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City of Austin seeking ways to fuck up Zilker Park

ztejas

By ztejas
in Daily Texan

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Samson's Wig

Samson's Wig 3195

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, SubliminalHorn said:

Christ. Cliffs?

Government couldn't operate a toy train, because of course they can't, so they passed it over to a nonprofit that, wait for it, also can't operate a toy train.

The good news is this same clown show will be bringing grown up sized trains to nowhere near you for just a few billion more dollars.  Be sure and vote yes at the next bond election! 

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HenryJames

HenryJames 66189

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Steel Shank said:

Instead of getting proposals, CoA gives Austin Parks Foundation oversite to the train.

Despite having zero experience in this area, APF doesn't hire a consultant and just starts making decisions and spending money.

Builder for train that APF hires provides a piece of shit product that doesn't work and APF is stuck with. ($365K)

APF wants electric, but that compounds the issues. 

Experts in the area who run similar trains are baffled at why they weren't included in at least discussions/consultations.

It's been 4 years and we're pretty much at square one. Minus $365K. Minus another $10k for train manufacturer to not discuss publicly. Hmmm.

Should've hired @South Austin's mom. Nobody knows more about trains than she does.

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Your Mom

Your Mom 4855

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Posted

This is the most Austin shit ever.  Builder tells them to not fuck with the train.  So they immediately fuck with the train and break it.  After admitting they did the exact opposite of what the builder told them they claim to have found “other problems” with the train and decide to break ties and ask for a non-disclosure agreement regarding the whole fiasco.  And here’s an extra $10k for you to agree not to sue us.  
I need to go into the park train building business.  Deliver some unfinished non-working shit… wait for Austin to fuck it up… get paid extra and leave.  
 

Quote

"We were all super excited," APF Park Design Director Katie Robillard said.

A few hours into the work, the Railway Factory team had to leave the job site. This is where the versions of events differ.

"I told them, 'Do not, I repeat, do not touch this train or allow anybody on it,'" said Robert Scott, who was managing director of the Railway Factory. "Well guess what, they decided they were going to park it up in their tunnel a few hundred yards away."

APF says the brightly colored locomotive began attracting lots of attention on a cloudless holiday weekend in a busy park. Robillard and two others were trying to keep people off the train and coaches, which stretched more than 70-feet long.

"A few hours into it, we were just like, 'We've got to get this train to a more secure location,'" Robillard said. "So we decided to move it, and we thought the best location to move it would be the storage tunnel."

APF says the wheels of the mini-train were too big for the switch. Scott says the train got stuck because of wood placed inside the switch to accommodate a pedestrian crossing.

When the APF team put the train in reverse, the differential broke. A differential is a set of gears that allows the wheels to turn at different speeds. Wheels were also damaged.

Scott accused APF of running the motor full throttle in reverse and messing up the transmission and wheels.

“Of course, the first thing we did was put it in reverse, and it didn’t move," Robillard said. "So at the end of the day, [Scott] had to disassemble it and take the gear box, and he also took the wheels back to Phoenix to repair them. The [motor] was in tact. But the gearbox was broken. So that’s what happened. It was not great.”

The Austin Parks Foundation said it found other problems with the train, though, and ultimately decided to cut ties with Railway Factory

 

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Deej

Deej 76972

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On 8/12/2021 at 6:26 PM, DalTxHornFan said:

Northwest Park is a cool place.  Perhaps the earliest quarry in Austin.  Nicely reclaimed.  As was the one at Far West.

How old is the quarry behind the playground at Highland Park Elementary? Any idea?

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DalTxHornFan

DalTxHornFan 3119

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, Deej said:

How old is the quarry behind the playground at Highland Park Elementary? Any idea?

I'm thinking 1942 based upon this:

"Edwin Brazelton Snead went into business for himself when he founded E.B. Snead Construction Company in 1932. Ten years later, he opened his first quarry in Austin, just southwest of MoPac and FM2222"

https://www.texascrushedstoneco.com/about-us/our-history/

They next did the Far West quarry, and then the big place south of Georgetown.

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Steel Shank

Steel Shank 9432

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, swraith said:

APF should never have taken over the contract for operating the train.  They spent more money on a broken train than the prior operator wanted to spend on erosion repairs. 

Quote

Texas Special wanted a five-year contract renewal to guarantee the company would bring in enough revenue to pay for the estimated $286,000 in repairs.

The city offered less than what Texas Special wanted. The company declined.

Maybe the city should imbed an artist who can come up with better ideas on how to do this "better".

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Texas Jeff

Texas Jeff 1946

Posted
Posted

Forget the Zilker train ... it's time to gondola-ize the town, aka "The Wire" idea from a few years ago.  Kids love gondolas...

I have no idea how to do it, no experience doing this, and I am willing to throw out an unrealistic projection based on jack ($500 million for a 400 mile system that goes from wherever you live to the airport, feds will pay for half, opens in three years).

Who's with me?  Let's vote!  A small caveat -- in a few years I may have to adjust my cost, timeline and scope a bit based on changing market conditions, but hey you voted for it...

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ztejas

ztejas 43549

Posted
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Posted
1 minute ago, Texas Jeff said:

Forget the Zilker train ... it's time to gondola-ize the town, aka "The Wire" idea from a few years ago.  Kids love gondolas...

I have no idea how to do it, no experience doing this, and I am willing to throw out an unrealistic projection based on jack ($500 million for a 400 mile system that goes from wherever you live to the airport, feds will pay for half, opens in three years).

Who's with me?  Let's vote!  A small caveat -- in a few years I may have to adjust my cost, timeline and scope a bit based on changing market conditions, but hey you voted for it...

Are you looking for a business partner?

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ztejas

ztejas 43549

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4 minutes ago, Texas Jeff said:

Do you have any experience pouring concrete for downtown drainage tunnels and forgetting the rebar?  If so, let's talk...

No, but how hard could it be?

I do know that when welding you get the top to look like the bottom by fucking up the top, too. 

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Samson's Wig

Samson's Wig 3195

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:

I'm thinking 1942 based upon this:

"Edwin Brazelton Snead went into business for himself when he founded E.B. Snead Construction Company in 1932. Ten years later, he opened his first quarry in Austin, just southwest of MoPac and FM2222"

https://www.texascrushedstoneco.com/about-us/our-history/

They next did the Far West quarry, and then the big place south of Georgetown.

Good people, the Snead family.

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