Luther, I don't know who called whom, as if the city if Jamestown reached out first, or the WNYRHS did. I can say that the people responsible in Jamestown were in conversations with what they thought was someone from the WNYRHS, who offered:
1. #4483 outside the station at track level
2. the use of passenger cars for excursions
3. Helping to organize excursions to Cleveland, Buffalo, and points East
4. Specifically, excursions to Buffalo Bills games since "our track runs right to the stadium"
I also can't say if the public helped the city think this could be done, or if the WNYRHS helped lead the bull by the nose, but I can safely say that the city was looking at attracted a set number of people to the city each year. Let's say that number is 50,000. The various things either already built or in progress would have added up to, let's say, 40,000, and the city needed another attraction to get to the magic number for things like grants and what not. Whomever the city spoke to eagerly offered that the #4483 would help meet this total, bringing 10,000 people a year to the city on its own.
As a member of the committee that met immediately after this idea was floated, I vehemently opposed it, and there is a member of the City Council (I think that's what it is) that knows a bit about trains that also called BS on the idea, and his input surely had more value there than mine did, and the fact that this was a lie was a downer to the group.
Was this individual authorized by the group to speak on their behalf? I couldn't tell you. I can tell you that I separately attempted to speak with the individual and never heard a reply, and that goes for the group too, and no one ever replied to me. I can also tell you that this individual's name could be found in several places on the WNYRHS web site.
For whatever it's worth, I've been saying these things, here and elsewhere for years. Here's a thread from 2005 about the station:
http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... &sk=t&sd=a
Dave Becker