How paranoid can we become? What makes any of you duct tape-hoarding, plastic
sheet-wrapping chicken littles think a terrorist is going to bother withasking
a group like ours for information that he can obtain just as easilyfrom the
USGS, the public library, any number of map-making web sites, or just getting
in a car and following the nearest rail line to its next yard?
Besides, based on our record of answering questions, he's likely to get
100answers, 49 of which contradict the 50 previous answers and break down into
arguing over whether it is milepost 231.4 or 231.5, whether motor 501 wasever
painted white or had its headlight replaced in July of 1955 or Augustof 1954,
or whether coal loads were ever spotted at Aurora -- in other words, the poor
terrorists will be sucked into the very things that make this group so fun and
interesting.
And one more thing, when you report my unpatriotic outburst to John Ashcroft,
make sure you tell him I'm the Robert Brown in Missouri and not that nice
gentleman in Iowa.
Robert F. Brown
St. Charles, MO
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