Steam & Excursion > Nevada Northern offices broken into

Ely city-councilmen are determined to find errors by the Nevada Northern's board and managers.

Tuesday afternoon they broke into the railroad's offices--the latest in the summer's actions.

see:

http://www.elynews.com/2014/09/05/council-raids-railroad-office/

Earlier event are in the paper's webpage also.

Those folks just might have stepped into some very smelly stuff.

Kind of hard to figure out what's going on by reading the article. The RR management board suing the city council, but the council appoints it's members? What's that all about?

The Nevada Northern is in danger. I only hope the city council of Ely is aware of what they stand to lose. I can tell you that we all may lose a real gem if this situation gets much worse. I think that the present management is far better qualified to run the railroad than the city council of Ely. The way some city councils operate, they could spell the end to the Nevada Northern as a true railfan destination. Google and read the several articles in the Ely Times. Email the newspaper, if you wish, as small-town politics have no place in running the Museum.

Ed

Maybe the city council should stick with monitoring the brothels? Who owns the RR?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/05/14 08:44 by wabash2800.

Due process ? Search warrant ? Public notice ? How could a reputable
sheriff get involved in what is obviously criminal activity ? Despite
small town politics, there are/should be protections against what obviously
became a runaway city council.

Wow looks like some good old fashion northern nevada political bull crap.

Posted from Android

The whole thing is essentially Marty Westland trying to wrest control of the railroad from Mark. It's been going on for years. Marty got himself elected to city council to further that purpose.

Normally I don't comment any more on politically charged threads, but I feel strongly enough about the NNRY to give some praise.

I support Mark and the amazing job he has done fundraising and keeping the railroad going despite its remoteness. There have been countless improvements to the equipment and the grounds under his tenure. Every time I come there's something newly restored or rehabilitated, and he keeps the vintage rolling stock running and track open under ever tightening and changing FRA standards. His passion for the railroad easily rubs off on you after speaking to him for even 5 minutes. Any museum would be lucky to have him as its general manager. It's a thankless job that exposes you to a lot of criticism and abuse if someone doesn't like the way you do it. So to Mark I'm going to say thank you, for all you've done and all you've done for us railfans.

If it wasn't for Mark, I don't know that I would come back year after year to help run the winter photo freights, driving 1,000 miles each trip.

-Mike

Mike Massee
Tehachapi, CA
Photography, Railroading and more..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/05/14 09:30 by Harlock.

Tie the mayor and city council members to the tracks. Then do a photo run by!

This is a long-running vendetta against Mark by Marty. Probably envy is at the root of it.

No matter. I support Mark and I hope this brazen break-in gets the perps and the wizards behind them in deep enough doo-doo that they won't try anything like this again anytime soon.

I've met Mark and had a wonderful tour thanks to him. So much progress has been made by him, seems like there are Hooligans on the city council that want to derail it?

Reminds me of the Georgetown Loop and how outside forces kicked out Lindsey Ashby and made a mess of things for half a decade.

nicknack Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've met Mark and had a wonderful tour thanks to
> him. So much progress has been made by him, seems
> like there are Hooligans on the city council that
> want to derail it?
>
> Reminds me of the Georgetown Loop and how outside
> forces kicked out Lindsey Ashby and made a mess of
> things for half a decade.


Jealousy is a powerful thing, but very destructive.
"We couldn't do that (improve things)! How DARE he
do that! I'll (we'll) fix his wagon!"

Same thing has happened and continues in Cheyenne.

Some people cannot understand when they are well off.

Realist,

I could not agree with you more. Proof is in the results, who has delivered tangible complete deliverables, and who are those who talk and politic and undermine. I fear for many institutions who are unable to keep self destructive politics under control.

Best,

Stathi

Posted from iPhone

So.....everyone send a letter to the editor of the Ely Times, especially those who have been to Ely for railfanning. I hope Mark knows how many supporters he has, it's just that most of us are far away and not aware of this little turf war.

Ed

Sometimes smoke actually comes from a fire..

I would think the era of the railroad there would support some sort of lead poisoning to fix the problem. High noon?

The City attorney and the forensic auditor were present. The city broke into its own office to get information that the CITY requested from Mark numerous times of which he blew them off everytime they requested said information. Open the financial books if there is nothing to hide. The tax payers of the City of Ely have been getting the short end of the stick for along time now with the railroad, just ask anyone in town. For proof ask any former employee back when the museum had a full shop crew, and at least three of them got fired for asking to many questions about where money disappeared to for certain projects. All I'm saying is there is more to this than everybody is picking on poor Mark. The NNRy will not be closed down and isn't going anywhere, not to worry. I think the tax payers of Ely and anyone who has donated their hard earned money has a right to know that there money is being well spent.

CS



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/06/14 03:02 by CaliforniaSteam.

Harlock Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The whole thing is essentially Marty Westland
> trying to wrest control of the railroad from Mark.
> It's been going on for years. Marty got himself
> elected to city council to further that purpose.

Are you sure about that Mike?

CaliforniaSteam Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The City attorney and the forensic auditor were
> present. The city broke into its own office to get
> information that the CITY requested from Mark
> numerous times of which he blew them off everytime
> they requested said information. Open the
> financial books if there is nothing to hide. The
> tax payers of the City of Ely have been getting
> the short end of the stick for along time now with
> the railroad, just ask anyone in town. For proof
> ask any former employee back when the museum had a
> full shop crew, and at least three of them got
> fired for asking to many questions about where
> money disappeared to for certain projects. All I'm
> saying is there is more to this than everybody is
> picking on poor Mark. The NNRy will not be closed
> down and isn't going anywhere, not to worry. I
> think the tax payers of Ely and anyone who has
> donated their hard earned money has a right to
> know that there money is being well spent.
>
> CS


So was this really a "break in" or was it just a search warrant being served?
If it was just a search warrant then it's a non-story that will be settled in court.
Next drama please.

This all kinda reminds me whats been going on on a local excursion railroad here in Western Washington. A husband and wife team (which covers President, Secretary and Treasurer) has been in charge of this outfit for about a decade now, and, as of last report, won't open their books for an audit which is required because they receive public funding. What makes this interesting is that they can't make it on their own, patially due to the fact that they pay all their operating personel wages on a regular basis. This includes pay to all the people on the train crews even including the people that sell tickets at the station. Further complicating the issue is the fact that their steam locomotive is soon due for a 15 year overhaul and, as near as I can tell, funding for this project is not on the horizon. Further,this groups reluctance to operate any trains with a diesel has me wondering if they will be around much longer.