rtabern
Conductor
Hi!
I am not sure if everyone on AU heard or not by now... but the Chicago-based Trails & Rails group that I was part of... that narrated on the Empire Builder... between Chicago and Winona/St. Paul, MN has been officially dis-banded. As it stands now, we will not be on #7 and #8 come Summer 2011.
I know there are mixed feelings about Trails & Rails... and yes, we had some guides that were quite annoying and didn't know their stuff... but it's something I really poured my heart and soul into for the past 4 years on the Empire Builder and I am sad to see it go. The Chicago-based group was formed in 1999 -- and between 1999 and 2004 went to St. Louis on the Texas Eagle... and then we moved over to the Empire Builder in 2005 to head to Minnesota.
Bascially, the national park unit that was sponsoring us... the Mississippi National River & Recreation Area in St. Paul... decided instead of having Chicago crews go up to Minnesota on #7, overnight, and then head eastbound the next day on #8... it would be cheaper and easier for them to scrap all of the Chicago volunteers... and have St. Paul-based volunteers go from MSP-CBS on #7... and then back CBS-MSP the same day.
While I guess it makes sense from a financial stand point, most of the volunteers feelings are VERY hurt -- we put together the script for the route and the fundementals of the program -- and now a new group of folks out of MSP are taking our materials and using it like it's their own. Just not a good way to do business!!!!!
"Trails & Rails" is trying to find the Chicago volunteers a new route... but at this point... it appears the only thing they are coming up with is a 62-mile short haul between Chicago and New Buffalo or Niles, Michigan on the Wolverine. Most of the volunteers who were on the Empire Builder, including myself, really have no interest in being part of a T&R program for 62 miles on a glorified commuter train... so it's sad to see the break-up of the group.
We had one last get-together in October 2010 to say goodbye to each other... and I put together a video of the route and of our T&R guys. Even though you probably dont know any of them -- unless you ran into us on #7 or #8 the past couple of years -- I thought I'd post it for you to enjoy anyway. (You Tube made me use generic music -- so it's not as good as the original video I showed at the dinner which had train-themed songs)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y01AlC7li0
I am not sure if everyone on AU heard or not by now... but the Chicago-based Trails & Rails group that I was part of... that narrated on the Empire Builder... between Chicago and Winona/St. Paul, MN has been officially dis-banded. As it stands now, we will not be on #7 and #8 come Summer 2011.
I know there are mixed feelings about Trails & Rails... and yes, we had some guides that were quite annoying and didn't know their stuff... but it's something I really poured my heart and soul into for the past 4 years on the Empire Builder and I am sad to see it go. The Chicago-based group was formed in 1999 -- and between 1999 and 2004 went to St. Louis on the Texas Eagle... and then we moved over to the Empire Builder in 2005 to head to Minnesota.
Bascially, the national park unit that was sponsoring us... the Mississippi National River & Recreation Area in St. Paul... decided instead of having Chicago crews go up to Minnesota on #7, overnight, and then head eastbound the next day on #8... it would be cheaper and easier for them to scrap all of the Chicago volunteers... and have St. Paul-based volunteers go from MSP-CBS on #7... and then back CBS-MSP the same day.
While I guess it makes sense from a financial stand point, most of the volunteers feelings are VERY hurt -- we put together the script for the route and the fundementals of the program -- and now a new group of folks out of MSP are taking our materials and using it like it's their own. Just not a good way to do business!!!!!
"Trails & Rails" is trying to find the Chicago volunteers a new route... but at this point... it appears the only thing they are coming up with is a 62-mile short haul between Chicago and New Buffalo or Niles, Michigan on the Wolverine. Most of the volunteers who were on the Empire Builder, including myself, really have no interest in being part of a T&R program for 62 miles on a glorified commuter train... so it's sad to see the break-up of the group.
We had one last get-together in October 2010 to say goodbye to each other... and I put together a video of the route and of our T&R guys. Even though you probably dont know any of them -- unless you ran into us on #7 or #8 the past couple of years -- I thought I'd post it for you to enjoy anyway. (You Tube made me use generic music -- so it's not as good as the original video I showed at the dinner which had train-themed songs)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y01AlC7li0
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