Bill Barber,
An excellent point on Mr. Barber. I see no sense that items that are
just old areas with little logic and with an unnecessary piece of the long
past of the unknown .
Russ
----- Original Message -----
From: "William Barber" <clipperw@gmail.com>
To: <CBQ@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, 20 December, 2007 19:07
Subject: Re: [SPAM][CBQ] Rochelle Depot
> Robby and all,
>
> I suspect that the depot and others like it had three problems from
> the BNSF's standpoint:
>
> 1. No specific current use or business need.
>
> 2. Ongoing and possible significant maintenance and maybe some
> upcoming major expense such as a roof.
>
> 3. Significant annual property taxes paid to the city and county.
>
> Tearing it down probably provided immediate relief for all of the
> above. Giving such things away to the city or others probably
> involves considerable additional expenses in legal fees and
> investigation to find a suitable donee who can taken on the various
> responsibilities involved with ownership (insurance, maintenance and
> possibly taxes. Remember, for many smaller towns, the largest tax
> payer is often the railroad passing through it. The town may not have
> wanted the depot because it would reduce the tax rolls and transfer
> all the responsibility and expense to them. I recall that years ago,
> BN started tearing down the old Galesburg in the middle of the night
> to avoid a public outcry to save it. From the RR's standpoint, the
> old depot was very expensive facility to maintain and was no longer
> needed for RR operations. The RR is a business and making money is
> their goal. Like it or not, nostalgia is not a money maker and having
> a depot museum next to their tracks is probably a liability.
>
> Bill Barber
>
>
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