Gasoline prices & tourist travel

I have been reading a lot of articles about gas prices affecting tourist travel. I have planned a trip for Mr. Joe Tourist & his family to ride trains & see beautiful country. Mr. Joe Tourist & his family live in Chicago & will ride the following trains.

Home: Chicago, Illinois

1. Black Hills 1880 train. Hill City, South Dakota

2. Georgetown Loop. Georgetown, Colorado

3. Leadville Colorado & Southern. Leadville Colorado

4. Durango & Silverton. Durango, Colorado

5. Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. Chama, New Mexico

Home: Chicago, Illinois

Joe will be spending 2 nights at each of the 5 locations. He will be gone a little over 13 days.

Driving Distance: 3091 miles plus and additional 500 miles to see the attractions in the area. total miles driven 3591

Fuel Mileage: 20 mpg

$1.40 per gallon fuel cost: $251.37

$2.00 per gallon fuel cost: $359.10

At $2.00 per gallon it would cost Joe $107.73 more than if fuel was $1.40. Over 13 days this would be a additional expense of $8.29 per day.

IMHO: This should not be a large enough amount to change people's minds about going on their planned trip. If this is their once a year vacation the added $107.73 means they would have to save an additional 30 cents per day to cover the additional costs.

P.S. I would like to do these 5 rides on a vacation. Sounds like a fun vacation.




roger@thehotel.org

However, looking over the entire year:

15,000 miles
10 mpg (SUV)

1,500 gallons

X $1.40 = $2,100 year
X $2.22 (Calif screw job) = $3,330

For a family man making $50,000, after taxes around $40,000, that's like taking a 3% wage cut. Or, given discressionary money, that's around 10%.

Thanks, Repubs!

MY Car get 35MPG Highway. Take the train!


Al's Rail Photos
acp19809@yahoo.com

> > Thanks, Repubs!

Hey can we skip the politics? There ain't a lick a' difference between 'em anyway.

Now on to whats really screwing us. The dollar has been getting pounded on the FX markets- which is why the price of gold is skyrocketing, as well as scrap steel. The Fed's actions with interest rates are designed to spur domestic investment-but the downside is it makes the dollar denominated securities, therefore the dollar less attractive.

As for rail museums, high fuel prices might actually increase visitation/ridership. A 200 mile drive will sure go up, but not as much as a 2000 mile plane trip.

superheater@rrmail.com

> Hey can we skip the politics?

I agree. But what about Joe Tourist in Chicago? He can take five trips to the Illinois Railway Museum, save a lot of gas money and driving time, no motels needed, and can see a MUCH WIDER variety of operating equipment. Depending on which five days he chose, he might see up to 75 DIFFERENT trains in operation.

We could even paint mountain scenery on the inside of the car windows so he can enjoy the ride out to us.

Bob Kutella

> I agree. But what about Joe Tourist in
> Chicago? He can take five trips to the
> Illinois Railway Museum, save a lot of gas
> money and driving time, no motels needed,
> and can see a MUCH WIDER variety of
> operating equipment. Depending on which five
> days he chose, he might see up to 75
> DIFFERENT trains in operation.

> We could even paint mountain scenery on the
> inside of the car windows so he can enjoy
> the ride out to us.

> Bob Kutella

He can also drive up to to the East Troy Electric Railroad in Wisconsin, just a short jaunt north of Lake Geneva, where many Chicagoans go for summer R&R anyway.

We don't have to paint any scenery on the inside of our car windows, because the lower Kettle Moraine region that our tracks go through is very scenic.

Higher gas prices encourage daytripping and shorter trips, which benefits local tourist attractions.



East Troy Electric Railroad
jftrolley@aol.com

> However, looking over the entire year:

> 15,000 miles
> 10 mpg (SUV)

> 1,500 gallons

> X $1.40 = $2,100 year
> X $2.22 (Calif screw job) = $3,330

> For a family man making $50,000, after taxes
> around $40,000, that's like taking a 3% wage
> cut. Or, given discressionary money, that's
> around 10%.

> Thanks, Repubs!

*I concur: Screw the politics. No matter who's in office, the days of the fuel hog are ending.

However, those in the recreation and hobby industries will probably tell you that there's little chance that your "3%/10%" estimates will severely impact anyone's travel plans. I've seen articles and studies that basically state that your typical American vacationer, be s/he a lone traveler or the family in the motor camper, will probably take that vacation one way or another even if your figures went up to 20%/50%.

