Steam & Excursion > Without Sobczynski, No. 503 was doomed (PA Newspaper article)

The following article appeared in today's Port Arthur News and reprinted here in its entirety because of importance to TO members:

Without Sobczynski, No. 503 was doomed

By PA News
Email the author
Published 8:42 am Monday, March 12, 2018

Six weeks after the city of Port Arthur contracted to demolish Locomotive 503; three weeks after the historic locomotive might have been cut into pieces and removed from its current location, if not for outside intervention; members of the City Council decided what to do about the engine that’s been rotting away for years in a District 4 city park: Let the citizens handle it.

That’s a fact.

Despite the smoke city leaders were puffing at citizens last week about a public hearing and council members not yet making any final decision on the engine’s fate until a March 6 meeting, city leaders sought bids in autumn 2017 for companies to:

Remove and dispose of asbestos from 503.
Demolish the locomotive (our italics) and the rails under it.

Three companies submitted bids to do just that; the low bidder was Inland Environments based in Kingwood. Interim City Manager Harvey Robinson signed the contract in January.

Under terms of the contract was item No. 2: “The Contractor will perform work in proper removal and disposal of asbestos containing material, demolition of train and rails and provide soil remediation and testing.”

Confused? Why was the City Council pondering something March 6 that the city itself had decided six weeks before? That’s politics for you. Citizens, upon learning the locomotive’s fate, were angry. Politicians started backtracking.

Inland Environments wasn’t confused. Here’s part of what the company promised to do for the city of Port Arthur in its Nov. 7 2017 bid and what the city agreed to: “Inland will provide demolition of train and rails and removal from the property.”

AAR of Houston and Sitek of Humble, which also bid on the project, promised similar demolition services.

Because Inland Environment’s bid was under $25,000, the locomotive’s fate was sealed behind closed doors.

When we visited the locomotive site on a rainy Feb. 12 afternoon, the locomotive was being prepared for asbestos removal. A wrecking ball was on the site. A contractor said it would be gone within a week.

When we visited Feb. 16, we met Jason Sobczynski of Next Generation Rail Services, who’d driven here from his company’s train rehab job in Grapevine, Texas to see if the rare steam locomotive could be spared from the fate Port Arthur planned for it. He initiated a GoFundMe account that day, pleading for rail enthusiasts around the country to donate funds to save the 503. Donors responded. The scrapper, then the city, relented. Without Sobczynski’s intervention, No. 503 was a goner.

Councilman Harold Doucet seemed to mock Sobczynski when the Kentuckian suggested at the Tuesday hearing that his intervention saved the 503. But Sobczynski is right. His plausible plan to move the locomotive out of Port Arthur may not prevail, but his efforts here stayed the 503’s execution.

http://www.panews.com/2018/03/12/without-sobczynski-no-503-was-doomed/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/18 16:53 by Cumbresfan.

Jason posted an update on the GoFundMe page requesting continued emails to the City Council for saving the locomotive for restoration, at least, and hopefully moving it to a location not impacted by salt air and chemicals.

https://www.gofundme.com/help-save-the-la-503-friends-of?viewupdates=1&rcid=r01-152089639517-8029a4d517464a23&utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_content=cta_button&utm_campaign=upd_n



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/18 16:51 by Cumbresfan.

Email sent.

I'm very pleased to see that the PA News had the courage to speak truth to power. That Councilman Harold Doucet lied through his teeth and now has been publically called out for it.

I've told Jason that IMHO he should stop wasting his time & energy on these losers as they're determined to keep the poor engine in their grip but bless his tenacity,..... he's determined to stick around, wait for the RFP they promise to issue ( guess how long that may take ) and submit a response to it.

Trust me, if you watched that 90 minute display of abject incompetence and lies they call a City Council, you would have given Jason the same advice. My WAG is that no matter what Jason submits they will find a way to keep it in Port Arthur.

The good news is that at least Jason's efforts saved her from the torch.

Ross Rowland

“Inland will provide demolition of train and rails and removal from the property.” Which train? The City of Los Angeles? The Orange Blossom Special? Well, I'm about to drive my train (hyrail pickup) from WA state to new digs in CA, towing my other train (M-19AA-1 motorcar). My wife and Treeing Walker Coonhound are along for the ride. I don't think they are trains.

Well, it might be riding into a battle with a windmill but I joined in the email crowd. I also linked in the video "Visions Of Steam" I posted here about 9 months ago with the point that this could be #503.

I did what little is in my power, pointless or not.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions