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 Post subject: Another Trail Proposal Attacking an Extant Tourist Line
PostPosted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 9:46 am 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:51 pm
Posts: 11473
Location: Somewhere east of Prescott, AZ along the old Santa Fe "Prescott & Eastern"
I'm just gonna leave this here without comment. The line in question is the Winnepesaukee Scenic between Meredith and Weirs Beach in New Hampshire:

http://www.laconiadailysun.com/newsx/lo ... -wow-trail


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 Post subject: Re: Another Trail Proposal Attacking an Extant Tourist Line
PostPosted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 9:51 am 

Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 11:07 am
Posts: 630
How much of a study would they get for 10,000?

Does the word "naive" apply?

Bob H


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 Post subject: Re: Another Trail Proposal Attacking an Extant Tourist Line
PostPosted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 10:09 am 

Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:18 pm
Posts: 2226
Heavenrich wrote:
How much of a study would they get for 10,000?

Does the word "naive" apply?

Bob H


The south shore extension cost millions in a study. 10,000 may get 3 people 5 days taking pictures.


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 Post subject: Re: Another Trail Proposal Attacking an Extant Tourist Line
PostPosted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 7:39 pm 

Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:06 am
Posts: 329
Heavenrich wrote:
How much of a study would they get for 10,000?

Does the word "naive" apply?

Bob H


A closer read of the article reveals the $10k figure is only the city's portion. Other contributors are indicated. mld


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 Post subject: Re: Another Trail Proposal Attacking an Extant Tourist Line
PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 2:47 pm 

Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 5:46 am
Posts: 2603
Location: S.F. Bay Area
A lot of these projects are nothing more than grand schemes to leech G-money, partly in consultancy fees to write reports that are basically phoned-in. People pouring in private capital would defeat the purpose of taking off the dole. So it's likely the town or state match is all there is to this project.

If I were king, the government could only match $3 for every $1 raised by proper fundraising, donations capped at $100 for matching purposes, and donors would be ineligible to leech (get contracts). This consultant report would've required $2500 donations from at least 25 people. Those donors would expect so much more for their money. It would shut down this entire business.


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 Post subject: Re: Another Trail Proposal Attacking an Extant Tourist Line
PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 3:37 pm 

Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 7:28 pm
Posts: 545
Location: Northern WV
Ah yes, the government study.


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 Post subject: Re: Another Trail Proposal Attacking an Extant Tourist Line
PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 4:09 pm 

Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2015 11:54 am
Posts: 1769
Location: New Franklin, OH
Hmmm.... $10k city money plus money from bike trail proponents. Doesn't sound like the end result would be unbiased. If I lived there, I'd be looking at that closely since the city is spending tax dollars for a study with a possibly predetermined conclusion. Just sayin'...

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 Post subject: Re: Another Trail Proposal Attacking an Extant Tourist Line
PostPosted: Sun Oct 29, 2017 3:43 pm 

Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 5:46 am
Posts: 2603
Location: S.F. Bay Area
Who did the railroad cheese off? Somebody hates them...

We can reverse engineer the numbers to see the railroad is taking in a million bucks a year. In my experience visitors spend 2-3x that at other local businesses. And then there's the multiplier when the railroad spends much of their income locally. I regularly get comments like "you're killing my business" when we don't run or "I want your schedule so I know when to add staff", and mind you, we're super small. I'm talking real spending, not this fantasy money they stick in these reports: if the railroad were credited for the same Sean Spicer numbers as the pro-trail reports use, it would be 10 times! So the bike path had better show more than $10M by a margin to pay its capital costs.

Realistically, bike paths cause a spike in business for the ice cream parlor and comic book shop because the #1 beneficiary is neighborhood kids.

End of the day, the railroad is a real functioning producing business, and real tourism. The trail is a fantasy of some starry eyed bicyclists with a hidden agenda to get the government to subsidize their fun.


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 Post subject: Re: Another Trail Proposal Attacking an Extant Tourist Line
PostPosted: Fri Nov 10, 2017 1:36 pm 

Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 12:53 pm
Posts: 291
Location: Alna, ME
The State of New Hampshire has spoken... They will not support a trail-without-rail:
http://www.laconiadailysun.com/newsx/lo ... d-corridor

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 Post subject: Re: Another Trail Proposal Attacking an Extant Tourist Line
PostPosted: Fri Nov 10, 2017 3:52 pm 

Joined: Thu May 24, 2012 1:37 pm
Posts: 2197
You have to love the quote by the person originally trying to get the railroad removed:

Quote:
“The current draft of the resolution needs to be recalibrated,” he said Thursday. “The communication that we received in the way of that letter and from others means we probably need to take a step back before we proceed with some sort of study.”


He also said he didn't want to 'prejudice' the idea of extending the existing trail by tying it to any particular approach (e.g., 'rail with trail' like some other parts of what's there already.

The article does make mention of the track running on 'causeways' and through 'tunnels' that complicate the routing of a trail that is not on or near the rail ROW, and also mentions the objection of NIMBYs in gated communities who think a trail past their properties will increase the likelihood of theft or vandalism.

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