Passenger Trains > Amtrak Buys Beech Grove Shops

This is a real April Fool's Day Joke!

On April 1, 1975, Amtrak purchased most of the Beech Grove, Ind., maintenance facility from Penn Central and soon embarked on a five year, $22 million improvement plan to modernize the early 20th century facility. Today, less than 500 employees at Beech Grove still rebuild and overhaul Amtrak’s equipment.

And the Beech Grove lost property tax revenue from the Amtrak shops facility in the 90's after the courts sided with Amtrak (that is govt and not a business). So the largest business/operation in town does have to pay up. Sorry, this was no joke!

Amtrak had a lot of people employed at Beech Grove back in the Obama era of TIGR and ARRA grants.

I'm frankly surprised Mike
Pence didn't push some money into the shops. Local jobs and all.

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Money would be well spent by Amtrak in investment and modernization of Beech Grove.  Contract shops are okay for small irregular jobs, but for heavy overhauls of Superliners, etc., you want your own shop and the knowledge that is built up about your car fleet.  

And passengers cars should go thru BG every two years for a touch-up and every four years for a heavy overhaul.  If BG cannot rebuild all the GE P42s, then they should promptly be sent to Wabtec in Erie for rebuilding.  The Siemens engines have a long way to go to be highly reliable even in short distance applications, let alone long distance service.  The rebuilt P42s will be good for ten more years of solid service, while all the bugs of Siemens or other new motive power is worked out.  

PC1974 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is a real April Fool's Day Joke!
>
> On April 1, 1975, Amtrak purchased most of the
> Beech Grove, Ind., maintenance facility from Penn
> Central and soon embarked on a five year, $22
> million improvement plan to modernize the early
> 20th century facility. Today, less than 500
> employees at Beech Grove still rebuild and
> overhaul Amtrak’s equipment.
>
> And the Beech Grove lost property tax revenue from
> the Amtrak shops facility in the 90's after the
> courts sided with Amtrak (that is govt and not a
> business). So the largest business/operation in
> town does have to pay up. Sorry, this was no
> joke!

So Amtrak gets a free ride and still hemmrogages money. Yikes 

Was the maintenance facility built by New York Central?

altoonafn Wrote:

> So Amtrak gets a free ride and still hemorrhages
> money. Yikes 

Interstate highways  don't pay property taxes, "gets a free ride and still hemorrhages money", got $10.4 billion in general funds to the Highway Trust Fund last fall providing another year of solvency.

So much for your Convenient Conservatism.

Sp1110 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Was the maintenance facility built by New York
> Central?
Yes!  The Big Four RR.

So let me see if i understand this. Court said they are government not private industry therefore no taxes. Under that premise the employees should be working for government and not paying railroad retirement. The old argument Amtrak, private or government. It is one or the other. Yea i know, the Post Office situation.
CR

WM1977 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So let me see if i understand this. Court said
> they are government not private industry therefore
> no taxes. Under that premise the employees should
> be working for government and not paying railroad
> retirement. The old argument Amtrak, private or
> government. It is one or the other. Yea i know,
> the Post Office situation.
> CR

It's a classic quango -- it's whatever you want (need) it to be in any given context!

Many, if not all, Amtrak owned highway vehicles have government license plates, and don't pay state fuel taxes.  Leased vehicles are treated under different rules.

I've posted pictures in the past.

Our fuel taxes help pay for highways. Also, in most places, governments pay an in-kind fee to local governments under public law 235 if memory serves me right from my congressional days...
I know the military bases in this area do. So do national forests and parks.
No free lunch.

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

any other shops considered, nothing in chacago ?

Didn't the Bear shops in Delaware rebuild the P40's into P42's? Maybe not. I can't remember..