I hope this does not happen to the Strasburg. PENNDOT is planning on building a Route 30 bypass. They have not picked a location for it yet but there are two proposals. One is the Northern proposal that will place the highway north of the current Route 30. The other is the Southern proposal that will place it south of Route 30. Looking at the map for this proposal, they have it going right over top of the Strasburg’s tracks in the deep woods just ¼ mile south of Leaman Place Junction. With this part of the line being on a hard grade and the engines always smoke-it-up on the way back to Strasburg, smoke will billow across that highway and I bet it wont take long for a lawsuit to ensue.

Tourist railroads like Strasburg are fortunate to be in the middle of open country not surrounded by homes. Smoke is not a problem for the Amish neighbors.

On another note; our local paper just ran a story about how Americans are reading less and thinking less. Yes I said thinking less. The story sites the lack of reading as the culprit and the type of books people are reading. For example; most folks are reading fiction rather than non-fiction. The author states; “More and more, we know less and less about less and less. And we don’t care. I wish I could feel more happy about the book culture, but we’ve become a shallow people, happy enough with the easy gratifications of mere spectacle in all aspects of life. Real books are simply too serious for us. Too slow. Too hard. Too long.”

Now of course I am not saying that many of us are dumb but with 1 in 6 people a year reading 12 or more books according to the article, I am beginning to wonder. Statements about Nuclear power plans producing “all that white smoke” and “I saw you unplug an electric cord from the train. See I knew it was not steam powered” also makes me wonder. The last statement came from someone who told my friend (a conductor) I know at a tourist railroad. He saw my friend unplug the power cord that recharges the batteries that power the lights and speaker system overnight. After trying to explain this to the man he sill did not get it and said that they were using “false advertising” saying that their trains were steam powered. At the time the loco. was still warming up in the house and my friend could not prove the man wrong by showing it to him. My friend said the man seemed very disappointed and cross that the trains were powered by “electric” according to the man.

I for one believe in educating the public as much as we can. Not cow towing or changing our operations for them.

Maybe we should form an alliance among tourist railroads and push for a law protecting their operations of steam power. The law should exempt the railroads from EPA regulations and lawyers and actions from local and state governments and the general public. In the meantime while a law is being pushed, lets get our own lawyers to fight back. Our history is at stake here.

Andrew

The best way to halt such a proposal, or to mitigate its implementaion, would be to have right-of-way and the surrounding listed on the National Historic Register. The National Register offers very few protections EXCEPT that federal funds cannot be used to alter a listed property.

> The other is the Southern proposal
> that will place it south of Route 30.
> Looking at the map for this proposal, they
> have it going right over top of the
> Strasburg’s tracks in the deep woods just ¼
> mile south of Leaman Place Junction.



NPS - Historic Landscape Initiative
altoonaroundhouse@umich.edu

> I hope this does not happen to the
> Strasburg. PENNDOT is planning on building a
> Route 30 bypass. They have not picked a
> location for it yet but there are two
> proposals. One is the Northern proposal that
> will place the highway north of the current
> Route 30. The other is the Southern proposal
> that will place it south of Route 30.
> Looking at the map for this proposal, they
> have it going right over top of the
> Strasburg’s tracks in the deep woods just ¼
> mile south of Leaman Place Junction. With
> this part of the line being on a hard grade
> and the engines always smoke-it-up on the
> way back to Strasburg, smoke will billow
> across that highway and I bet it wont take
> long for a lawsuit to ensue.

*With appropriate due respect, may I point out that the present narrow Route 30 bridge is FAR more a lawsuit enticement than any smoke issues. Also, smoke (such as it is) has always been a problem at the present Rt. 30 bridge, or at least for the past 40+ years. Or wait a minute--did they finally manage to replace that steel truss bridge? I can't remember.....)

My mother was born and raised in Lancaster, so I've practically grown up watching the Rt. 30 corridor mutate into its present-day monstrosity. I'm also keenly aware of the massive troubles ANY Rt. 30 East bypass proposal presents--no matter what route is chosen, large swaths of Amish farmland will have to be paved over, driving yet more Amish (the main tourist attraction of the county) to Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Ontario--in the words of many local civic leaders, "killing the goose that lays the golden eggs". This exact proposal to bypass Rt. 30 has been successfully beaten down by the silent-but-very-present Amish and their leaders and representatives several times over the past two decades, and it's likely that IF this expanded highway is ever built (and my money says it won't for another 25 years), it will be done in a considerably more "sensitive" fashion than the usual four-lane divided-highway plowed rough-shod over the environment.

Perhaps the honorable Mr. Moedinger or his associates can present us with a more updated prognosis for this proposal.

LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net

> Tourist railroads like Strasburg are
> fortunate to be in the middle of open
> country not surrounded by homes. Smoke is
> not a problem for the Amish neighbors.

Andrew, All due respect, but I have been told differently. The Strasburg has an agreement with their neighbors about smoke from the trains. Apparently, there have been a lot of complaints. I'm no chemist, but I would imagine that a lot of coal ash and smoke may have less than desirable effects on the crops of the Amish farmers along the right of way. Plus, it fosters a good working relationship between the railroad and the famers in the area.

> On another note; our local paper just ran a
> story about how Americans are reading less
> and thinking less. Yes I said thinking less.
> The story sites the lack of reading as the
> culprit and the type of books people are
> reading. For example; most folks are reading
> fiction rather than non-fiction. The author
> states; “More and more, we know less and
> less about less and less. And we donÂ’t care.
> I wish I could feel more happy about the
> book culture, but weÂ’ve become a shallow
> people, happy enough with the easy
> gratifications of mere spectacle in all
> aspects of life. Real books are simply too
> serious for us. Too slow. Too hard. Too
> long.”

Perhaps people are reading less. Books. I read the internet every day, and write on other boards and email every day. I have to think in order to write these posts and emails. I don't see that as a reading less. Perhaps the book and newspaper sellers do. Also, every time I go into Barnes and Noble or Borders, there are tons and tons of people in there reading (and sometimes buying). I don't mean this as a personal attack, I just have a different opinion than the writer you quoted.

Have you seen that Lancaster Co is planning to build a transporation hub in Paradise, to allow trains from Amtrak and the Strasburg RR to connect with local bus transit? That means I will be able to drive 4 miles from my house (or better yet, ride my bike) down to the Lancaster train station, board an east bound train, change at Lehman Place, and have lunch at the picnic grove along the Strasburg. I wonder how many people will take advantage of this service.

I am not worried about a big Route 30 bypass through eastern Lancaster CO.

markoles@hotmail.com