$186,000 to remodel ONE V&T car in Portola

No. 24 -- VIRGINIA AND TRUCKEE RAILWAY -- Nevada Railroad Reconstruction Chronicles

RON ALLEN QUOTES 186,000 TO REMODEL A V&T BIRDCAGE TO ADA STANDARDS

At the July meeting one of the agenda items was the question of whether the V&T Re-con Commission needs to provide an ADA-compliant railroad car. The suggestion was made that one of the Commission's cars in Portola could be remodeled to ADA standards.

These cars are in horrible shape, as disussed on my previous post about "the wildlife condos."

So given that these cars are rusted shells that have been allowed to sit open to the elements for years, the quote Ron Allen gave to restore a car to ADA standards is a bit misleading. He said it would cost $186,000 to get a car up to the ADA standard. Let's consider that most of that money would be spent, as Ron Allen said, one "the other 40 seats." Even without making a Portola car ADA compliant, they'd be spending between $150,000 and $250,000.

Also, in the whole discussion, no one ever asked whether the locomotives they have available are capable of pulling an extra heavyweight car all the way to Virginia City. This type of discussion in a vacuum is typical.

Finally, didn't they just vote to sell these cars back in May? I predicted then that as long as Ron Allen remains in charge of the sale, the cars wouldn't be sold. As with the Hadfield-Dorr "diversion issue," often the full vote of the Commission is simply ignored by one or two members to suit their own purposes.

And you want the government to run health care? I hope the V&T Commission is not put in charge.

Now, back to the ADA-compliant railroad car. Ron Allen then brings up the idea that possibly for rides less than one and one half hours, no restroom is necessary.

Disabled or not, do you want to ride a train without a toilet? When the Commission ran their VIP special last year, the booze flowed freely and no restrooms were available on the train. The trip took so long that the train stopped at Haward Siding and BOTH men and women went to the bathroom "in the rough."

This is the kind of high-level thinking that keeps these projects on-track, efficient, consistent and cheap. These are the kind of people we want safeguarding our tax dollars!