Date: Sat, 5 Mar 2005 13:38:17 -0600
Reply-To: Al and Sue Brase <albeeee@MCHSI.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Al and Sue Brase <albeeee@MCHSI.COM>
Subject: Re: gas prices - LONG LIVE MY TDI!!!!!!
In-Reply-To: <e8.e65c9c5.2f5b4a3e@aol.com>
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George:
I couldn't agree more. I, too am dismayed to see the tracks pulled,
roadbeds plowed up, and the highways clogged with 18 wheelers.
Railroads were given a free pass and greed got out of hand and they blew
it. You need to have LOTS for freight traffic to subsidize passenger
traffic.
the VERY best thing to effect this would be $5 or 6 dollar gas. Or for
TRUE conservatives to get control of things and get the government out
of the freight business. SELL the interstate highway system. Private
ownership would then make users pay their fair share of the damage they
cause.
The upside to this would be highways MUCH less crowded so we could enjoy
traveling on them much more in our slightly sluggish Vanagons.
And up to 200 semi-trailers per train on steel wheels piloted by 2 or 3
railroad employees. Freight safely away from drivers (except at
crossings!). OOPS! that would put 200 truck drivers and another 20-50
truck industry employees out of work. Mcdonalds?
Enjoy the $2.50 gas while you can....
Al Brase
George Goff wrote:
>In a message dated 3/5/05 11:49:43 AM, mrpolak@YAHOO.COM writes:
>
><< We buy 3 cars and whine about the demise of public transportation. Who's
>to blame? WE are. >>
>
>Or are we. Anymore, we have little choice.
>
>Years ago, I would take a train whenever I could and this was even before I
>spent time in the NE Corridor. I much preferred the train to flying for a lot
>of reasons and my preference was once validated whenever a race between two
>Washington Post reporters ended with the reporter traveling by train arriving at
>the Post's office in Manhattan before the guy who flew.
>
>The last time I TRIED to take a train, I had a meeting some 70 miles from
>here in Pittsburgh. The meeting was for 10:00 AM so I thought I would catch the
>early train, have a cup of jo, then walk to the meeting. On the flipside, I
>would catch the eastbound train after I had dinner. Whenever I called to book
>a seat, I discovered I would have to leave the night before in order to make a
>10:00 AM appointment, then I would have to stay overnight to catch a train
>home.
>
>As my cousin Bill "Choo Choo" Worthington, a division engineer for the PRR
>then Amtrak, used to always say, there is no more efficient and economical way
>to move people or goods than by steel wheels on steel rails. He died beating
>that same drum without anyone ever really dancing to it.
>
>George
>
>
>
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