Re: Rebuilding 489 -- compared to 463

Ned --

I have a confession to make. I purposely made an unjustified comment about your volunteer efforts on 489, which I had no business doing because I have no first-hand knowledge of what you actually did or did not do.

As expected, you took offense which was only natural. From this exchange I'd like to offer two observations:

1. Gratuitously offering opinions on discussion boards is a lousy way of having a conversation and too often leads to misunderstandings and hard feelings.

2. Your posted reaction was no different than the reactions by members of the Friends to your unwarranted comments about the 463 project and the delayed charter. You are no closer to the realities of the complexities of that project than I to your work on 489. The difference is that the many members of the Friends that have given so much time and effort to this restoration project understand that to comment on discussion boards is counterproductive.

I would hope you and others would give some thought to this next time you feel the compulsion to offer opinions about situations you are far removed from. I promise to limit my comments in the same manner.

BTW I'm perfectly happy to spend my money on 463, especially since I know from twelve years of dealing with projects to restore steam locomotives that the money for restoration of 463 is being well spent, and that this perspective is shared by major donors to the project. Their opinions are the ones that matter.