Just to ask if anyone knows if there have been any new proposals or plans in regards to the preservation of the East Broad Top. Is anything going on?
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Maybe someone here can answer your questions. I thought I heard it was closing.
Don
Tommy posted:Just to ask if anyone knows if there have been any new proposals or plans in regards to the preservation of the East Broad Top. Is anything going on?
Sadly neither Powerball or Mega has come through for me or I'd GUARANTEE it's preservation.
As it stands both the State of PA is undergoing a budget crisis/impasse and the Federal government is broke and it's an election year. It's unlikely that any funding will come from Harrisburg or Washington.
Thankfully the Kovalchik family continue in at least a holding pattern. They are a salvage organization and being thinly capitalized they could have pulled up steel as was done with the Knox and Kane (another Pennsylvania treasure) after Ma Nature took out the Kinzua bridge and the Uncle in Harrisburg was unable to rebuild it in like kind.
In my humble opinion the EBT should be in the top ten most important industrial and historic railroad sites in the USA.
Unfortunately again in my humble opinion without an influx of a lot of money it remains just a dream.
New Mexico, with a sparse population (comparatively), and I will bet a lot less cash flow, controls and operates, if not owns, the Cumbres and Toltec, recognizing its historical significance. It is in a remote location that sees a lot less visitation and traffic than the EBT does or should, with Philadelphia and Harrisburg on one side, Pittsburgh on the other, and right off the turnpike. (another historical Pa. road, that was not preserved, in a high population area, was the Ma & Pa) Crowdfunding?
colorado hirailer posted:New Mexico, with a sparse population (comparatively), and I will bet a lot less cash flow, controls and operates, if not owns, the Cumbres and Toltec, recognizing its historical significance. It is in a remote location that sees a lot less visitation and traffic than the EBT does or should, with Philadelphia and Harrisburg on one side, Pittsburgh on the other, and right off the turnpike. (another historical Pa. road, that was not preserved, in a high population area, was the Ma & Pa) Crowdfunding?
Yep. Funding is political and PA has a large and expensive budget. Those outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh often complain that most of the money goes there (and maybe rightfully so). Since we're not a political forum I won't touch that but I do know that the state is basically broke and has massive pension obligations that cannot be absolved so that is the crisis du jour. Couple that to a nearly 50/50 partisan balance in both houses of the legislature in Harrisburg and you can imagine that each and every dollar will be battled for.
I don't have comparative information regarding spending or taxation rates between Colorado and Pennsylvania so I can't speak there.
