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Trains News Wire FLASH: Cincinnati council member: Sell railroad to pay for pensions
This could be a move to “clear the slate” on the pensions.
WILLIAM D HAYS from MONTANA why don’t you just keep our thoughts on NYS politics to yourself if your going to just say dumb and hateful things.
Your comment makes no sense in context of the news item… Do you or do you not favor a local government owning a railroad operated by a successful private company? As a Teapot I would think you would favor government getting out of railroading!
Its people like you who will sell Glacier National Park to the Martian brother of Mitt Romney for use as a magnetic rail gun launched base for Newt’s invasion of Venus where he hopes to find his next wife!
All Republicans are routing for the fall of the United States to pave the way for the conquest of surface of Earth by those who now live in hollow core of the planet and are the last descendents of the hedge-fund gods who ruled Atlantis before it sank after a leverage buyout by slug mobsters of Ganymede who all desire to have Sarah Palin who still hasn’t gotten over the fact that the moon is not made of cheese in a metal bikini bought from Neiman Marcus… You betcha!
All hail the gold standard and no free silver! Farewell you right-wing nut loony toon!
Don’t kill the golden goose… I see the money for long term infrastructure as very important… sell the railroad may help pensions but how do you pay for roads twenty years from now? The mayor is right… taxes will go up or there will be more potholes!
Wow, I’m sure this is last idea NS wants to hear, imagine if something can’t get worked out and another railroad buys this out from under them, but NS still has a few more years on the lease so I believe the issue can be worked out. I see a cash grab coming by the city of Cincinnati, if the councilman has his way.
Alternate headlines:
“Boy trapped in refrigerator eats own foot”
or
“City trapped in bad pension plans eats own foot”
Neither provides steady-state relief…
The route doesn’t do much for anyone but NS. I can’t imagine much of a bidding war.
BJT
Not to worry!
The Phantom Empire, 20,000 feet below Earth’s surface was eliminated as a threat by Gene Autrey and the Junior Thunder Riders,
while he simultaneously saved his Radio Ranch, though it took them 12 half hour chapters back in 1930-something.
First Sci_Fi of the “talkies era,” I think.
Goose and Haze, who writes their scripts?
Looking at these comments one would think that too many people have recently visited Colorado for the now legal mole high.
Why not? Other cities and states are selling off assets at fire sale prices to the lowest bidder. So, why should this surprise anybody? All for a very short term economic fix. It reminds me of illegal drug users selling anything they have, just to support their habit.
William Hays of Montana comments about New York City selling the Statue of Liberty. Sounds about right as a future outcome. It has zero value to those who have zero concept of liberty, thanks to decades of brainwashing by big brother socialism.
As for the railroad, NS would be in a real bind if it was sold out from under. It gets more interesting if Unlimited Potential decides to set up remote operations in Kentucky and Tennessee by spending some of its loose pocket change.
I think the city should do a thorough review on this. If it is making a profit, selling it would be a foolish idea as in the long run money would be lost.
How much did CSX & NS pay for CR? This is obviously MUCH smaller.
The state of Indiana sold thru bidding the Indiana Toll Road to a consortium of foriegn companies. If Cincy sold their railroad, NS would have to take on huge debt in order to outbid foreign entities with deep pockets.
If it’s worth $500 million and NS is only paying $20 million a year, that’s a 2 1/2 percent return on investment. If it’s worth a billion or more then the city is really getting screwed.Still it’s not a good idea to sell a performing asset for a one-time budget fix. A few years ago Chicago leased its parking meters for 75 years to a private firm for much less than the annualized revenue stream from the meters. The money is already gone and Chicago is still in a budget mess.
Don’t tell Mayor DeBlasio (Wilhelm, whatever) about this. He’ll put out the Statue of Liberty for bid. The Chinese copper companies would like that! Just name the Brooklyn Bridge for Bloomberg and his ‘hedge funders’ will do the rest. Idlewild Airport (known as JFK International) is on the bock, too. The Kennedy’s didn’t pay a dime for naming rights. What next?
This is not the first time the sale of the Cincinnai Southern has arisen. Around the turn of the century, the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific operating company proposed to buy the Cincinnati Southern from the City of Cincinnati. The sale was nixed when the issue of the line was put before the voters of the city. (It failed by only a few votes.) Since that time, the operating company has invested millions in the line, most notably the daylighting of many tunnels on the “Rathole Division” under Southern Railway president Bill Brosnan. Municipal and state ownership of significant railroad arteries is not as unusual as one might think, ie: the State of North Carolina ownership of the significant line of road that NS continues to operate in the Tar Herl State, the State of Georgia’s ownership of the Westetn & Atlantic (L & N) between Atlanta and Chattanooga or for that matter, the ownership of Georgia Railroad by the Georgia Railroad & Banking Company which leased it to the ACL/ L&N until finally absorbed by SCL/CSX… I would be remiss in this submission if I did not ask the editor of these comments to please limit the comments of submitters to railroad related subjects. I think that I correctly surmise that this is not a political forum. These comments just trash up an otherwise excellent venues. Me thinks a lot of these political hacks just like to blabber. Some of these contributors could well remember the old adage: to not be thougt of as fool, most times it is best to keep ones comments to themselves, otherwise. They may well remove all doubt.
This is not the first time the sale of the Cincinnai Southern has arisen. Around the turn of the century, the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific operating company proposed to buy the Cincinnati Southern from the City of Cincinnati. The sale was nixed when the issue of the line was put before the voters of the city. (It failed by only a few votes.) Since that time, the operating company has invested millions in the line, most notably the daylighting of many tunnels on the “Rathole Division” under Southern Railway president Bill Brosnan. Municipal and state ownership of significant railroad arteries is not as unusual as one might think, ie: the State of North Carolina ownership of the significant line of road that NS continues to operate in the Tar Herl State, the State of Georgia’s ownership of the Westetn & Atlantic (L & N) between Atlanta and Chattanooga or for that matter, the ownership of Georgia Railroad by the Georgia Railroad & Banking Company which leased it to the ACL/ L&N until finally absorbed by SCL/CSX… I would be remiss in this submission if I did not ask the editor of these comments to please limit the comments of submitters to railroad related subjects. I think that I correctly surmise that this is not a political forum. These comments just trash up an otherwise excellent venues. Me thinks a lot of these political hacks just like to blabber. Some of these contributors could well remember the old adage: to not be thougt of as fool, most times it is best to keep ones comments to themselves, otherwise. They may well remove all doubt.
Indiana did not sell the Indiana Toll Road, but rather did a 75 year lease agreement with up front cash which is not being spent (see Michael Moss comment above). Cincinnati has a similar arrangement with ongoing annual cash flow, and made a big mistake negotiating labor contracts for these unreasonable pension obligations. Cities such as Detroit did the same foolish thing, and folks fled the city with no taxpayer base left to cover pensions. Cincy needs to get its spending under control first instead of looking for the quick cash.
Hey JEFFERY GUSE!
One the Statue of Liberty was a gift from FRANCE! You know… Freedom Fries!
Second NJ claims they own it… so its your pal Chris Christie ou need to talk too!
Another government that still doesn’t see the light. Get out of pensions! Big business saw the folly in trying to keep up with pensions decades ago. So why is it that government still think they can stay in pensions? Oh, that’s right, just raise taxes to cover it. Transfer the money they have into 401 (k) programs. Problem solved.