Honest question re: game day parking

[dagdaj]

Dear Penthouse Forums:

Stories like this never happen to guys like me. There I was, walking back from a football game. A guy pulled up next to me in a golf cart, I said "hi" to him and before he answered he put a rag over my mouth and nose. The last thing I remember hearing was "say buddy, does this rag smell like chloroform?"

And most definitely ends with waking up in a porta potty. All my money is gone. The only thing I have in my pockets is a bratwurst bun and a block from a giant Jenga game that's been colored with a Sharpie to look like a cell phone.

 

[Seth53]

The owner of the railroad (I forget which) that provides the cars was friends with the AD. The track belongs to different railroad company. They do cooperate, though..
I assume the AD Barta? It started about the same time he came aboard (hah.....see what I did there?)
Whoever the AD was helped cook up the idea with the railroad owner. It was more or less a one time and/or limited deal. But, turned out so popular that the owner of the railroad and cars decided to keep it going on goodwill. It's not his track, so if he pays Iowa Interstate who owns the track, he doesn't pay much. Either way, with all volunteers operating the thing, it's still a huge net loss for the railroad. The cost of managing all the moving parts is probably worse. Railroads have a lot of regulatory/insurance/headaches that are always lurking behind every corner. The University/Athletic department never contributed in any way.

There was talk at one point of bringing the steam engine owned by company that owns the track to run the Express once for a special event......back when it was running. Lay on to the whistle for the Wave.

Of course, I told someone who was involved, that was acceptable. Just no whistle for touchdowns, etc. Y'all know how I feel about artificial noisemakers like tornado sirens and such.

With the new B1G TV contact in the BILLIONS of dollars, one would think the U of I would shuttle (pardon the pun) the necessary buxx to the Hawkeye Express to keep it viable.

I think I'm going to email Barta tonight with my thoughts....

gary-barta@uiowa.edu

 

[Seth53]

And most definitely ends with waking up in a porta potty. All my money is gone. The only thing I have in my pockets is a bratwurst bun and a block from a giant Jenga game that's been colored with a Sharpie to look like a cell phone.

.....plus a sore ass, a quarter in your hand and a note saying "thanks.".....

 

[Fryowa]

With the new B1G TV contact in the BILLIONS of dollars, one would think the U of I would shuttle (pardon the pun) the necessary buxx to the Hawkeye Express to keep it viable.

I think I'm going to email Barta tonight with my thoughts....

gary-barta@uiowa.edu

The key is that almost all of the train stuff was done by volunteers. Without that you have to pay people, and when you start having to pay people that leaves a vacuum.

If they brought the train back it’d cost $35 to ride instead of $15. No business or university is gonna eat those costs and at that point you can drive and park for the same money.

 

[okeefe4prez]

The key is that almost all of the train stuff was done by volunteers. Without that you have to pay people, and when you start having to pay people that leaves a vacuum.

If they brought the train back it’d cost $35 to ride instead of $15. No business or university is gonna eat those costs and at that point you can drive and park for the same money.

I suspect there are a lot of issues running the train. First, someone else owns the track so you gotta pay for that and scheduling is prolly a bear. Second, the cars are old decrepit Metra cars. There are only a few transit systems that run that gauge of track and last I heard there was only one company in the US that made those cars but they couldn't make one compliant with new federal safety regulations and they closed their US operation a few years ago, so getting a new car or parts and crap is a bear. I think you're totally right that the actual cost of running it would probably be more like $30-50 per rider or more.