As I posted on Dec 10, I knew someone who went to jail after being convicted on a single theft by taking charge involving about $15,000 in federal program funds.If he is treating it as a joke then he needs better legal counsel, someone who can explain the seriousness of the charges against him.

From what I remember, the contract involved restoration but also modification to the car to make it handicap accessible. Apparently there was a discrepancy between what was described in the RFP and what SNHS expected at the end of the contract, and work was halted while this was sorted out. I believe the contract was amended at that point but it’s been difficult to get information about this car.

With appropriate consideration that the idea that "he thinks it's a joke" is utterly nothing but rumor and/or hearsay:

Regrettably, there exist somewhat valid politically-driven reasons, in 2022, for someone to be able to consider any Federal prosecution of alleged criminal activity to be either an egregious joke, or heavily driven by partisan political persecution--most notably the absence of interest of Federal prosecutors in some activities concurrent with their heavy-handed efforts against others (anyone remember the "War on [Some] Drugs"? alleged use of the FBI to persecute political enemies under Obama?). (And, no, this is not a forum to debate those topics.)

Mind you, I see absolutely NO actual reason how "political persecution" or the like can possibly come into play in THIS specific indictment. I'm simply saying this could be a possible explanation for the (ALLEGED) mindset..............

Having seen at least two such "ADA-compliance" projects on passenger cars abandoned mid-project due to increased costs and complexity, technical and engineering problems, and the like, all you have to do is say to me "ADA modifications to a Federal rail car," historic or not, and I can easily see the project balloon to $800K JUST in that aspect alone.

I hardly say such a project NEEDS to cost that much. I'd just be frightened of the potential of "too many cooks in the kitchen" turning into a Gordon-Ramsay-style screaming fest........... because I've seen similar things transpire that way. (Especially if you turn certain "ADA accessibility consultants" loose on the project.)

Well according to Facebook he’s apparently not taking this seriously. Just posting YouTube videos of his glory days.

Just for the record, the NPS-who does not have unlimited resources doesn't prosecute.

The DOJ, which has unlimited resources does.

> So given that enforcing the terms of the contract and federal law are unreasonable, I wonder what conditions
> should the government be bothered to enforce the terms of any contract or the law. If I came by your place and
> signed a contract, was paid for work to be performed a certain way and did not do it by what you said here you
> should not sue me. Do you have any contracts for me to sign as I always like easy money with no repercussions.

Robby, you are missing a key point here. Never said federal law was unreasonable, but $50K to the federal government is a drop in the bucket. By comparison, $50K to you and me is a lot of money and you can bet your ass I would be suing you, perhaps having you arrested depending on the circumstances, for work not done that I had paid for.

I deal with the federal government every day (DoD), and have done so for nearly 40 years. Again, have seen several contractors do stupid things and get caught. Debarment, where the company is no longer eligible to receive federal contracts for some period of time, is usually the result. Depending on the circumstances and amount of money involved, jail time is possible but seems rare to me.

J.R. May

Well he is a good talker so if it should end with him serving some time in jail I'm sure he'll make good use of it.

I'm also very interested in seeing the results of the investigation into the Wasatch accident in which two workers were killed while working inside a tank car when it exploded.


All together a sad story. Ross Rowland

I've seen some truly good outcomes from ADA accessibility rebuilds, but you have to start with the right car. Any old coach is a headache, and combines are few and far between. But getting the turning radius in on a new restroom starting from 'open space' isn't at all impossible. So I think as a bidder, you had to figure all this out before you bid here. We've gone so far in streetcar rebuilds as to have lift ramps rebuilt into the floor, and that worked.
NPS is no stranger to the problem, and if you've ever seen the $250K rebuild plus sponsorship of the "Invacare" combine on CVSR, you'll see what they think is possible in the NPS mindset.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=3761936
That, of course, bears little resemblance to an 'historic' restoration of an interior. But if you've been to NPS Lowell, they had Gomaco adapt those trolley cars for wheelchair space and you'd never know it to look at them until they pull the presto-chango.

I'm trying to think of any other instance where it's turned into a criminal rather than civil proceeding in this kind of contract work (short of actually hurting somebody physically) and I'm not thinking of much precedent.

I've only had one contractor formally disbarred, but that was at the state, not federal level, but even he finally finished the contract.

Many times I have looked back on things after the smoke has cleared with the thought that I would have rather been wrong.

Oh yes $50K is a drop in the bucket for DoD. But then even the DoD has had problems explaining items like toilet seats and hammers over the years. Most of the Federal agencies do not have that budget cushion or popularity and it is important that they spend their money wisely. The budgets of many government agencies have gotten tighter over the years and to still see that $50K is blown off by some is disturbing. Will we spend more than that on this particular prosecution, absolutely. But the message and stand it this case takes no matter the outcome is more important. The Feds do not charge someone unless they usually have an open and shut case. They may be more than what is in the court filings. I am glad you did not make the decision to go after such a "trivial amount". By the way $24.03 an hour translates to $50,000. per year. That trivial amount is still not earned by too many in the tourist railway industry.

Robby Peartree


Robby Peartree

I mean he did say he was going to even write a book about his vocational experiences! Share the world his wisdom!

I imagine within two paragraphs his book will be mumbling about the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, Jesus Christ, crown sheets and apple pies... just judging by what he used to post on this forum.

Government waste at $50,000 is less then a drop of water in a tank car. All you have to do, is go to the government surplus sites and look at the new equipment sold for pennies on the dollar. I complained to my U S Senator a few years ago, when they were selling off new Cat diesel engines that we paid over $40,000 for. These had been in a controlled environment warehouse and were just 5 years old., Their only issue, they were 5 years old.

My senator did get back to me with a reply, they told him to mind his own business.

Unless watching Perry Mason as a kid counts, I have absolutely no experience with these kind of cases. However, even the amateurs know that the last thing you want to do is comment on a case that's in process. If he's going about "business as usual" and not saying a word, that's understandable.

To me, not taking it seriously would be posting comments like "You'll never make those charges stick Copper!"

The Senator probably has a friend he was hoping could pick them up cheap.