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Do you think for one minute that they are going to tell you what they are doing?"
Based on past actions to date, no I don't. The CHS has been ruluctant to respond to requests for information from their own membership, as well as to requests for information through the open records act. Which is of questionable legality. Railstar, on the other hand is a different matter. If they wanted to they could make an effort to open relations with the narrow gauge rail community in the west. True a lot of bridges have been burned but if they are interested in brokering a positive relationship now is a good opportunity for them to start. If they get tarred and feathered, they tried. But if they don't even try...
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tandard business practices would require all parties to keep confidential all ongoing negotiations, and to make an announcement only when a deal is completed."
The problem here is that the deal
has been completed re: Railstar becoming the operator. That is the whole point of this whole thread. By your own measure they should make an announcement regarding the general outline of their business plan. Reiterating the old "there will be a steam train in 2005" doesn't cut it. True if they are still in negotiations over, say #12, they have no reason to, and every reason not to say anything. However given the number of questions surrounding operations next year, it seems that it would be in their interest to at least provide some indication of how they'll get there both to reduce the negative publicity (ok that's a maybe) and to reduce the anxiety in the communities they say they are so dedicated to serving. You yourself provided a
perfect example of the kind of information they could "leak" by pointing out that Railstar "is in the business of building narrow gauge rolling stock". They have steam operations so they have people on staff who can start work on any equipment they might obtain immediately, they don't need to wait until January when the Silver Plume shop becomes available to them. So why not come out and state that "we're beginning conversion (or construction) of X number of coaches for use by May" and are looking at Y steam and diesel locomotives throughout the world"?
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I also very much doubt that #12 is the only steamer they are looking at."
I'm sure you're right. However I'm also sure they are running into the same problems that have everyone so worried in the first place: Can the engine in question be made operational by next May? Is it small enough to make the curves and clearances? and Is it powerful enough to do the job?" There just aren't that many engines in existence which meet those requirements.
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Don't expect them to be placing announcements in trash talk railbashing forums."
I don't give a flying fig where they make their announcement. Of course I wouldn't mind it one bit if they did so here, but if Railstar believes this place to be a trash talk rail bashing forum, there are lots of other venues they can use.
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Saying things like "Double Dog Dare Them" and
"No answer, No Plan, Simple"
is likely to result in less information coming your way, not more."
Given the torrential flood of information that has been forthcoming from the CHS during this whole sordid affair, and the difficulty that has been met in obtaining it, it's a little hard to see how there could be
less information coming our way.
However total silence suggests that they are either still negotiating (and so are still formulating their plan), are still scratching their heads over what to do (again no plan) or they don't give a crap what people think about them. As I said, if they don't like the atmosphere here, there are lots of other places they can go to outline their desires.
There may also be a sense that now, the penultimate day of GTLRR operations isn't a good time for Railstar to be announcing their intentions. If that's the case, it shows, to me anyway, a certain degree of class. However I still think it would be a good idea for them to provide an outline of how they see the next season shaping up, and sooner is probably better than later.
Don
