[Associated Press December 13, 2012]"The self-published Pamela McColl of Vancouver, Canada, has a mission for her story, to protect children and their parents from the ravages of smoking. She mortgaged her house and sunk $200,000 into her telling of the 189-year-old holiday poem, touring the states..
McColl said she ran into supporters during her travels, including children who fret about Santa's health."
This is special to me. Because I had a background in electronics, I once worked at Allen Organ in the "Final Inspection Department" as a first inspector. Trust me when I say they produce one of the finest instruments made in the world. Talk about being fussy.. they absolutely were.
FROM THE VIDEO DESCRIPTION: "Allen Organ Company recently held their 2012 Christmas Concerts on December 6th, 7th & 8th. These concerts are performed annually by Allen staff members, family members, and some associates. They have become a fixture in the Lehigh Valley, helping to get the holiday season started for many in the area.
Approximately 1,600 people attended Allen's 2012 Christmas Concerts. As is Allen's tradition, proceeds from the concerts were donated to local charities, this year divided between the Allentown Symphony Association, the Community Music School, and the Lehigh County Conference of Churches.
Organists Aram Basmadjian and Barry Holben utilize both an Allen Q475 Classical Organ and an Allen LL-324Q-SP Theatre Organ to play this familiar holiday tune."
Deck The Halls performed by Macungie Freight Train
Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. wants to form his own task force to study rail travel. With that in mind I decided to do my own rail transportation study. Best part is, mine won't cost anybody a dime. Since I don't have horse in the race mine might be a whole lot less skewed then those who possibly stand to personally gain in some way with this tentative $659 million dollar project.
(1) Commuters who claim they are so interested in mass transit fail to use what is already available. They whine about the clogged conditions on I-78 but still insist on sitting in their cars. Why not get out of their cars right now and take the bus? It seems to me if your not using public transportation now, why would any of these be any more likely to take a train?
(2) If these drivers already don't like the bus, which in Bieber's case makes only one stop between Allentown and NYC, they certainly will object to a train making dozens of stops. Also considering they'd have to delay their travel even further by having to switch trains in New Jersey I simply don't believe they'd use this rail system.
(3) It is highly unlikely all 1,400 riders would switch from their current bus seats to board trains. So you'd need 1,000's of commuters into addition of those who presently use buses.
(4) Ask me why we should invest $659 million in a rail to High Bridge, New Jersey when you can drive the 20 miles into High Bridge, NJ only 28 minutes away and catch the train which is there already! Or from Allentown it's 42 miles in 52 minutes. Too far to drive you say..
(5) Well then drive to Hellertown or LVIP which is less then 10 miles from Phillipsburg. Sure beats driving from Allentown for the 91 miles for 1 3/4 hours into NYC yourself.
(6) Private bus company's are making profit from these runs. Why should taxpayers foot over $11 million every year in deficits when we already have efficient transportation that creates profitable jobs and businesses? Note that these didn't require millions in taxpayers' $'s for their initial startup costs.
(7) The rational is because people have moved to this area from the 'big city' there is now is a transportation need. Well people come and go. Housing developments move from time to time to other areas. Buses can reroute to serve those needs. Once those tracks are laid, they cannot be moved.
(8) Buses currently leave the terminal every 10 to 20 minutes during peak hours that fits the requirements of their ridership. How many trains would it take to schedule all these back to back departure times? The obvious answer it would be impossible.
Note on page #5 there were only three trains a day that left Allentown for New York City (5:18 AM, 6:49 AM and 9:09 AM). Each of the runs to New took between 2 hours and 25 minutes to 2 hours and 42 minutes. Consider that this was w/o switching trains in High Bridge, NJ. and to a third train going into New York City itself as the current plans are indicating.
My Final Thoughts On This Matter
From the standpoint of economic costs, travelers' commute times nor passengers' scheduling requirements, does any of this meet the criteria to bring this project to a successful conclusion.
Yes I would like to see passenger trains once again. But as long as drivers willing to sit 30 minutes waiting to get in the Lincoln tunnel. Driving around Manhattan for another 20 minutes to their $20 a day parking decks. You'd most likely have to pry their cold dead hands from their steering wheels before you'll get them on public transportation. Until buses can no longer handle capacity, then and only then could a see a need for alternative mass transit.
Fortunately I will always have yesteryear's memories of the gorgeous views from the train ride into NYC when I was a kid. It's sad, really.
Here is a video from 1955 when Jim Lantz retired from being the engineer of the famous Black Diamond train for Lehigh Valley Railroad
There are naysayers who walk among us who are down on supporting alternative energy research. What if we could generate electric while getting rid of waste products that require even more energy to transport and process in order to avoid gunking up our land and streams?
