[PRCo] Re: Changes (Was So you can't get to Pittsburgh?)

[Fred Schneider]

Enjoy your thoughts.  fws

Ken & Tracie wrote:

> Jim Holland wrote:
>
> >    But I
> > do now question the massive expenditures necessary to Install And
> > Maintain rail.
>
> I believe I can say Charlie, Fred the Third, Paul Weyrich and quite a few
> others (including me) share this concern. Some people are so radical, they
> accuse anyone who questions the massive expenditures as being "anti-rail."
>
> I remember how light rail was initially promoted as a low cost alternative
> to heavy rail or high tech rail (BART).
>
> Yes, the overhead structures used by PAT on Phase One are ugly. Yes, some of
> the 1980s style light rail cars look like giant grasshoppers missing their
> antennae, wings and legs. Yes, when I visit where I grew up and realize
> things keep on changing (evolving?) in my absence, I get a feeling of
> estrangement. The latter can be both disconcerting and humbling.
>
> What I find special about Pittsburgh's retention and rebuilding of the South
> Hills lines is that it brought together people of differing philosophies,
> political bends and methods. The common goal of retaining a still viable
> (though greatly diminished) rail network brought together so many who would
> disagree on so many other things.
>
> K.

xxx