Greenbrier Express Updates?

CP O'Shea · **Joined:** Mon Jan 03, 2005 8:33 pm **Posts:** 121

Found the following story, that doesn't seem to have circulated a whole lot. Does anyone know where this was originally pubished?

Quote:

Rowland: I’ll recall laid-off workers
By Wayne Laepple
Published: November 22, 2011
POTTSTOWN, Pa. – Rail entrepreneur Ross Rowland said Wednesday he expects to recall the 21 workers laid off the week before from the Greenbrier Express renovation project just as soon as engineering work is approved by Amtrak officials.

In a telephone interview, Rowland called the layoffs “a temporary setback.” Contrary to his earlier statements, Rowland did not mention excessive regulation as a reason for the layoffs. In fact, federal crashworthiness regulations haven’t changed since the project started.

“Because we are converting sleepers into parlor cars, we have to change the window alignment on one side of the cars, which mean structural changes to the cars," he explained. “We got ahead of ourselves because the engineering has taken longer than we expected.”

Rowland said engineering firm STV Inc. has been preparing the necessary calculations and drawings, which must be certified and submitted to Amtrak for approval in order to meet FRA regulations for crashworthiness. “These drawings must be stamped by professional engineers to certify that the changes are not weakening the car’s integrity,” Rowland said.

About 20 people are still at work in the former Bethlehem Steel facility in Pottstown, Rowland said, and he expects the rest to be called back within a month.

If this article is accurate, I suppose we now have the answers to the questions that were asked on the previous thread regarding the GBX.

Erik Ledbetter · **Posted:** Sat Dec 31, 2011 6:09 pm

CP O'Shea wrote:

If this article is accurate, I suppose we now have the answers to the questions that were asked on the previous thread regarding the GBX.

If Wayne Laepple wrote it you can take it to the bank. He is a veteran preservationist and shortline railroader as well as a journalist.

co614 · **Posted:** Sat Dec 31, 2011 10:17 pm

We did recieve STV's work product over the Christmas holiday and will now be sending it on to the appropriate people at Amtrak for their review. Upon recieving their sign off we will then be in the position to go back to work full force to get the job completed.

We will issue further progress reports as appropriate.

Thanks for your interest and best wishes to all for a healthy, rewarding 2012.

Ross Rowland

Richard Glueck · **Posted:** Sat Dec 31, 2011 10:52 pm

Let us hope 2012 can be evenly divided by 614!
Good luck with your project, Ross.

J3a-614 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 01, 2012 1:33 am

"Let us hope 2012 can be evenly divided by 614!"--Richard Glueck

I would have to second that. . .

jimwrinn · **Posted:** Sun Jan 01, 2012 3:45 pm

Wayne reported this for us at Trains magazine NewsWire, available at www.trainsmag.com to subscribers.

Incidentally, we now have print, digital and combination subscriptions available.

Jim Wrinn
Editor

CP O'Shea · **Joined:** Mon Jan 03, 2005 8:33 pm **Posts:** 121

jimwrinn wrote:

Wayne reported this for us at Trains magazine NewsWire, available at http://www.trainsmag.com to subscribers.

Incidentally, we now have print, digital and combination subscriptions available.

Jim Wrinn
Editor

Thank you, Mr. Wrinn. The poster who quoted it on another forum did not cite the source, which had me wondering where the story originated.

I would also like to thank Mr. Rowland for his reply. Although I'm a bit perplexed on why, if this was the issue all along, earlier reports blamed it on "over regulation," I am glad to hear that the problem is something that can be overcome with a bit of work.

Chris Webster · **Joined:** Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:45 am **Posts:** 1087

Here's a topical article from the Atlanta newspaper:
Atlanta Journal Constitution: Delta suing Greenbrier resort over flight service
A short quote of the article:

Quote:

Delta Airlines is accusing a West Virginia resort of failing to pay for flight services from Atlanta and New York City. A breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by the airline against The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs seeks $4 million in damages.

and

Quote:

This summer, [Greenbrier owner Jim Justice} plans to launch The Greenbrier Presidential Express, a luxury train service from Union Station in Washington, D.C., at a round-trip price of $650.

The news of the lawsuit was first reported by The Charleston Gazette; here's the link to that article:
The Charleston Gazette: Delta sues Greenbrier over flights to Lewisburg
A short quote from the Gazette's article:

Quote:

News of the lawsuit comes on the heels of an announcement last week of layoffs at the resort. More than 100 salaried employees and a number of hourly employees were laid off Friday, owner Jim Justice said.

Justice said he hopes to rehire the "overwhelming majority" of those employees by April 1. He said the employees were laid off in an effort to dig the resort out of a $13 million deficit caused by a slow winter season.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:14 am

I'm not sure how much I would read into the above stories. The resort industry in the Alleghenies in winter is driven largely by snow and skiing (Have any of you that traveled to Cass ever stayed up the mountain at the ski-resort Inn at Snowshoe? I have!), and the various ski areas below the Mason-Dixon Line and southwest are suffering very seriously not only from a dearth of snow, but also a dearth of temperatures low enough for snow-making technology to be effective. This is as devastating to those local economies as a cold blast would be to the coastal beach resorts or a drought would be to farm country.

I just checked the National Weather Service data for the past month for the Greenbrier area: Pretty much the same as where I type from--little snow, and what snow does fall melts off quickly. Today and tomorrow's high around 50 degrees F; rain Thursday night and Friday......