Railroad Forums 

  • Newtown line leased to Montco for recreational trail

  • Discussion relating to Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Philadelphia Metro Area). Official web site can be found here: www.septa.com. Also including discussion related to the PATCO Speedline rapid transit operated by Delaware River Port Authority. Official web site can be found here: http://www.ridepatco.org/.
Discussion relating to Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Philadelphia Metro Area). Official web site can be found here: www.septa.com. Also including discussion related to the PATCO Speedline rapid transit operated by Delaware River Port Authority. Official web site can be found here: http://www.ridepatco.org/.

Moderator: AlexC

 #741280  by DeltaV
 
nomis wrote:Hot off the presses ... There are R8 Newtown Schedules available at 30th St.

Once I finish reading the pamphlet, I shall return it for another to read.
(good to see the ccc referenced)
Wait, what? I'm guessing these are promotional by r8newtown.com? Curious, I may head over lunchtime and check them out anyway...
 #743517  by add2718
 
dreese_us wrote:Not sure if anyone has seen this, looks like there is going to be a meeting in Rockledge on Monday, November 30th at 7:30. Here's the link;

http://www.oneifbylandbuckscounty.com/g ... #commentsm

It's going to be a tough fight to get the line reactivated.
Yeah I saw that. I like r8newtown.com but I think the celebrity endorsements on there ("Neil Young rides the R8"???) cheapen an otherwise well-done site. Also I don't think it's right to have "SERVICE IS RETURNING" on the site when this is just not true right now. However I think someone who does the site probably created this page at wikipedia which is a good read so I can't complain too much:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Chase- ... ansit_Line
 #743771  by Pacobell73
 
R8Guy wrote:I like r8newtown.com but I think the celebrity endorsements on there ("Neil Young rides the R8"???) cheapen an otherwise well-done site.
Well, that is done to attract attention, something our media-frenzied society splatters all over the internet with ads. Neil Young is a well-known Lionel train addict, so he is essentialliy helping us bring awareness to the R8 line. Common sense will hopefully tell the astute person that "this is just a lark, but I get the message. Gotta check out the website." Same thing was done for the Thomas the Tank Engine ads. Children have been very responsive to that.
R8Guy wrote:Also I don't think it's right to have "SERVICE IS RETURNING" on the site when this is just not true right now.
The goal here is to have a "can do" atttitude. Whatever it takes to put a train on the track, r8newtown will examine and discuss with SEPTA, planners and elected officials. The more passengers that see service is returning, the more they will contact SEPTA, legislators and planners. r8newtown does not state when the service is returning, since that would be very premature. It could be 5, 10, 15, 30 years. Fate is a funny thing. The goal is to the keep the line's existence alive and in the public consciousness. Remember: SEPTA promised to resume service since 1983; service was "temporarily" suspended between 1983 and 2009, when it dropped off the Capital Budget. The difference there is that SEPTA tried to keep the line out of the public eye by removing the lollipop signs, ceased the bustitution, and erasing it from their system maps.

This will be a long battle, and we are prepared for that. Above all the else, the line must remain in the public conscious. If ol' Neil Young can help out, well then that is good.
 #743778  by cpontani
 
So why not say the Boulevard is getting a subway, service is returning to West Chester/Quakertown/Reading, South Street is getting an expressway, and the Athletics are returning to Philly? Sure the timeline lies somewhere inbetween now and hell freezing over.

The statement is misleading, pure and simple. There's better ways to sell it.
 #743836  by AlexC
 
Does Neil Young know he's bringing attention to the R8-Newtown?

Getting sued by him probably won't be the kind of attention you want.
 #743854  by Pacobell73
 
Copyright information is listed on all flyers, and not a penny is being made from this. This is harmless. We are not selling a product.

To each his own...
 #743894  by add2718
 
Pacobell73 wrote:Remember: SEPTA promised to resume service since 1983
I'd like to know if this was even in writing. If not... well, you know what they say about verbal agreements.

Just so we're clear: I'm not against the return of service on the line. I signed the online petition (and oddly enough, the very next person on the list after me was my former coworker who owns a house in Huntingdon Valley). I'm a member of the Facebook group. I just think some of the statements on the website shouldn't be there.
Pacobell73 wrote:Copyright information is listed on all flyers, and not a penny is being made from this. This is harmless. We are not selling a product.
The website states, "If you or your company or orgnaization are interested in promoting the Newtown line to secure immediate funding from PennDOT and the Obama Administration, please print and distribute any of the pamphlets below."

As AlexC touched on above, if your website is actually encouraging people to print out and distribute flyers with "celebrities" (for lack of a better term), you really should get permission from said celebrities. There are always a few jerks out there who could get upset over possible copyright infringement. I'm just looking out for you, that's all.
 #744039  by Pacobell73
 
You are right. Some of those flyers were made on a whim, and there were no plans to publish them. They were put on the website for kicks. But then they started appearing at stations---a lot---and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Thanx for looking out for us. It is appreciated! Like the site says, please "join the movement." If we can get a steady flow of supporters to help keep the Newtown line in the public, it should be the contributors here on RR.net, yes? :-)
 #744108  by Patrick Boylan
 
I couldn't find where the website says Neil Young rides the R8.
I may be naive, but I guess libel laws give a little bit of leeway to non-commercial uses, especially if the aggrieved party, Neil Young in this case, cannot show evidence of how the printed item harms them.
 #744148  by planettelex
 
If the moderators will indulge an off-topic discussion:
Fictional characters like Thomas the Tank Engine are protected by copyright laws. The owner of the copyrighted material retains exclusive rights to distribute and modify the material, and in general the owner can limit the use of the copyrighted material by others. The so-called "fair use" exception allows portions of copyrighted materials to be used for non-commercial purposes such as commentary, news reporting, educational purposes, etc., and this type of use is not an infringement of copyright. Otherwise, permission of the copyright holder is required to use the material, regardless of whether a profit is made or not.

Real people, like Neil Young, are protected against misappropriation of their likeness without permission. The idea is that living people have a right to determine how their name and likeness are publicly used, and particularly to control the commercial use of their identity. A commercial use includes using a person's name or likeness for advertising or promotions of goods or services. Generally, suggesting that a celebrity is involved with or endorses a website could be viewed as exploiting their identity to drive web traffic or gain a commercial benefit.

Note that I am not giving legal advice; I'm just summarizing the legal issues as getting cease and desist letters might not be the sort of publicity that the R8 website creators intended to generate. That said, the website seems to be having success in bringing the Newtown line to the attention of the public, and I hope that continues.
 #744442  by glennk419
 
For those not following the original Newtown thread, the cover story of the Intelligenger this morning contains a very comprehensive piece on the Bryn Athyn wreck which occurred 88 years ago this Saturday. It features members of the Southampton Railroad Station Society.
The online version can be found here: http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/t ... eck-1.html
 #744465  by cpontani
 
glennk419 wrote:For those not following the original Newtown thread, the cover story of the Intelligenger this morning contains a very comprehensive piece on the Bryn Athyn wreck which occurred 88 years ago this Saturday. It features members of the Southampton Railroad Station Society.
The online version can be found here: http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/t ... eck-1.html
So is this why the reinstatement is cursed? :P
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