Coal Train Derails In Nashua

 This incident I think shows what is wrong with the NH Rail Authority and more specifically, its leader former Senator Peter Burling.

The various news accounts reported the extent of the derailment which was seven loaded coal cars “on the ground” and the disruption of motor vehicle traffic in the greater Nashua area in addition to the delay of an inbound coal shipment to PSNH- Bow.

As reported in the Union Leader newspaper Sen. Burling jumped at the chance to state the condition of the trackage was the reason for this derailment. Burling later went on to state that the NH Rail Authority supports expending capital, likely taxpayer capital on this railroad line. He doesn’t offer any financial or economic reasoning beyond this statement.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is investigating the derailment of the Bow Unit Coal Train as it’s called which is operated by Pan Am Railways. I believe that the FRA will conclude its investigation in support of and what executives at Pan Am Railways believe. And this is.

That wheel assemblies “David Fink, president of Pan Am, said preliminary investigation shows that one of the “truck sides” – or wheel assemblies, which contain axles, springs, and other equipment for suspension – had fallen off one of the cars. That caused a chain reaction among several subsequent cars.”- Source: Nashua Telegraph Newspaper. Karen Lovett. 11/18/09.

Wheel assemblies not track conditions.

I’m not a supporter of Sen. Burling or the NH Rail Authority. I don’t think they have done a single thing for New Hampshire except issue statements to the media touting the idea of the capitol corridor and asking for millions of dollars in grant funding to finance a project which has no basis or even analysis as to how it would be successful.

I think Pan Am Railways and it predecessor railroads, Guilford Rail System and the Boston & Maine Corporation have done an effective job in running this rail line and practicing capitalism at its best. Serving their customers and running a railroad!

 In the meantime I think Sen. Burling needs to stop making statements to the media.

What If Food Like Politicians Told The Truth

On route 2 in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont in the town of Danville there is a fairly good sized farm with an incredible view of the mountains. As an example of how good this view is, on a clear day I believe it is possible to see the ski slopes of Sugarbush Ski Area in Vermont and Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire from this town which is just west of St. Johnsbury.

This farm is interesting because on any given day a number of cows can be seen grazing in this area. But I don’t think these are just any cows as they seem almost too proud and dignified to be simple cows. As these are Black Angus cows. On a clear day, especially in early fall just as the leaves are starting to turn it’s a picture of lush green grass, shiny black coats and the vision of the mountains in the distance.

But regardless of how good this looks reality has to set in.

A reality that shows that these Black Angus cows exist for one reason. And the reason is to be slaughtered to bring a market price for the demand. And I’m sure there is demand. These Black Angus have been well cared for and any animal that looks this good has to mean one thing in the words of former President George W. Bush “good eats.”

Good eats.

I thought of this as recently I continued reading the book, The Omnivore’s Dillemma by Michael Pollan which is a survey about the role of food in life. I thought of the farm in Danville and the Black Angus when the book began a discussion of industrial feedlots and the industrialization of beef which is then sold to mass markets throughout the U.S.  The conditions in the feedlots as you might imagine are not in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. In one of the chapters there was reference to the labeling of food.

Rather than quote the chapter I’ll pose the question. When you go to the supermarket to purchase a steak what is it that you’re looking for? If the label on the various labels said the following which would you purchase?

1. Vermont certified Black Angus. Free range fed locally produced grain.

2. Feedlot #3490. Sioux City, Iowa. Compliance with all USDA regulations.

Not a difficult decision here. I think most people would opt for the Vermont Angus. Of course the prices for the cuts are different as are the locations where it is sold. Clearly, the feedlots are more competitive than the small Danville farmer.

I guess the question I’m asking is what is the responsibility of the regulator here? Should the truth be on the labels? Imagine if the food actually told the truth? How many people would purchase the $7.95 London Broil at Shaw’s if they knew of the conditions in the feedlots and the industrial feeding of corn to the animals that are on their plate. Even if the Black Angus was $12.95.

I’m confident there could also be an argument to be a vegetarian here and this isn’t what I’m arguing. My argument is for more information.  

Perhaps on the exterior of every meat package there could be a simple one word description: feedlot or free-range.

Individuals vote for their elected officials, shouldn’t they be allowed to vote for their food as well?

Kindling Starts A Fire

Why is Jennifer Horn running for Congress?

Why.

I’ve asked this question and I’m asking it again.

An example of my frustration is the guest editorial that appears on this very board. All the issues facing New Hampshire and the Second Congressional District and Ms. Horn writes an article about being a Republican.

Where is the substance to this campaign? During the last campaign cycle, at least in northern New Hampshire, Horn used her campaign capital attacking Congressman Hodes and stating in well worded press releases issues of national security. Issues of national security are important, but this does not define what the candidate would do for the Second Congressional District and New Hampshire. So where is the definition of what Jennifer Horn would do for the Second Congressional District?

In politics I think it’s easy to stand on the sidelines and criticize candidates and what they are or are not doing. I’m sure Ms. Horn does have strategic reasons for running for this office and this will be borne out through the campaign process. All I can say that I have not spent a great deal of time researching the Horn campaign and what it stands for. This is my fault but I would still feel better if Ms. Horn would use her journalism and communication skills to talk about issues that are at ground level in the 2^nd district. As an example: the Republican candidate could write a guest editorial about Coos County and some of the challenges in this area of New Hampshire.

