Hi Tom,
It would be great for a group to restore a Q steamer and for BNSF to be
friendly to the idea. I myself would love to see shovelnose Zephyrs and
Chinese red GP-20's running in excursion service (Yes, the GP-20 is a
freight loco --- So what! ) as well as steam.
The above is what I would like to see. What do you want to see? A
Zephyr pulled by an E unit, a CB&Q push pull suburban train? Would BNSF
be just interested in the Q? What about GN, NP, SP&S, ATSF and Frisco?
Lets try this on for size. The historical societies that represent the
railroads that made up BNSF form an entity to acquire, preserve, and
operate historic equipment of the roads that made up BNSF. This not to
be a duplicate of the URHS of New Jersey that spends most of its time on
bended knee asking for handouts from the state. Like the IRM, this
entity has to have many players. The government can be a player, but not
the only player. Corporations, small businesses, volunteers, individual
benefactors, and other sources can be utilized and must have a say in
this business.
I use the word business, because this is how it has to be run to be
successful. Our biggest partner would have to be BNSF itself. The first
thing that we do is to change the way we approach BNSF. We do not say to
them, "We are interested in running historic trains on your road. Will
you please let us do it?" Instead we say, "We have a wonderful way to
make BNSF the first choice. You must agree that if your customers see
and ride on living history of all your accomplishments, they will know
why BNSF has to be the way to ship. A corporate exec who has just taken
his or her child or grandchild on a wonderful ride into history will
think good thoughts of BNSF when freight has to be shipped."
The trip could be 5 miles or 500 miles. Lets check the market and profit
& loss potential.
Like I said, lets run it like a business.
Does a railroad want to be loved? BNSF does. UP, CP, CSX, and NS are
very much against the BNSF-CN merger. Read today's Wall Street Journal
about the joint internet venture of the 4 big roads. BNSF may just want
something to make it look less corporate and more human.
We may have the answer for it.
Jack Grasso
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