ehbowen

No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying that as long as we reward inefficiency and ineffectiveness with more tax funds, we'll get more inefficiency and more ineffectiveness. I'm saying that we need to revoke all civil service protections and make any pensions contingent upon results and performance. Return to the mindset of the 1950s, when the objective was to keep taxes down and give the citizens the maximum bang for their buck.

Just keep in mind that if they ever solve the crime problem, they won't have grounds to go back and demand more tax money for more police. Same with schools. Same with highways. Rinse and repeat as needed.

Here's an update: The hardcover edition of Guardian Angel is now available through most online booksellers, or it can be ordered through your local book dealer. I just found out this morning that I've had my first international sale, in Germany! If anyone's curious, you can purchase the hardcover direct from my distributor at this link. I get a bigger cut (normally the bookstore takes more than half!) and you get 10% off! (If you prefer to wait, the softcover, e-Book, and Large Print editions will be available as of May 15th.) I've had a very flattering editorial review from Reedsy Discovery, excerpted below: Review written for Reedsy Discovery by Lisa Henson. Rated four stars (of five). (Inclusion of the direct purchase link has been authorized by @editor.)

I don't know. Maybe there was no vehicle handy to remove them; maybe they just didn't get the word passed to them in time. There's going to be an investigation; that's for certain, and until that report comes out any finger-pointing is premature. This is premature, as well, but I saw a posting made by a Captain of a similar class vessel who believes that the initial power loss was due to contamination in the Diesel fuel from shifting fuel tanks at an inopportune time. Following that, the emergency generator started and the lights came back on. That would have given enough power for the rudder but NOT for the (very, very power hungry) bow thrusters. If the Captain reflexively grabbed the bow thruster control to attempt to dodge the bridge piling (highly likely, and if so it will be on the 'black box' event recorder), he would have tripped the emergency generator on overload, leaving the ship completely without power. Again, this is premature, but it looks like the most probable scenario I've seen.

I Am Not A Lawyer, but I believe that this allision (only one of the parties was moving) is under Admiralty law. Which means, as best I understand it, that the best which Baltimore and the families of the men killed on the bridge can hope for in the way of a settlement is for the ship owners to hand them the keys to the MV Dali as is, where is. Under Admiralty law people are never at fault, only ships, and the liability is limited to the value of the ship at fault, the ship's owner can't be touched. It should go without saying that Admiralty law was created by shipowners, for shipowners...

You might want to see my comments in the "Train from Houston to Galveston" thread, starting here.

Talk about your basket case!

A special Valentine's Day event at Hyatt Regency Houston: For one night, Spindletop is being opened for a special Valentine's Day prix fixe meal. Yes, it's high...nosebleed high; $295 per couple. But for that you get a four-course steak and codfish meal with Spindletop's unique revolving view of Downtown. Contact the hotel for more information, or go to this Facebook link: https://fb.me/e/4RkFX2PKo Disclaimer: I am employed by the hotel, but I'm not an official spokesman.

(Note: This post was authorized by @editor) My Christian fiction/supernatural suspense novel Guardian Angel will be coming out in the next few months. I'm self-publishing it under my Celesta Press imprint, with wide distribution under terms favorable to local bookstores. Of course, it will be available from the online retailers as well. I'm hardly impartial to this story, of course, but here's what an experienced book editor had to say in the way of a capsule description: The action and story of the book is set in the Houston area, which is why I asked to mention it here. I name-check a few well-known sites, including the long-lamented Astroworld, Sam Houston Park downtown, the former "Maywell House" (thank you, lawyers!) coffee plant, and more. I'm planning to make a hardback library edition available on shelves come March 29th, with e-book and softcover formats to follow on May 15th. A Large Print edition and a Spanish language translation are also in the works. Pre-sales should be available in mid-February. I'm happy to make review copies, either electronic or physical Advance Reading Copies, available to reviewers with an established portfolio and stable media presence. You may contact me by message here. This project represents a big personal investment of both time and money, but it's something I've wanted to do for many years. I hope you enjoy it.

No updates in 15+ years? Guess it's up to me. [Disclosure: I have a [unspecified] connection with the hotel, but I'm not an official spokesman.] There was a rooms renovation during the period of slow business for the pandemic. The "Window Box" on the second floor overlooking the lobby is now event space. The Lobbibar is still open and doing brisk business, serving a decent lunch and dinner menu as well as drinks. "Einstein Brothers' Bagels" on the Dallas Street side of the lobby level is open (generally) 6 am to 10 pm, offering bagels and bagel sandwiches as well as coffee, tea, and packaged salads. Some gift shop items, as well. Shula's Steakhouse is open for breakfast 7 days a week (buffet), lunch Monday through Thursday, and dinner Tuesday through Saturday. Extended hours possible during high occupancy periods. Lunch and dinner also available through the Lobbibar. Spindletop (rooftop revolving restaurant) closed as a restaurant during the pandemic and sat unused for three years; however, it is now available to be booked for special events. Still not reopened to the public. The revolving seating area still works! Renovation has been discussed, but ADA regulations limit what can be done unless you look at a complete gut-and-rebuild remodeling. The second parking level under the lobby is now air-conditioned exhibit space, with a gym/fitness center also on that level. The first and third basement levels remain available for valet parking. More later...maybe.

How about, "Be careful what you wish for; you may get it!"

It was known as the Texas Limited. It was popular as a novelty at first, but a few things combined to kill it. Amtrak didn't want it. The Texas Limited originally used the Amtrak station on Washington Avenue in downtown Houston, and at that time there was still a direct connector track which let traffic flow through to the Galveston main lines (it was demolished to make way for the present I-10 ramps terminating northeast of Minute Maid park). Amtrak, who I understand at that time was paying a rent of $100 per year to the railroad to use the station, squeezed the Texas Limited operators for every dime they could. Basically they were charging them based on the property value, plus all utility costs, plus maintenance, plus the cost of the Amtrak personnel staffing the station, plus a markup on top of all that. That's why the Texas Limited operation eventually left Downtown and built their own station in The Heights. But this added a couple more miles, plus delays sitting at switching towers, to a journey which already was too long for most day trippers. Union Pacific really didn't want it. First, they downgraded the line to Galveston to Class 2 track, which limited passenger operations to 35 mph. Then they removed the block signal system on the Galveston line to keep the speed limits low. Finally, they bought out the old Missouri-Kansas-Texas (the Katy) railroad, and demolished the Katy main line from Katy to Downtown in order to sell the right of way to the highway department for the I-10 expansion. This ensured that the Texas Limited could never come back in anything like its former form. The Texas Limited operators were essentially married to the GH&H (Galveston, Houston & Henderson, original name of the railroad running from Downtown through South Houston, League City, and Dickinson) route. I understand that they had real estate interests in League City and would not even consider any other possible routing. As was mentioned up-thread, the line down Mykawa through Alvin, although a few miles longer, is capable of much higher operating speeds even today and its ownership (in those days AT&SF, present day BNSF) was in general much friendlier to the idea of operating passenger services. Which isn't necessarily saying much, but the difference is noticed even by foreigners. I've corresponded with Mark Smith, The Man In Seat 61, and he said that from his (European/British) perspective he thought that the Amtrak trains operated over Union Pacific were poorly handled and dispatched, but that even he was positively impressed by the AT&SF/BNSF operated trains.

