Bill, you're treading on dangerous territory, into the realm of
politics and such. The House of Saud, and the House of Bush have
been holding hands, literally, for over 30 years, where America
actually gets most of the crude it uses, etc. This isn't the forum
for that.
And too, everyone has their own pet project. One example of this was
an email floating around last year when one veteran organization was
ripping Target for not directly contributing to them, even though the
company had donated millions to other veteran organizations. So,
there was a huge email campaign against Target, because they wouldn't
fund this one segment. Imagine, what would happen if EVERY charity
did that! The point being not to protect Target, but rather to point
out that one person's or one group's "need" is not necessarily that
large in the big picture. Not saying it CAN'T be, but there has to
be a bit of reason to things.
And, when it comes to reason, such a thing as a train set, regardless
of how we feel about it, is likely not going to be given short shrift
(from the Saudis) when it comes up in the same breath as money for a
9/11 memorial or perhaps a state-of-the-art prosthetics and orthodics
hospital and rehabilitation center, which is far more needed.
And, as I say, there is always the MTZ sitting there. As far as I'm
concerned, the Saudi units are pipe dreams. It's akin to worrying
about the deathly affects of bacon on teens when accidents between
3pm and 8pm are responsible for the most teen deaths in this
country. Or looking for a half dollar you lost on 4th street on
Broadway because the lights better there.
The MTZ is real, it has all of the glass and interior fittings
available. It is in-country, it is available, and it is at least as
historic. Sometimes low-hanging fruit may not be as intuitively
appealing, but it's often as sweet.
At 08:39 AM 11/20/2006, you wrote:
>Bob,
>
>Of course, the Saudi government has enough of "OUR" money to
>rehabilitate the train, ship it to the U.S., provide space for it
>(maybe a couple of hundred acres?) and provide an endowment to
>maintain it! Shoot, they probably take in enough money in one
>afternoon to take care of that small expense.
>
>Bill Barber
>
>On Nov 20, 2006, at 2:17 AM, CBQ@yahoogroups.com wrote:
>
> > Re: texas zephyr
> >
> > Posted by: "Bob Webber" no17@comcast.net rsgrzw
> >
> > Sun Nov 19, 2006 6:36 pm (PST)
> >
> > *IF* there is anything left of any use. And, you would then have to
> > be concerned about finding a museum willing and able to take it. Not
> > just the initial donation, but the everyday maintenance and
> > upkeep. Be sure to add that in the donation request. Then you'd
> > have to find a museum with space. Note that many museums have a
> > similar policy to that of the Illinois Railway Museum - that is if
> > something comes in, something goes out (or gets scrapped). Usually,
> > it's a like for like type of thing. That also narrows the field.
> >
> > Things of this nature - donations of equipment - are often not as
> > simple as saying "Here, take it". One look at what has happened to
> > the collection from the Santa Fe at the California State RR Museum is
> > an indication of that. There are a lot of cars and locomotives that
> > might be saved if that were the case, but saved to what end? To be
> > eventually scrapped anyway? There are finite resources and finite
> > known sources of income. Expenses keep going up every day. Farm land
> > that surrounds the Illinois Railway Museum - where there actually
> > *IS* farm land -is going for a LOT more than it was 5 years ago -
> > and, for those of you who haven't been around there recently, the
> > number of new developments from the I-90 interchange to Union and
> > beyond is unbelievable. What that means - as one example of one
> > institution - is greater costs than ever, in many forms. And, if you
> > think you electric bill is high, think how high one might be running
> > a trolley car around.
> >
> > Donating a train (should one still exist - would be the fulfillment
> > of a lot of dreams, no doubt. But, let's be a bit honest here. The
> > Mark Twain Zephyr sits rotting away. Those three cars in the Black
> > Hills are not getting any younger. There are more than a few other
> > candidates for preservation in the US. I for one would love to see a
> > dome car at the IRM, for one example (or the CRM). BUT, as I say,
> > costs are an important factor to consider. As are museum
> > requirements for accession.
> >
> > At 06:52 PM 11/19/2006, Stephen J. Levine wrote:
> > >T'would be a very nice gesture for the Saudi's to donate their
> > >trains to a museum here.
> >
> > Bob Webber
>
>
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
Bob Webber
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