And that right there, in conjunction with some of the details expressed in the previous thread on 'the Cass Railroad could die if privatization occurs', makes me less, not more, likely to want to sign this petition.

Surely there is at least one person willing to put their name on this thing, and take the responsibility that comes with activism?

I'd be delighted to sign a petition preserving Cass. I'd be disgusted to sign a petition protecting government perks that is masquerading as a petition preserving Cass. And with disclaimers like the one cited above, I'm not sure I can tell the difference.

CORRECTION: I'd consider signing a petition intended to protect Government perks for people if it were honestly worded, and signed by the people who would benefit from it. I'm sympathetic to the unique nature of the Cass community, and to the difficulty of preserving even a critical mass of steam experts in a remote area. Why not say so? I'm also sympathetic to efforts against contrived, sweetheart deals, just on general principles. But I am also generally unsympathetic to manipulation, and I can't help smelling more than a little of that with respect to this petition.

Translation: "It may be a legitimate question, but we will not answer it. There are political ramifications for us putting our name behind it, but please, put your name behind our effort. Trust us."




Translation: "Look, we managed to turn hysteria and rampant speculation into 'news' of the impending doom at Cass."

Making the news based on your own grandstanding isn't proof of the alleged impending doom to Cass. You can't create your own proof. I guess you are asking us to adopt the idea of "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."

Bottom line, nothing concrete has been decided. Thus, it is difficult to see what harm, if any, will befall Cass.


David Wilkins
North of the Picket Wire, Utah

Whoa, guys. If this is coming off as nothing more than a bunch of government employees who are concerned only with losing their perks, nothing could possibly be further from the truth. In fact I am quite sure that no Cass employee has anything to do with the petition.

This May I will be going into my 17th year as a full-time tourist railroad professional. It is my vocation, my identity, something of which I'm extremely proud, and something which I would not have at all if not for Cass and the people who work there. I grew up about 100 miles from Cass, just across the Potomac River in western Maryland. My father started taking me to Cass as a very young child, and I became hooked. When I got older I began to get to know some of the engine crews, who went way out of their way to treat me well. They let me follow them around on the job and ride with them on the engines. They answered every question I ever asked about the railroad and their work. I absolutely owe who I am today to this experience; I cut my railroad teeth at Cass, and without the place and the people I certainly would not be doing what I do.

Something I've always greatly admired about the culture of the people working at Cass, long before any of this started, is how proud of and absolutely committed to the railroad they are. I've been around a lot of other tourist railroads now, and I've never seen anything quite like the culture at Cass. They are entirely vested in the railroad--it's a way of life for them. About a year ago during a private conversation, the state park Superintendent then assigned to Cass (entirely unprovoked), went on and on to me for several minutes about how it was beyond his understanding that the employees are so vested in what they do.

I obviously can't speak for any Cass employee, but I imagine if any are upset by the prospect of another organization taking control of the railroad, issues related to government perks are peripheral. The main objection would likely be losing control of something they have been so committed to, worked so hard to preserve, and have such a personal attachment to.

Cass is a unique place, and I think it's tough to really understand it unless you've spent some time getting close to it. It's been like a family member to me for my entire life, and I wholeheartedly believe that allowing any private organization to have a management role at the railroad would ultimately ruin it. Obviously I have an emotional stake here, but my opinion is objective as well.

I am among the people opposed to privatization of the Cass Railroad. I agree with everything the petition says, and my signature and comments are on it.

Joe Dailey

I've worked for a tourist railroad that was owned by a state and operated by private operators....twice. It worked very well once and worked very badly once. I have worked as a contractor for organizations in both the public and private sectors, and in both cases there were very well run and very badly run operations. Private operation isn't any more effective than public operation and vice versa - it depends on the individuals involved and the ability they have to work within, around, or to alter the systems in which they function to either produce good things or prevent bad things or to be unable to do either.

I'd have to know more explicitly who and how and the critical differences before having any opinion worth voicing on the matter....which is at present only a nebulous matter of created urgency for a small constituency - or, more likely two small constituencies, one political and one operational.

Clarity is what we seem to lack about this situation.

dave

I wonder if anyone has the West Virginia statute that addresses petitions? With the introduction of on line petitions, there has been much discussion as to whether or not they have as much effect on decision makers as old school physical petitions, or whether they have any legal standing at all? Here in Arizona, basically all an on line petition can do is poll the public opinion-they have no legal standing under the Arizona Revised Statutes. Petition information can be transmitted in electronic format to the Secretary of State's office, but must be accompanied by hardcopy original signatures. It could well be that West Virginia does not recognize electronic petitions either.

Trains magazine is confirming the change at Cass: Trains News Wire FLASH: New operator to take over operation of Cass Scenic (Published: July 1, 2014)

I think you have to be a subscriber to read the article.

So who is it? Why is this a secret?

EDITED version for brevity (heck, they swipe stories from here, so fair game IMO):



Reading between the lines, it's possible that D&GV could be selected, but not assured.

A recent (Thursday, August 21, 2014) update:
Charleston Gazette: Takeover of Cass railroad still in the works

A short excerpt:

The Trains Newswire is reporting that:
The full article (subscription required) has more details: Changing of the guard on the Cass Scenic Railroad (October 23, 2014)