I would think part of the benefit there would be assisting with break in period. Regardless without some really creative railroading this is a tough sell.
gokeefe
Railroad Forums
TomNelligan wrote:For what it's worth, new city transit buses are always delivered from the builder to their destination on their own wheels.Ditto for school buses. Often there are actually two sets of trips involved: from the builder to the regional dealer/distributor, and from the dealer/distributor to the customer.
TomNelligan wrote:For what it's worth, new city transit buses are always delivered from the builder to their destination on their own wheels. Yes, it does take a bunch of drivers making multiple trips, but that's how the industry does it so there is reason to believe that self-propelled delivery has been established as the most economical or at least the most practical method. I would assume that the same factors would apply to buses headed to way-northern Maine for rebuilding.Caveat, of course, that the buses in question are road-worthy prior to rebuilding.
Cowford wrote:A powerful, thoughtful document that will surely spark debate - and hopefully action - in Northern New England's Paper Belt.I've been following this story. I agree on all accounts. Hopefully this makes people realize that "it's now or never" and that this time "things really do have to change".
trainsinmaine wrote:Who'll be the last one to turn out the lights?I think this question gets to the crux of the problem as no other.
trainsinmaine wrote:The economic future of inland Maine (and the Calais area) is such a multifaceted problem that it boggles the mind. I could spend many paragraphs offering observations on the subject. One single sentence from the czb letter to Millinocket sums it up succinctly: "The world has left Millinocket behind . . .".If the Millinocket we speak of is the "Magic City" built on the fortunes of the Great Northern Paper Company I would certainly be very inclined to agree. On the other hand these small towns have some tremendous advantages which in the 21st century are only going to become more apparent. Plentiful land, reliable electricity, clean air, clean water are among just a few things that will continue to make Maine's small towns some of the most attractive places in New England to raise a family, start a business or relocate a manufacturing facility.
Precisely --- and there's no looking back. This is true for many communities not only in Maine but elsewhere in northern New England and the Maritimes. This, I think, leads to the question, What can we do to openly address this situation and effectively attenuate the outflow of young adults from the region? If we don't do something soon, most of the economy will consist of services to tourists, the poor, and the elderly. Much of it does already.
gokeefe wrote:At least in terms of the high-tech industry, of which I was once part, regional success breeds regional success. Companies establish plants where they know they can draw upon the local talent pool. The local talent moves there or lives there because they will have a choice of employers. The Boston, Research Triangle NC, Dallas, and Silicon Valley areas are examples of this. Recent graduates of nearby colleges have also helped fuel these areas, both as talented employees of existing companies and as renegades from those companies who started their own firms.trainsinmaine wrote:The economic future of inland Maine (and the Calais area) is such a multifaceted problem that it boggles the mind. I could spend many paragraphs offering observations on the subject. One single sentence from the czb letter to Millinocket sums it up succinctly: "The world has left Millinocket behind . . .".
On the other hand these small towns have some tremendous advantages which in the 21st century are only going to become more apparent. Plentiful land, reliable electricity, clean air, clean water are among just a few things that will continue to make Maine's small towns some of the most attractive places in New England to raise a family, start a business or relocate a manufacturing facility.Geez, if that was the case, we wouldn't be having this conversation. About the only inland Maine town that seems to be making some forward progress is Dover-Foxcroft. Perhaps there are others? Maine's mill towns are not unique - when a town or region get too dependent on one company or industry, the fall is that much harder when the jobs disappear. Maine just has it tougher for a variety of reasons. And being ranked 49th in business attractiveness ain't helping.
Cowford wrote:Maine has never been adaptable... when you rely on one business too much to support your municipality, the systemic risk for that town is too much. Yet no one ever seems to question this, it's always been don't rock the boat. The reality is, years ago towns should have been planning for the downfall of the mills and using these revenues to attract new and different types of businesses. And I can't even blame towns, but also the state. The State seems to be inwardly focuses and more reactive then proactive. We either don't see, or even worse, care, about what is happening around us... I haven't even seen a reaction to the announced $205M expansion in Saint John, which will likely kill the 3-port strategy for Maine. But now, you have something really strange going on... consider this fact. Businesses in Eastern and Northern Maine now have better transportation options than those in Central, Western and Southern Maine. Irving's control of the former B&A lines, as well as the blooming port (bulk, container and much more) opens up direct connections for mills like Woodland to Europe on a single carrier. Who would have thought? Yet Mainers think that even integrated economic growth with Canada is evil... although Canada is our largest trading partner.On the other hand these small towns have some tremendous advantages which in the 21st century are only going to become more apparent. Plentiful land, reliable electricity, clean air, clean water are among just a few things that will continue to make Maine's small towns some of the most attractive places in New England to raise a family, start a business or relocate a manufacturing facility.Geez, if that was the case, we wouldn't be having this conversation. About the only inland Maine town that seems to be making some forward progress is Dover-Foxcroft. Perhaps there are others? Maine's mill towns are not unique - when a town or region get too dependent on one company or industry, the fall is that much harder when the jobs disappear. Maine just has it tougher for a variety of reasons. And being ranked 49th in business attractiveness ain't helping.
Cowford wrote:On many levels "I agree". If all of the above really was so valuable then "show me the money". On the other hand the environmental degredation of China combined with the manifest difficulty of opening new manufacturing facilities near urban areas in the United States in my mind makes Maine a nearly ideal location for light manufacturing operations. You could open one textile factory after another up here right now and have little difficulty at all finding people willing to do the work for less than average wages.On the other hand these small towns have some tremendous advantages which in the 21st century are only going to become more apparent. Plentiful land, reliable electricity, clean air, clean water are among just a few things that will continue to make Maine's small towns some of the most attractive places in New England to raise a family, start a business or relocate a manufacturing facility.Geez, if that was the case, we wouldn't be having this conversation. About the only inland Maine town that seems to be making some forward progress is Dover-Foxcroft. Perhaps there are others? Maine's mill towns are not unique - when a town or region get too dependent on one company or industry, the fall is that much harder when the jobs disappear. Maine just has it tougher for a variety of reasons. And being ranked 49th in business attractiveness ain't helping.