Princeton Station (Dinky) Relocation Approved

As a South Bend native, I'd note that Notre Dame wasn't anti-railroad. When the NS(conrail) pulled out of the ex-MC branch to ND and Niles decades ago, the university kept their little yard goat for moving coal along a now-isolated line from yard to plant. When a private individual recently expressed interest in buying the dormant NS branch, the bums in the rotten part of town where the branch is located decided they were anti-train because, in their view, it was unsafe and noisy to run coal trains through town. Never mind the unsafe and noisy coal trucks running through town and tearing up publicly-funded streets...

The bums leaned on the elected officials, who leaned on the university admins, and suddenly everybody's against the railroad. Crummy deal if you ask me. That's why I left that town when I went to college and haven't come back. The area is quite stagnant both economically and culturally (and unfortunately, athletically, too) with little prospects for change.

I also find it ironic that a university, typically a haven to left-leaning individuals, is anti-rail transit, a cause championed by the left. It's like my dad used to say, "don't bother me with the facts, my mind is made up"...

Oh well, here's to hoping the Dinky won't be cut anymore than it already has.

Tadman wrote: I also find it ironic that a university, typically a haven to left-leaning individuals, is anti-rail transit, a cause championed by the left. It's like my dad used to say, "don't bother me with the facts, my mind is made up"...

Oh well, here's to hoping the Dinky won't be cut anymore than it already has.

You have to note the vast separation between staff (cleaning, kitchen etc), students, faculty, administration and executive. They all live in completely different worlds, and each has its own broad subset of individuals.

Tadman wrote:I also find it ironic that a university, typically a haven to left-leaning individuals, is anti-rail transit, a cause championed by the left

Might be noteworthy that the NYC subway system ceased expansion once it was taken out of private hands and centralized in the hands of the NYC government. NJT never really expanded its rail network either; the steps forward have cost way too much per mile (especially on the light rail side) and they haven't balanced out the losses (e.g. West Trenton, Phillipsburg, Ocean City/Wildwood, Cape May, Old Erie Main; it took Amtrak to restore Atlantic City). And this particular university has historically been hostile to the railroad on its property, especially in light of the past truncation of the line back from the present Blair Hall location; the state agency agreeing with it shows the real attitude of "the left" to rail transit.

Tadman wrote:I also find it ironic that a university, typically a haven to left-leaning individuals, is anti-rail transit, a cause championed by the left.

The faculty and, to a lesser extent, the student body may have a number of "left-leaning individuals," but the Princeton University administration is about as left-leaning as the board of directors of Citicorp, and to judge by the letters to the alumni magazine, the same is true of the majority of the alumni.

My experience with universities (my own and my kids') is that university administration nowadays is (almost?) entirely about maximizing the wealth and prestige (a.k.a. snob appeal) of the institution. Actually, prestige is also about wealth, since higher prestige translates into more wealth (grants, donations, and students willing to pay high tuitions.) (Anybody else here had the experience that your kid's very, very expensive college started hitting you up for donations the day the acceptance letter came?)

An on-campus (or near-campus) Dinky station does not contribute to Princeton's wealth or snob appeal (their wealthy donors arrive in private jets, not on the Dinky.) I'm sure the P.U. administration believes that a new arts center will. From their point of view, it's a no-brainer.

Is there any chance that they might allow the current station to remain, with the stipulation that they rename it from Princeton to Notecnirp?

the Princeton University administration is about as left-leaning as the board of directors of Citicorp

Then they are more left-leaning than even I perceived them to be. (How many folks even know what "right" and "left" in politics means? I suspect a very minuscule number.) When even the theological seminary of Princeton U attack pro-life groups and push so-called "diversity", that's even further left than Lenin. The left's focus has always been on money and materialism.

Suddenly railroad.net turns into a political discussion forum

Until we have fully privatized passenger rail ownership and operation once again, it's a bit hard to divorce politics and passenger rail.

amtrakowitz wrote:Until we have fully privatized passenger rail ownership and operation once again, it's a bit hard to divorce politics and passenger rail.

Agreed

Regarding the origination of the terms "left" and "right", there were once two political parties in France. The Girondists and Mountainists. The Girond was conservative and sat on the right side of parliament. The Mountain was liberal and sat on the left side. Ergo, left for liberals and right for conservatives.

This is a bit of an oversimplification of the partys' views, but you get the idea where left and right are from.

Tadman wrote:The Girond was conservative and sat on the right side of parliament.

The version I heard was that it had to do with the seating in the English Parliament. The King seated those whose political views he liked -- the Tories? the ancestors of the Tories? -- to his right (as a sign of favor), and the others to his left (as a sign of disfavor.)

Sounds like a good question for Snopes.com . (I searched there, but didn't find anything.)

In any case, (a) what views are considered "left wing" vs. "right wing" vary greatly from time to time and from place to place and (b) support for vs. opposition to passenger rail (incl. commuter rail and rail rapid transit) haven't yet become a major litmus test in the political culture wars going on in the USA. For which I am grateful.

It's on the net if you search for "girondists" and "mountainists".

Oddly enough, this isn't the first time we've discussed such on this board - here's my 2009 post on the same material.
http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... ts#p677915

Is there a term for people who think the relocation is stupid? Dinkystopscrewingwithourshuttleists?

25Hz wrote:Dinkystopscrewingwithourshuttleists?

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Long words time! I am one of those, though

http://www.princeton.edu/artsandtransit ... -Plan2.jpg

If this site plan is accurate, the station is not moving very far...