Hate to post this, but this doesn't sound good... From the TRAINS Newswire:BNSF skips Galesburg Railroad Days, cites liability as the issue GALESBURG, Ill. - A pilgrimage for fans throughout the Midwest for more than a quarter century, Illinois’ Galesburg Railroad Days, held annually on the fourth full weekend in June, has always had the support of the hometown railroad. However, this year, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, usually a participant with displayed equipment and yard tours by train, as well as employee excursion trips, was a no-show. BNSF is a major employer in the city, with a large yard and small shop facility. Seven BNSF routes radiate from the city. “We offered to participate as we have in previous years, providing the city would pick up the liability costs,” explained BNSF spokesman Steve Forsberg. “In the past, we carried that responsibility on our own. “Since 9-11, we’ve been a lot more conscious of the risks involved, particularly from a security standpoint. An enterprise such as ours, with our infrastructure, can never be ruled out as a potential target.” In regards to Galesburg Railroad Days, Forsberg said the railroad contacted the area Chamber of Commerce in July 2002, explaining that it could no longer be responsible for carrying the cost of liability. “We proposed for 2003 that we could move display equipment into the city and offer train rides if the city could relieve us of the liability costs,” he added. “The railroad was extremely helpful in trying to work around this,” said Bob Maus, president of the Galesburg Chamber of Commerce, adding that city fathers knew the railroad was not going to show up. “Unfortunately, our Railroad Days council was not in a financial position to make that happen.” Maus said that the Chamber looked at a number of insurance carriers, to no avail. “The railroad has stood by us for 25 years,” he said. “They have always been very good to work with and couldn’t have been more gracious.”
this didn't damper the show much, the funny thing is they had a booth at the show selling shirts and no one was buying! they even dropped to half price and sold only a handful of shirts then. the word is that they will be back next year and everything will be rr days as usual. this is not something that needed to happen to galesburg as they have lost the maytag plant to mexico and lost some other businesses as well, but hopefully next year will bring the downtown back and boost some tourism, although from the packed crowds at the bridge you would not realize they were gone. also as a side note next year will bring the biggest n scale modular layout in illinois and also another wing to the college will be filled with trains.
I don't know if this will go away that quickly. The 4999 Daylight engine hasn't pulled an ecursion all year do to rising liability costs on the UP and BNSF. They currently have no idea when they'll be able to run again. So i is a big issue.
It's that double-edge shotgun of increased insurance costs and over-litiginous society. My opinion........
