NYSW OnTrack's dirty laundry?

[quote="lvrr325"]some liberal clown[/quote]

Nice.


As someone who lived in Syracuse, I can say this. The problem is not liberal clowns or conservative clowns, but a city that has been thoroughly lost to a vanished economy and the crooked jackals that swoop in to cities like this.

Was I-81 a mistake? Absolutely. I think I-690 was, too, as the railroad should have stayed in downtown.

Until the halls of Syracuse government look less like the cells of inmates and more like the offices of progressive thinkers, what you have is what you have.

Is it still the leader of American cities in the category of most empty homes? That stat tells you just about all you need to know.

JH

This is the Syracuse which decided to put its sewage treatment plant in the relatively vibrant middle of downtown?

The Syracuse, which, after years of objecting, decided to give away lots of money to a mall/resort/boondoggle which is far too big to really succeed in an area with this population -- while being unable to put in a small amount of money to increase the ability of tourists to *get* to said boondoggle?

Yes, indeed, the disastrous state of Syracuse government bodes ill for, well, pretty much anything in Syracuse.

Maybe after the failure of DestiNY USA Syracuse will get a government with some brains, like that of Youngstown, Ohio.

Heck, they could do better outsourcing it to China.

But you should take a whole sentence in a quote, not just pull three words out of context. The truth is it's pretty much liberals who want I-81 torn down and the proof is all the arguments they make are emotional and easily argued in the face of actual fact. That none of them ever mentions 690, even though if anything it's more of a divider, just adds to the proof - it's been around so long no one remembers when it wasn't there... and it wasn't built through a largely black neighborhood.

We can debate whether the philosophy of today's Democratic Party is what has caused Syracuse to be what it has become. At a minimum I think it is safe to say when you have a city like Syracuse where one party runs the place with no serious chance of losing to the other party then the party in perennial power tends to become corrupt, inept, and incapable of change. The only way it changes is when it gets so bad that people who vote the party line are willing to change - witness New York City after the disastrous term of David Dinkins as Mayor. Perhaps this DestiNY disaster in the making will be the bottom to finally cause the much needed sweeping clean of city hall.

Let's bring it back to OnTrack please.

-=otto-

Letter to the Editor, Syracuse Post-Standard, February 8, 2008

http://www.syracuse.com/poststandard/st ... xml&coll=1

I've been lurking in the forums for awhile but this thread finally prompted me to register.

From the article in the original post:
"NYS&W began building the bridge in 1999. But Conrail complained that the construction was making its nearby bridge unsafe" Syracuse Post Standard. Sunday, November 11, 2007. Marnie Eisenstadt


Prior to work stopping on the bridge there was a lot of monitoring going on. Crack gauges had been installed on the abutments under the bridge itself, Survey crews monitored bridge position from independent points at least several times a week, to a couple of times a day. In addition bench runs were performed from near the carousel station platform, across the bridge, to the Amtrak platform, and those same survey crews had to set up their equipment between the rails (with a flagman on duty) to shoot down the rails.

Then one day the bridge moved. Not a lot, but enough that within a couple of hours there were numerous white hard hats spread out around the area and a survey crew on location. The biggest telltale was that when trains hit the bridge there was a noticeable bang that had not been there before.

Just wanted to address that, as the articlehas the tone that the bridge didn't really move.

Very Interesting, nice to have some on board that has some answers.

Message from Susquehanna mailing list - Saturday, March 8, 2008:

The weather in Syracuse is cold and wet with rain now forecasted to change over to snow sometime tonight. Syracuse University hosts Marquette in the Dome at 4PM. With all of the passenger equipment up for sale and no commitment to run passenger service after today, the Orange Express running between 2:30PM and 6:30PM today may very well be the last run for OnTrack.

Link to NYS&W passenger equipment for sale on D. F. Barnhardt & Associates web site:

www.trains-trams-trolleys.com/home/NYSW/nysw.htm

News Story from Syracuse Post-Standard:

http://blog.syracuse.com/news/2008/03/o ... een_d.html

News Story from WSTM-TV:

http://www.wstm.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=105709

"OnTrack Shuts Down Orange Express", Syracuse Post Standard, March 11, 2008

http://www.syracuse.com/articles/news/i ... xml&coll=1

If someone wants to pony up the money, they'll keep running the trains. I don't know what's so hard to understand there. Pay NYSW to operate the train, and they will keep running. When did NYSW get "old subway cars" to carry passengers in? Dumb reporters can't be bothered with details.

-otto-

Otto Vondrak wrote:If someone wants to pony up the money, they'll keep running the trains. I don't know what's so hard to understand there. Pay NYSW to operate the train, and they will keep running. When did NYSW get "old subway cars" to carry passengers in? Dumb reporters can't be bothered with details.

-otto-

Maybe Syracuse.com and Post-Standard should start hiring graduates of Syracuse University's top-flight journalism/public communications division, the S.I. Newhouse School. Surely one of those grads would know the difference between an "old subway car" and what NYS&W had as rolling stock.

As a SU grad who attended "The Cuse" long before OnTrack, I was (and still am) envious that the university community had that kind of access to downtown and beyond. When I was there, either you had a car, took CENTRO or walked. As I hadn't a car and often didn't have money for CENTRO, I used foot power alot. I'd gladly have taken OnTrack downtown for shopping and for fun. Comments to their website indicate much regret about the loss of this service and hope someone will resurrect it. But that seems doubtful now, doesn't it?

Well, if you didnt have money for the bus, you wouldn't have money for OnTrack either... fare was $1.50 if I recall.

-otto-

Otto Vondrak wrote:Well, if you didnt have money for the bus, you wouldn't have money for OnTrack either... fare was $1.50 if I recall.

-otto-

I don't remember what CENTRO fare was then. But from I understand, the SU administration had some sort of deal for SU and ESF students to ride OnTrack at (considerable) student discount which was competitive with CENTRO. In any event, I do think this is a loss for the area. The lack of connection to the Syracuse Amtrak station - I believe - would've made quite a difference. They might even have extended service south to Cortland or Binghampton and north to Oswego and/or Ft. Drum.