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Ventura County plans to terminate Fillmore & Western lease
There is supposedly one comment at this time, but it must be written in invisible ink. Hopefully, this one will not duplicate something I cannot see.
As I noted in a response to a previous article, there needs to be a campaign to persuade the sale of the branch line to the Fillmore & Western with the right to provide freight service as a common carrier short line. Uncle Pete does not want to deal with less than unit trains.
Wasn’t there once talk about a TRAINS jinx??
Didn’t I read that one of the Ventura county supervisors wanted to turn the line into a bike trail?
Rgds
The Trains curse strikes again!
I have written to the Ventura Co. Star about the error in their May 16, 2013 article: “Last week, the commission vowed to stop the financial bleeding, with some commissioners questioning the wisdom of subsidizing the for-profit railway to the tune of about $600,000 a year in an era of shrinking transit dollars.”
The correct average number over the eleven years cited is $331,022.46, significantly lower than the Star reported.
Great idea, take all the money and give it to people that have never worked in their life and don’t intend too… How about the Fillmore & Western Railway demanding to see the Ventura County Transportation Commission financial records? Maybe a public display of the waste that Ventura County is throwing around at anything that moves and is broke… just saying
VCTC may hit a roadblock if they try to have any freight service on the branch. The folks on the Santa Clarita end of the R-O-W are terrified at the idea of the corridor serving as a link for the Port of Hueneme through their area.
Another instance of Gov’t arogance and incompetance. Can’t imagine that the UP would be interested in maintaining and operating a little branchline to serve one small industry. Instead, why don’t these County morons negotiate with F&W to operate the freight service and at the same time possibly narrow the alledged current operating deficit. (Has anyone audited/investigated the County’s books lately? ? ?)
This is an opportunity to use creative thinking and allow the F&W to purchase the entire branch and operate freight service, as well as the tourist and film/TV work that it presently does. A huge railroad like UP will not consider serving one potential freight customer, that does not exist as of today, as anything but an annoyance.
Of course we ALL know railroads are dead and we need more highways. Of course, most “Super Slabs” are not constructed to be directly beneficial to economic development nor do they benefit communities through the payment of property taxes. I agree with most of the other submissions, make a deal with the F&W and let them run the railroad. Most politicians have NO rail concept and couldn’t lead a starving man to a free lunch!
The TRAINS article, in which Fillmore and Western said that after years of losses, things had
gotten better, may have been what lured the greedy vultures.
Like any government agency, Ventura County just wants more money, no matter where it comes from.
Bullying is not beyond governmental tactics.
How a Fillmore and Western shutdown will affect county revenues from associated tourism and
major movie industry spending in Ventura County, they may need to think about.
What could be better for a rail line than to have it in operation?! I agree with Mr. Carr. Lets see the records of the Ventura County Transportation Commision. There is where the “rat hole” will be.
If they replace the railroad with a snowmobile trail, hollywood can provide fake snow, and a new industry will spark the southern Cali economy.
So in the latest story about the Strasburg Railroad it uses steam power to haul tourists but it also provides freight service. If they want a freight customer there then let the tourist railroad do the hauling to earn some more money and maybe it would not need money from the county.
The TRAINS mag. jinks strikes again !
This sounds like an under the table grab to eventually sell the land to “friends” in the property development business.
This a perfect case where binding arbitration should be used to mediate an issue where neither side agrees with the other. Nothing good can come from this continued stalemate.
This sounds like a back door way for the county to abandon the RR and proceed with their Rails to Trails scheme(s). It would be a dastardly deed if they do it.