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Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

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 #1383678  by RAS
 
Safetee, that sounds like an excellent idea. Several people have commented to me that there are nearly no written records for anything in this project. I think at one point the late Paul Joyce (3rd Rail) wrote to them to ask about how certain funds were being used, I don't recall that he ever got any answer.

Which leaves us with the public record 990 forms. I reviewed the 2013 form (latest year filed) some more and it is very interesting. In 2012 the group had contributions and donations of $91,495 (Page 6, Section A, Line 1D). In 2013 contributions and donations dropped to $440 (Same reference, Line 1E). That is a 99.5% drop in just one year. I am wondering how a group with an ongoing fund raising effort suffers a 99.5% decline in contributions in just one years time.

RAS
 #1383730  by RAS
 
Yes, some very strange sort of management!

If you were to announce to all your contributors that a project was being abandoned, and to not send any more money, you might be able to shut down the cash flow 99.5% year-to-year, but the FYRG is an active group with an ongoing solicitation for contributions. That 2013 number is very strange.

And the 2012 number is interesting too. Annual contributions of $91,495 would complete a $3,000,000 project in 33 years if the cost did not increase. That would more realistically be around 50 years with cost inflation. That is likely beyond the remaining lifetime of many of the contributors.

This train was going to be "completed" when?

RAS
 #1383766  by NRGeep
 
3rdrail wrote:...or for a nominal fee (@ $100.00 per person) you could sit in the Yankee, at which time the boys could jump up and down in the diaphragms, giving the feeling of motion in the car simulating a ride to Portland ! Great idea - Calls for another Gala !!!!
One more gala for the ages! 🌝
 #1386906  by RAS
 
I have been looking back through Paul's posts on this discussion about the FYRG and how they used money. I think he definitely had some suspicions that something was not "right" about the project.

After seeing their IRS yearly filings, I believe that Paul was definitely onto something.

RAS
 #1395190  by markhb
 
Is the FY still sitting at Hobo RR? If it is, does anyone know if they're having periodic open houses for it as were done in years past?
 #1395271  by p42thedowneaster
 
http://www.hoborr.com/button.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Here's an official explanation by the Hobo RR. Hopefully this link works...

Glad to see that the Hobo is still proud to have hosted the FY for the time that they've had it. I was there on the day it arrived in Lincoln and I (and many others) was very enthusiastic about seeing it come to life. I feel bad that the Hobo did not get a chance to see its investments come to maturity on site, but I suppose the future could still hold some hope. With a new focus on volunteer efforts and less administrative costs, perhaps the appropriate talent will now fall in place. Its time to move (on from the mistakes of the past) forward with greater wisdom.
 #1395285  by Cosmo
 
Hear, hear!
Let the past be past and let's look toward the future!
 #1395288  by Safetee
 
Not trying to be a wet blanket here, but choreographing volunteers to perform extensive quality restorations is frequently an exercise in futility on the order of herding cats. Any project of this type at the very minimum requires a focused management team with a realistic plan from a to z. Regardless of the best efforts of the volunteers, the need for sufficient cash for project material flow is still going to be a necessity. These days, buckets of loose cash for historically meandering projects are hard to find. This is not to say that developing project focus, marshalling quality volunteers, and securing sufficient funds is impossible. But anybody who feels that it's all going to be a piece of cake is delusional.
 #1396041  by RAS
 
If the $440 in contributions and donations that this group reported to the IRS on their most recent yearly filing is an accurate figure, then very few people are actually contributing any money to this project, and it is unlikely the train is going anywhere anytime soon.

RAS
 #1396043  by BandA
 
I think the State of New Hampshire needs to decide what they want to do. Use for Manchester-Lowell shuttle!!!
 #1396121  by RAS
 
With annual contributions of $440, based on their last filing, and $3 million of work left to be done, this project will take 6818 years to complete (if the price does not increase between now and then) and be completed sometime around the year 8834.

Seems like this project is lost somewhere in Railfan Fantasyland.

RAS
 #1432951  by NHV 669
 
Noticed heading back north on 93 this afternoon that the tent cover over the FY was gone, leaving it to the elements. Is this a standard summer practice, a sign of an imminent move, or an invitation to Mother Nature to bring out the rust party?
 #1433075  by mxdata
 
The tent was about at the point of falling down on the train by itself, so the railroad may have taken it down as a safety concern.

MX
 #1433084  by NHV 669
 
Must really be struggling to rub pennies together, if they can't even maintain a (very) basic cover over the thing, let alone work on it.
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