People are NOT skipping vacations because of any "major" economic downturn. Yes, they'll ditch their plans if the major breadwinner loses his/her job, but that's about it. At best, they're eating food from the grocery store or fast-food rather than fine dining, or staying at the Mom-and-Pop Motel/Campsite rather than at the Holiday Inn. Or they don't spend as much on trinkets or tickets to Disney World, choosing instead to go to the beach or the state park. Or they make do with the older minivan rather than upgrading to the newer one with built-in DVD players. And yes, maybe some people are choosing not to head to potential terrorist targets--but it's still impossible to find parking in Washington D.C. even with a week of gloomy weather during the Cherry Blossom Festival. And I still see long lines at the Washington Monument, thank you.

Considering the real hardships and fears felt by countries that have had a longer and more direct exposure to terrorism (Britain, France, Spain, Ireland, or almost any other country), we still have it easy.

So get on out and see your excursions railroads. Otherwise, the terrorists win. <;-)


LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net

> Gasoline prices & tourist travel

Well this Joe Tourist is going to Denver and it is cheaper to travel by Air or Train. The figures go like this:
Round trip mileage 2,700
Area mileae - 300
Vehicles avg. mpg - 15
cost of fuel @$2.00 per gallon (and who knows what it will be in the summer!)
Total Fuel Cost approx. $400.00 for fuel alone.
plus a man's got to eat and sleep on the way for two hard days of driving so add another $150.00 for a total of $550.00 just to get there!

Airfare RT SJO to DEN $199.00 - peanuts and half can of cola special
Rental Car - Crackerbox $150.00 week plus fuel
Hmm that comes to $350.00 and the $200.00 goes a long way to eat and sleep and ride the choo choo etc.

Shine Amtrak, they want 189.00 for the two day trip on coach. This time I will fly.

Jeff



btflco@juno.com

> MY Car get 35MPG Highway. Take the train!

The train doesn't run through Columbus. The nearest Amtrak station is Toledo, Cleveland or Cincinnati. And all boarding times are between 2 and 6 am. Gotta get up pretty early in the morning for the 2 to 3 hour drive to catch a train at that time!

Delta - they get me there. And I've got a lot of free miles.

G

greg@skittercreek.com

>A 200 mile drive will sure go up, but not as
> much as a 2000 mile plane trip.

Don't count on that. Airlines contract with fuel suppliers well in advance and lock in their prices months in advance by making bulk purchases. Right now, your friendly major carrier is only paying about 57 cents per gallon of Jet A or about 1/3 what we're paying at the pump. Also, fuel oil such as that burned by automobiles and boilers is the principal product. Jet A is essentially a byproduct of the refining process though some additional refining may be required to meet certain industry requirements.


awalker1829@yahoo.com

Two thoughts:

1. Everyone who is involved with a tourist railroad or museum would love it if the average railfan made five "bashes" in one year. I think the average is more like one, maybe two.

2. This is more of preception issue than actual cost impact. Remember all of the outcry over ATM fees and before that the price of milk, while things like tax increases that take a much bigger albeit invisible bite, go by without a whimper or are even OK'ed?

These things raise the consumer's ire because it is in their face day after day.It also has to do with the preception of money going to a good cause vs money lining someone else's pocket. For those like my family who commute hundreds of miles a week, there appears to be a noticible impact; but as far as vacation plans go; your calculations show it is insignificant.

But that is the nature of humans in general.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

> Gasoline prices & tourist travel

> I have been reading a lot of articles about
> gas prices affecting tourist travel. I have
> planned a trip for Mr. Joe Tourist & his
> family to ride trains & see beautiful
> country. Mr. Joe Tourist & his family
> live in Chicago & will ride the
> following trains.

> Home: Chicago, Illinois

> 1. Black Hills 1880 train. Hill City, South
> Dakota

> 2. Georgetown Loop. Georgetown, Colorado

> 3. Leadville Colorado & Southern.
> Leadville Colorado

> 4. Durango & Silverton. Durango,
> Colorado

> 5. Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad.
> Chama, New Mexico

> Home: Chicago, Illinois

> Joe will be spending 2 nights at each of the
> 5 locations. He will be gone a little over
> 13 days.

> Driving Distance: 3091 miles plus and
> additional 500 miles to see the attractions
> in the area. total miles driven 3591

> Fuel Mileage: 20 mpg

> $1.40 per gallon fuel cost: $251.37

> $2.00 per gallon fuel cost: $359.10

> At $2.00 per gallon it would cost Joe
> $107.73 more than if fuel was $1.40. Over 13
> days this would be a additional expense of
> $8.29 per day.

> IMHO: This should not be a large enough
> amount to change people's minds about going
> on their planned trip. If this is their once
> a year vacation the added $107.73 means they
> would have to save an additional 30 cents
> per day to cover the additional costs.

> P.S. I would like to do these 5 rides on a
> vacation. Sounds like a fun vacation.


Surviving World Steam Project
james@survivingworldsteam.com