middle of nowhere, but I'm sure they had a good reason for putting it where they did.
I don't know how true it is; but someone from Waveland, MS once told me that in the early 60's when the L&N (now CSX) wanted to kill what was essentially a commuter train between New Orleans and Bay St. Louis, the town of Waveland threatened to do the same. He claimed the RR gave in. But obviously, it was only temporary.I dunno Alan...some years back the little town of Pontchatoula (south of Hammond, LA on the IC main) wanted the abandoned station for a farmers market. The IC laughed when the mayor said he'd impose a 5 mph speed limit through town if he didn't get what he wanted.RR's fall under Federal law & jurisdiction; there is little that the city council could do to threaten KCS.
Wow, someone is just never happy. It was a broken up slab. People had to wait for the train in their cars. It is a perfectly good use of Federal money, far better than a lot of other uses. Beaumont is an oil town, a port, an industrial complex. It isn't pretty. Stations have to be located along train tracks. Train tracks go through the worst parts of town. The pictures I have seen of the new station look very nice. I think it is a good fix. The station is close to I10 and not that far from downtown, such as it is. Most of Beaumont shops at the mall on US69 north of town, which is no where near either.Regardless of what Beaumont thinks it needs there was never a compelling case for the federal government to bankroll it. Beaumont could just have easily added a waiting area to their fancy new police station for their once-every-few-days train service.
It was Kansas City Southern who blocked any talk of using the original station or for having any station anywhere near downtown.
They already admitted they wanted the station to be downtown but were told to take a hike by KCS. They also realized that they were unlikely to get another chance to fleece the federal government and had to move fast before the free money was gone. Personally I don't consider those to be good reasons at all.
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