IS&P
CONSTRUCTION
The new railroad ‘Idaho Southern
and Pacific began tracklaying on October 23 with the
installation of their new terminal and shop building off
of Gary Lane in Boise.
This weeks work consisted of installing two panels
of track and pouring concrete over it for the shop floor.
It was designed to be strong enough to support a 5 foot
wide fat child (or was that a 5" scale Big Boy?)
with steel mesh reinforcement as never seen before in a
railroad shop of this area.
Interviews with the concrete workers however, revealed
that there may be some concerns for the solvency of this
company as none had any idea of how long they would be
employed. When the question of wages was breached, a low
grunt is all that was heard as the crew devoured ground
beef sandwiches.
The IS&P safety practices may also be suspect as one
worker screamed for his life as he fell into wet
concrete, only to be recovered later. In another incident
one worker was seen to hit another on the head with a
shovel while the concrete wagon driver laughed so much
his gelatinous belly bounced! What kind of company is
this. Will our fair city be ‘railroaded’ again?
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The press
was allowed a brief look at the plans for the structure.
Designed to be a classic structure is it sure to please
any passerby who may spy it. Construction on the building
itself will begin within a week. No building department
officials were present and there did not appear to be the
appropriate homeowners assoc. architectural approval
stamp on the plans, but we were assured that this was a
minor oversight to be taken care of before the turn of
the century and were escorted out of the conference
center.
IS&P MASCOT
We of the press had the opportunity
to meet the new ‘mascot’ of the IS&P by the
strange name of ‘Pugsley’.
He is said to have had a prepared statement of his
grievances with the company, but appeared silent with
only a few whimpers as he sat on his tractor and glared
at the audience. An unnamed source informed this reporter
that Pugsley wanted to be the head engineer but was only
chosen to be mascot. His chances of even riding in the
cab were slim, this after the right-of-way of the new
railroad was routed within inches of his home. The
railroad did give him a new foundation to mitigate any
noise and vibration from the trains to be passing by on a
regular basis.
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He also
seemed rather perturbed at the length of his leash and
felt there was excavation work he could be doing near the
new shop location.
Shortly after our meeting he fell asleep in the sunshine,
no doubt inebriated.
IS&P COMPETITION
Some low cost competition has shown
up very near the commencement ceremonies of the IS&P.
There didn’t seem to be any management around but in
speaking to the workers on this new railroad line
constructed of low cost materials (mostly wood) directly
across the IS&P right-of-way, they noted that no
actual planning had been done. ‘It just looked like
fun’, they said. It may have had something to do
with displeasure over engine driving rights as with the
Mascot.
The worker ‘Ty' said the railroad name was ‘The
Ty, Corbin, R.J. and Eric Railroad’ and no further
information was given. This reporter is left wondering if
the ‘R.J.’ could actually stand for the
infamous R.J. Alexander, the railroad tycoon responsible
for the several railroad conglomerates based out of
nearby Emmett. Time will tell.
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