Posted on 01/24/2017 7:52:55 PM PST by amorphous
I45 needs at least two more lanes. A very gut wrenching trip.
If you’ve got any of yours who served in the Revolution look for their pension applications, lots of period detail and odd little historical tidbits that you just don’t find in history books. The land grant of my direct paternal line was on the Dan, southeast of Danbury, which was Crawford then. Western reaches of the Dan were Tory territory though. A number of mine were with Nathaniel Greene and were at Guilford Courthouse.
“This might actually be profitable. If there’s any high-speed light rail that could pay for itself, this is it.”
There are no passenger rail lines ion the entire United States that make a profit.
That is why the tax payer subsidizes Amtrak to the tune of $2.1 billion per year.
They played a major role in the Overmountain Men who were instrumental in defeating Ferguson and the British at Kings Mountain.
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IIRC they were mad at the Brits for their barbarity in hunting down the American survivors of the disaster at Camden. The Brits searched, found, and executed the remnants of the Southern Army.
The men who had gone west came back across the river with their long rifles and destroyed the”untouchable” fortress the Brits had atop King’s Mountain wiping out the Brits. Their job done they went back across the river and fought no more. Thy had “evened the score.”
You have something against public-private partnerships? Sounds like ACTUAL on-the-ground “stimulus” to me.
You have something against public-private partnerships? Sounds like ACTUAL on-the-ground “stimulus” to me.
Regarding the Rev pension apps I mentioned, here’s an example, he’s one of mine. Not prominent at all, played no major role but was a soldier in the Revolution. Sort of pitiful really, but good god the history and the odd perspectives upon it, that guy was all over the place, but refused his pension because he was insulted by the pittance of it, needed it sorely but rejected it, the hard head.
http://revwarapps.org/r3214.pdf
You may be able to find any Rev pension apps you don;t have at this site yourself.
We live out NW fairly close to the Grand Parkway and it’s getting very crowded. We’d love to move out a little further but the land is way out of reach
Got a price on some 1 to 2 acre lots for $85 grand an acre. It doesn’t look like it’s worth $10 grand an acre to me. On top of that the minimum square footage is 2500 SF. So, we’ll probably die here completely surrounded by the third largest city in the country.
“You have something against public-private partnerships? Sounds like ACTUAL on-the-ground “stimulus” to me.”
We subsidize Amtrak $2.1 billion per year.
That tells me that public-private partnership do not work.
Now, if passenger rail was profitable, a private company would build passenger rail.
“There are no passenger rail lines ion the entire United States that make a profit.”
I’m very aware of that, but if any could be profitable, this is it. If the projections do not indicate a profitable venture, it should not be done. This one really might. I hate public transportation and avoid it at most costs, but this I would do.
I’ve got an old family legend that’s a little on the ugly side, they couldn’t stand Ferguson, thought he was a fop and a dandy, especially hated that infernal whistle. They made a sport out of trying to shoot him off his horse in particular and did, he fell with his foot caught in a stirrup and his horse dragged him around. They shot the hell out of his body, just filled it with lead.
Yes, I'm sure there is plenty of existing infrastructure that must be dealt with first (and should have been but wasn't with the "stimulus"). Just make sure the money is actually used for these purposes.
“I’m very aware of that, but if any could be profitable, this is it.”
While Houston and Dallas are large cities, the density and distance do not approach the density of the Boston-NYC-Philadelphia-Washington D.C. corridor.
And Amtrak loses money up there.
Why not just drive to Hobby and hop a SWA flight to Love?
If you do that, I won’t have to pay for your ticket.
“Well then the federal government should stay away from it.”
Yup. Airplanes already do the same thing profitably.
Oh I know...I can get lost in those pension applications for hours. Unfortunately, my guy died prior to 1815, so he never made an application. But going through the annotations on Fold3, I found his name and when reading the app, it was fascinating. It was made by a free black man who fought with the militia. He said he killed over 50 men, had been all around Charleston and the battles between NC and SC. He was one of two men who filed applications that stated my gg was a Lieutenant who was given authority over his regiment at Hobkirk’s to replace a Captain who had been sent elsewhere on a recon mission. If not for the annotations at Fold3, I would have never found it.
Yup, as I said, just evening up the score. :>)
Of course the southern army finally got Nathaniel Greene and Daniel Morgan who tore Cornwallis a new one at the battle of Cowpens. IMO we won the war right there. Yorktown was just a formality.
Amtrak needs to be privatized. Some entrepreneur dedicated to making rail travel as it was in the 40s and 50s would make a FORTUNE. I can’t count the times I’ve been watching a vintage movie like “North by Northwest” and heard those watching with me begging to have that kind of travel return.
However, that’s not the same thing as the feds providing some of the bucks with a corporation to build a needed road and put hundreds to work doing it. This is what the bogus “shovel-ready jobs” were supposed to do before the Democrats flat stole the money.
Why not just drive to Hobby and hop a SWA flight to Love?
If you do that, I won’t have to pay for your ticket.”
The last thing I want is for you to pay for my ticket. Airports are a mess, all of them. It would cost me more time than it would save to use airlines.
They would have to make the prices high enough to be profitable. If they can’t do that and still attract customers, it should not be done. I’m glad they’re considering it, but trust they will put common sense above political popularity and not proceed if subsidies are necessary.
Trump is smarter than you and me and I trust he won’t authorize another financial loser ;)
“Yup. Airplanes already do the same thing profitably.”
See: Southwest Airlines.
They have flights from Houston to Dallas every 30 minutes.
And they make money without reaching into the tax payer’s pocket.
“However, that’s not the same thing as the feds providing some of the bucks with a corporation to build a needed road and put hundreds to work doing it.”
If it is a good business idea, there is no need for the tax payer to fund it.
If it is a bad business idea, government should not be involved.
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