It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 3:15 pm

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 9 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: How Much did Knievel pay Texas State RR?
PostPosted: Tue Jun 29, 1999 12:01 pm 

For that Fox atrocity that just aired, I hope they made a small fortune. I'm just surprised the state permitted the whole thing to occur.......<br>



LNER4472@gateway.net


  
 
 Post subject: That was bad
PostPosted: Tue Jun 29, 1999 12:59 pm 

You are right about that atrocity. They made it sound like he was going to jump over the train from straight on and land on the tracks. The cg preview even showed that. To my "chagrin" he approached at an angle and didn't really jump over the entire consist. That was a really shameless promotion for the Texas State Railroad. Granted they did get some publicity but does it hold the right image? I noticed how FOX hypes things and uses optical illusions and inacurrate models to hype the whole event. The footage earlier in the show showed the train moving in fast forward to look like it was speeding along. Then they said that the train was going somewhere like 35fps to make it sound like it was speeding along. I only watched it for the train and feel bad for witnessing the numerous replays and the horrible "pregame show". I winced when the locomotive hit that platform. I know it wouldn't cause much damage but was it necessary? Oh yeah the commentator noted that the tender holds the fuel and steam. hmmm<br>


  
 
 Post subject: better idea
PostPosted: Tue Jun 29, 1999 1:16 pm 

FOX is soooo bad! one of the worst things i've seen involving a train; no dignity; surely no moral lesson and i'm not sure how bad i'd want publicity this way; what if they'd nailed the guy? <p>the only way to salvage this would be to make it worse by having the train crash into the set of equally crass "who wants to marry a millionaire" <p>i give the train jump 2 thumbs down for making railway preservation a freaking circus <br>2 thumbs down for bad example (anybody here remember the kids on a four-wheeler who got clobbered at steamtown a few years ago by a tender-first, downgrade train??) <br> <br>



Wrinnbo@aol.com


  
 
 Post subject: Re: better idea
PostPosted: Tue Jun 29, 1999 1:39 pm 

I agree that this was not the best way to get publicity. I just hope that the cost/benefit ratio was high enough for the railroad. In fact, I would be certain of that. TVRM has had stunts performed, but not quite to the magnitude of TSRR. I do disagree with doing it just for the publicity in the manner that TSRR did it. The bridge scenes that were done at TVRM (1994 and 1997 I believe) were backdated movie scenes.<br>



envlink@voyageronline.net


  
 
 Post subject: Re: better idea
PostPosted: Tue Jun 29, 1999 2:57 pm 

Having worked at Texas State Railroad and know the personnel real well,I have to say that the stunt,although perhaps not in the best interest of railroad preservation or railroad safety,was made out of neccessity because of MONEY. Every year,TSRR has to survive on revenue from its passengers,and its budget from the state.The state appropriation has gotten smaller over the years,and the railroad CANNOT advertise its product.<br> So,what are we left with? A fine well-run railroad with little or no money to rehab new equipment,and no way to tell people about them.<br> Reports have it that Fox may have paid as much as $75,000 for the use of the park and equipment.<br> That money will buy a lot of flues and other things.<br> By the way,TSRR's Railfan Weekend is March 3-5...how many of you are going?<br>



kbcotton@flash.net


  
 
 Post subject: Re: better idea
PostPosted: Tue Jun 29, 1999 3:15 pm 

Right on, Kenneth. I know our little trolley museum would love to have the money that these TV production companies spend. It would pay for a lot of restoration work. Plus, as the old saying goes, "There ain't no such thing as bad publicity." Other than the purists, I'm sure many people found the train aspect of the show interesting and might even go and visit TSRR as a result.



East Troy Electric Railroad
jftrolley@aol.com


  
 
 Post subject: TSRR
PostPosted: Sat Jul 03, 1999 3:05 am 

I hope that the next time time some careless or reckless individual is mangled by a train that when the inevitable " the railroad should have its right-of-way contained in concrete" lawsuit is filed.. that FOX is sued or countersued for their contribution to the tragedy at hand.. <p>Unfortunately, every steam engine is at risk from this senselessness...from trial lawyers..and from class1 managers who will associate steam with idiocy...<p>Its too bad there's not some accrediting body that could sanction TSRR by removing a certification or something...I saw something equally as stupid recently.. two people were on a track jury-rigged into some kid of horizonal bungi contraption.. that yanked them off the tracks a split second before the engine would've splattered them.. it looked like a shay... did anyone else see that..<p><br>


  
 
 Post subject: Keeping Steam Alive in the Present Day...
PostPosted: Sat Jul 03, 1999 7:42 am 

I must agree that what FOX did was in poor taste and that the same can be said about the MTV deal. At least FOX made a point to repeat their safety disclaimer frequently. If I recall correctly, MTV didn't do any disclaimer at all. <p>However, we must realize that in the modern day, recreational railroads are in competition with virtually everything else for the attention and money of the general public. The nostolgia that supported many operations in the past is unfortunately disappearing. Instead, today's recreational railroads have to choose between providing what the public wants (even if you must sacrifice some historical correctness) or closing their doors. Just running a historically correct steam railroad doesn't get the attention of the public anymore. <p>Operations such as Tweetsie may well have hit upon the formula for long term survival: do whatever the public demands, regardless of political/historical correctness. Even in these litigious days, they still have a cowboy and indian show (though somewhat watered down compared to the original ones). If the FOX event helps TSRR, I'll be very happy for them. Adding to their burden would not be in anyone's interest. We've already got a fair amount of legislation in this industry and I've got a sinking feeling that in the long term future, the days of live steam locomotives may be numbered if the decisions being made now are not well thought out and properly acted upon.<p>Concerning the legal aspect, I don't have that much concern over the TSRR event. They made a point of providing a clear and understandible disclaimer and by having that, would have diminished liability were a successful lawsuit filed against them. The way that they handeled the presentation would make that very difficult at best. FOX would not have gone through with the production if their legal department had had any major concerns about the risks.<br>



envlink@voyageronline.net


  
 
 Post subject: Re: Keeping Steam Alive in the Present Day...
PostPosted: Mon Jul 05, 1999 6:32 am 

Believe me, I'm not concerned about "historical correctness".. I think that there's a place for the "adaptive reuse" of steam. I remember a couple of years ago, when some folks went bonkers because the Milw 261 was renumbered as the ficticious DL&W 1661 and fitted w/ the whistle from the DL&W 1643...that's fine..and theirs other things that can be done.. <p>I'm not a lawyer, but I used to work w/ lawyers, one who once told me that (in general) waivers and disclaimers often aren't worth the paper they are written on.. <p>As for FOX's business judgement.. well, who wants to marry a multimillionaire..<p>But let me reserve my venom for TSRR,who, as others in this thread pointed out.. took inordinate risk w this. 75g wouldn't have done anything if there was a derailment.. TSRR discredited their advocation, senselessly risked their equipment and contributed to public laxity.<p> <br>


  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 9 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


 Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot], SD70dude and 123 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: