Save The Texas State Railroad!

OK, I know most folks have no idea what a railroad is except that there are 4 of them on a Monopoly board, but they play a big part in every American's life. In the past they played an even bigger part. Before the dominance of air travel, going by rail was the standard. I have fond memories of TV spots in the 1950's and 60's for the Santa Fe Railroad Super Chief service to the west coast. "Santa Fe, All the way", sand the animated character of a native American who represented the railroads best known train.

Well, Texas is blessed with one of the remaining steam railroads in the country. Steam trains are truly dinosaurs but they are awesome beasts! The Texas State Railroad is really a rolling museum down in the Piney Woods of Palestine, Texas. This historic steam power railroad takes visitors through some of the most beautiful landscapes in East Texas and it is a treasure.

I understand in Texas anything over 30 years old is usually scheduled for demolition, but it's kind of nice to have a little history around. Especially if it is as rare and wonderful as the Texas State Railroad. Why the rant? Well the Texas Legislature is debating whether or not to continue funding this state park feature.

What's the deal? Well some in the legislature want to "privatize" the railroad, in other words pay a private company to run it instead of the state park folks. Does someone smell a payoff here? I do. They want to spend $12 million to hire a private company to run it and then later sell the equipment off to that company. Supporters of the railroad say the state can spend only $7.5 million and continue to run it under the state control.

If you want to keep this historic part of Texas history, write your state representative and tell him or her what you think. This little engine carries 65,000 tourists a year, so someone likes it and personally I would hate to see it go the way of the Brontosaurus.