Lackawanna County railroad Authority

I recently saw a blurb in the L&WV newsletter about the Lackawanna County railroad authority; seems that the county wants to abolish the authority and take in right into the county goverment structure. Seems the LCRA is a stand alone agency, which, in my opinion, has done a stellar job getting their network together and securing an operator who has done a super job. I don't understand his maneuver; why are they in a rush to abolish the agency?? Is there something fishy going on here?? Does somebody need a job, is this stunt politically motivated?? This whole thing smells funny, and a bunch of poiliticians running the railroad agency?? One thing that I do know- if they abolish the LCRA, legally, the operating contract with GVT is null and void- and the unspeakable could happen- David MonteVerde's Alcos could go away. That would be bad for all concerned, least of all us Alco nuts, and the county itself, which has benefitted from the fine service of "THE" DL...

Hopefully someone in the area could enlighten me about this...politicos running a railroad??? Say it aint so...


Charlie H. :D

Luzerne County has been running some local rail service for a number of years, and few would dispute that political patronage is a big factor.

But it's also worth noting that the Lackawanna County Court House changed hands between parties in the 2003 election, so the action may represent an "end run" around someone within the LCRA.

Somehow I read the subject line as Lancaster County, and was shocked to see GVT listed as an opperator down there. Another question about opperations tho would be how does this effect Steamtown.