Heartland Corridor

[NW Mailing List]

I grew up in Bluefield in sight of the passenger station. There is a lot besides 
tunnel portals that I wish they had spent money to preserve the way I remember 
it. But the world changes. Frankly, if I had my way they would still be running 
the Pocahontas and Powhatan Arrow behind class J's. But I understand why they 
are not! In fact, they threw good money after bad for several years on those 
trains. I never liked the fact that they took the skirts off the streamlined 
passenger cars. But I was glad they ran them as long as they did, even without 
skirts.
     So why don't we rejoice in the fact that they can now run double stacks on 
the Pokey even as revenue from hauling coal declines. At least the tunnels are 
in use. Living in Nashville for the past 21 years, I have witnessed the 
disappearance of many miles of the old Tennessee Central. This was because they 
ran out of money to spend. Think about it.      Jim Nichols




________________________________
From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Sent: Thu, August 19, 2010 9:11:56 AM
Subject: Heartland Corridor


I don’t need numbers to support my position, or defend it.  You don’t have to 
agree although I think many of you do.
First of all, I don’t trust anybody that sees only green dollars.  Secondly, is 
there anybody out there who thinks that a third-grader with a hammer and chisel 
wouldn’t have done a neater, cleaner, more professional job of opening up the 
tunnels?  I am not talking about the hardworking people who actually did the 
work asked of them.  They were top notch.  I am talking about the directors of 
the projects who abandoned their pride in the railroad to save a few dollars.  
It was a hatchet job.  Vandalism.  Desecration.
I love Norfolk Southern, N&W and the Virginian—that is why I feel the way I do.  
Do they send out stock certificates with ragged edges?  Do any of the executives 
live in run-down homes?  If any of them commissioned work on their homes and it 
turned out like the tunnel portals, would they revel in how much money they 
saved?  

 
Dave, you asked what a semi-bottom line is.  It is my way of saying that it 
answers the question “What is the cost now?” and doesn’t take into account, 
“what is the long term cost?”  There may be no way of knowing long term cost, 
but it should be considered by smart people.  They knew the cost of not opening 
the tunnels, after all.
 
Michael Shockley
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