Can't believe, after all this time, that they're still playing the "it's government regulations" card. I believe it has already been determined that: 1. the "government regulations" existed before this project began, 2. came into play because of substantial structural changes to many of the cars, and 3. could have been avoided if the interiors had simply been rehabbed instead of gutted completely. It is sad to say, but it looks like NONE of the involved parties did their homework before diving in head first.

When the money man admits that he hasn't talked to his operational people in quite some time, that is a pretty telling statement regarding the project.

My guess, is the next update will be along the lines of "nothing to see here ... move along ... all is well." If one keeps dragging their feet enough, it will end up like the Yellow Ribbon Express ... all but forgotten, and YEARS behind its supposed roll out, but never officially canceled.

And stand by for "Brother O'Shea" to be labeled a "nattering nabob of negativity"......

As someone that's been labeled a term that rhymes with "noid," I'll chime in again.

It appears, from what I've read (the news stories, forum posts by certain individuals related to the project, that article in Executive Golfer magazine last year) that Mr. Justice, the owner of the Greenbrier is the "money man." He doesn't have expertise in this subject, so he hired someone. Probably the same with the Greenbrier. He probably hired individuals with hotel, hospitality, and resort experience to lead the transformation and restoration of the resort.

He being the "money man" hired someone, actually several someones with alleged expertise in this are to oversee the reconfiguration of the cars, provide for power, clear regulatory hurdles, etc. It is somewhat clear that these individuals, and those involved in the planning stages of the project did not do their homework with regard to regulations, car design, etc., the red herring of "over regulation!" was declared, and here we sit. The over-regulation statement makes good copy, and is essentially red meat in today's politcal environment, but doesn't seem to bear out much substance.

Of course, my read on the situation depends a lot of my third-hand view of what's going on. I am not directly involved, so I have to read the press reports, forum posts, and sometimes between the lines to figure out what is happening (or in this case, not happening) with the project. If what is being reported is true, Mr. Justice is only reporting what those he has employed and trusted with the project are reporting to him.

So, here we sit. We've been promised updates by a principal in the project, but he hasn't really given us one, other than a "everything is okay, nothing to see here" reply, and an invitation to come see the work in progress.

To bring this full circle and preservation related, it is sad these cars had to have their interiors gutted before the hurdles came up. Perhaps, if the project had become stalled, or a non-starter before the work was performed, they could have been resold to recoup some of the investment. Now, the empty shells will be harder to market if the owners decide the train is a non starter.

Also, I wonder if any of the interior fixtures were saved, so that they could aid other preservation projects? I'm thinking of bunks, door hardware, etc.