Sometimes when I get frustrated about New Hampshire politics I start thinking about Vermont. Today I started thinking about the upcoming ski season which I’m excited about including a scene I’ve seen a couple of times during my ski adventures to Killington, Sugarbush, Stowe and Jay Peak. The scene usually happens after a great ski day is over, the sun is setting over the mountains and the cold and dark of night is starting to set in. I’m getting my ski boots off, sore and into my car to head back to NH. I stop at a small local store, usually in an old wood frame building and out front there are wire bound bundles of kindling wood for sale, small piles. Think matchstick wood. And the price:  $11.50 plus 6% VT Sales Tax, worse yet is that Killington has a 1% Local Option Sales Tax. So give or take. $12.20.

This is kindling defined.   

More interesting are the individuals that purchase these matchsticks and load them into their cars: nice cars like shiny BMWs, Lexus, Mercedes Benz, Volvos and the Snabbs. I’m sure this bundled kindling will be most helpful in starting a useless fire in the nice slope side condos that are in the area.

This video on UTUBE made me think of this 23 wooden pallets he couldn’t get rid of.  But throwing the Qualcomm on the floor. Not good.

Source: dieselducy.

Halifax Precis.

When transportation secretary Ray LaHood was in New Hampshire he didn’t say anything specific about economic development and jobs sans his broad statement to the media that the administration had created or will create 3.5 million jobs. This statement was closely followed by New Hampshire officials selling the advantages of high-speed rail.

Rather than offer criticism of these statements I’m offering an alternative. This alternative won’t create 3.5 million jobs but it would improve transportation in New Hampshire, lead decisively on the path to economic development and jobs and keep taxpayer expense to a minimum. The starting place for this idea or précis is Halifax, Nova Scotia.

On the east coast of North America there are only two deepwater ports capable of accepting the large- standardized container ships used in global trade. These ports are Halifax, Nova Scotia and Charleston, South Carolina. Other ports like Boston, New York and Portsmouth could be dredged to accept these large cost effective ships but the costs to do this would be enormous. Halifax is a viable port for my idea because not only is close to major U.S. markets in the Northeast but its supporting infrastructure including truck, rail access and three phase power is in better condition than what currently exists in Charleston.

From Halifax the rectangular steel containers called tonnage equivalent units (TEUs) would be offloaded from the massive ships onto railcars or trucks and then head south towards the United States arriving in places like Portsmouth, Boston and New York in a matter of hours. For the purposes of this discussion I’m going to focus on the rail movement of TEUs through New Hampshire. This reason being is that New Hampshire currently lacks the capability to move double-stack containers on this route. I’m going to make an argument as to why New Hampshire should pay for the needed clearance upgrades. I’m not going to focus on the trucking aspect as I-95 already offers this capability but this route is not as cost effective as the rail.

The end result of this project will be the creation of transportation related commerce that will lead to economic development and jobs for New Hampshire. I think this will be better than anything that has been offered by Sect’y LaHood.

The video below is from Prince Rupert, British Columbia a port development project that has come on line. I think Halifax would be very similar in appearance and operation as Prince Rupert. I’ve been following the Prince Rupert project for some time and have been asking the question.

“Why isn't this being done on the east coast?”

Source: Port of Prince Rupert. UTUBE.

Should Nashua Have a Seat?

In a post below titled Defend This the author Steve MacDonald has an issue with Rep. Murtha’s handing of legislative procedure. It’s a fair argument but if the facts ever pan out I think this will cast a different light on this whole matter and thus showing that the political and legislative process despite its surface flaws is a system that works.

At least this is my theory. The facts haven't surfaced yet.

This leads me to an experience I had in the NH House. The Speaker of the House was Rep. Harold Burns and at the end of a long day of legislative pushing and pulling a legislator whom I can’t now name requested personal privilege and it was granted by the chair. And it was a political question:

“Why doesn’t Nashua have a seat on the Finance Committee?” The legislator asked. And the experienced Speaker responded to this question by saying, “The chair would state that my door is always open.”

This question does have merit. Nashua is a large city, and at this time had no representation on this powerful committee while every other major metropolitan area did have at least one representative on the committee be this Republican or Democrat. Rep. David Alkonouis would later state that he represents Hudson and was then a vice chair of this powerful committee. I’m not sure if this statement qualifies as an answer to this question.  It might.

Should Nashua have a seat?

Clearly this is a large metropolitan area should they not have a voice on the most important committee in the House? I’d make the argument that the most qualified representatives should be appointed to this committee but at this time, and even today, I don’t believe the qualification arguement holds. Consider the amt. of representatives that were quickly removed from finance once Rep. Donna Sytek became Speaker of the House. One of  the first removed was Rep. Paul Lamont, a longtime legislator from Haverhill and also Chairman of the Grafton County Delegation of which I served. Honesty, I was never impressed with the performance of Rep. Lamont in any capacity, sure he had been around for a long time but I never saw any evidence that he had any real experience with finance, budgets, accounting and the skills needed to run a multi-million dollar operation(s) at the county and state level.  

So, on this basis should Nashua still have a seat?

I don’t know the answer to this question. Perhaps the political process actually works the best. Support the Speaker and the reward is a powerful committee assignment.

Rep. Murtha has a powerful committee assignment. As seen on C-SPAN.

Source:  Muse “Uprising.”

UTUBE.