If I were putting together this kind of service for-real, as practical transportation and not as some kind of grift or skim, here's where I'd put stations: Galveston Island, 25th and Strand. The former "Colored Waiting Room" of the Santa Fe station is NOT part of the Galveston Railroad Museum; I'd acquire rights to it and to the small parking area in the rear where I'd restore a platform and a couple of tracks. Virginia Point (Park & Ride). The train has to slow down here anyhow for the bridge; a passenger stop would add less than three minutes to the time altogether and would draw in commuters from Tiki Island, Texas City, La Marque and Hitchcock. Plenty of land (okay, swamp!) for a park & ride here. Alvin. I might consider relocating from the historic downtown depot to a new Park & Ride near Avenue I or thereabouts. Pearland South (Note: The railroad considers the container terminal outside Hobby Airport as "Pearland" these days). New Park & Ride located just off Magnolia Parkway. Alternate location off McHard Road. Clear Creek Station (new Park & Ride off Beltway 8). Plenty of room for parking and I'd leave facilities for interchange with bus routes. Mykawa Station (at Airport Boulevard) serving Hobby Airport via dedicated circulator bus. Dixie Drive. Good-sized industrial park located here; this could be a commute destination as well as pickup point for neighborhoods in vicinity. Old Spanish Trail. Serving University of Houston as well as a short walk to the MacGregor Park/MLK Purple Line station. Milby Street. Again, much commercial/industrial activity within walking distance, not to mention burgeoning residential redevelopment and nearby connections to bus and light rail. Downtown/Minute Maid Park (between Commerce and Runnels). Station for downtown, the stadiums, and EaDo. Near North Side (either Quitman or Collingsworth, possibly Cavalcade). Crosstimbers. As far north as you can go and put a station without ridiculous construction costs (rail line starts running in the median of the Hardy Toll Road). North Belt Park & Ride (at West Hardy and Aldine-Bender). IAH/Airtex. I'd put a Park & Ride in what looks like the big sand pits near there and extend the IAH Peoplemover (or similar) to serve it. Could be room enough for yards and maintenance facilities for the trains here, as well. Spring. End of the line...for now. For future expansion we could look at going either north to The Woodlands and Conroe or west to Magnolia and Tomball. Or both! Editing To Add: This may seem like a lot of stations, but really it's not. Yes, freight trains really drag and take a lot of time to get up to speed, but passenger trains really get up and move! I have an Internet acquaintance who's a civil engineer specializing in high speed rail passenger service, and he says that each additional station stop adds possibly three minutes, plus the actual dwell time you spend standing in the station. The commuters would spend (lots!) more than that in traffic.

At the risk of being nicknamed, "Zombieman"... Reading through this old thread for the first time, what I keep coming back to is, "20/35 mph." There is no real reason whatsoever why this line couldn't be run at 79 or even 90 mph for passenger traffic, if the signaling system was reinstalled (it was taken out in the mid '90s...I used to live alongside that track, where it crossed Howard Drive). It's flat, it's straight; basically, it's been treated as a red-headed stepchild by Union Pacific since they bought it out via merger in the 1980s. This gentleman had the right idea: A decent proposal, although I'd say that there's no reason to go through the expense of contorting your Right Of Way in order to provide door-to-door rail service to the airport. Much simpler and cheaper to have a dedicated circulator shuttle bus which makes regular stops at the rail depot and the airport terminal (as well as parking lots, Fixed Based Operators ['truck stops' for private planes], and the like). Or, as another commenter proposed, extend the IAH People Mover for the connection. And if you're talking spending this kind of money, no need to go all the way around Runways 14/32 at IAH; tunnelling under an airport runway is hardly an unprecedented construction project. What I really like about this post is the south end: He has his route using the BNSF (former AT&SF/GC&SF) line past University of Houston (campus depot, anyone), Hobby Airport, and Alvin. This is not widely known, but this line still hosted passenger service up through April of 1967. And it was a fast line, too...after I wrote about the line some years back, a correspondent emailed me with his memory of racing that train up highway 35 in the early 1960s. He was doing 90 mph, and the train passed him! It's still signaled and maintained for 55 mph, and I can prove it, too: That's a screenshot of my cell phone's GPS while riding as a passenger on that line for one of the Galveston Railroad Museum's excursions, this one from 2015 (I was a volunteer there). Smooth track, too; better than average for the Amtrak system as a whole (I've ridden more than half of that, as well). This service could be done. It depends upon the will to do it. Would it be profitable? Well, is the Gulf Freeway profitable, standing on its own? If you could keep the grifters from bleeding it dry (greed isn't found exclusively in the private sector), I think it would be a worthwhile venture.

It was definitely there and open during 1999, which was my last visit...to the restaurant. The "Nashville Room" had perhaps the best 24-hour dining available inside the 610 Loop. I was (very briefly) part of a workout group during '97, and we met there for breakfast after a 5 am workout. Hard to remember exactly, but I believe my last meal there was their Prime Rib...very tasty! They also hosted some smaller meetings and conferences. I remember attending training sponsored by one of the local air conditioning distributors which was held there, and they served lunch. Also a pleasant memory.