Ken,
I'm not familiar with the financials or the details of SMART's funding. I know that Mansourian and Co. have done an excellent getting grants for the Larkspur extension. That said, Larkspur is a good example, or perhaps an ominous one, of the extraordinary cost for a mile of brand new railroad. The extension to Larkspur is somewhere around 40 million I believe. The extension to Windsor's estimated cost is even more shocking: about 45 million. That's flat ground with no bridges. Signals and new rail and a new platform. It adds up and it's sobering.

Now think about the cost of getting across the Russian river into Healdsburg with the major bridgework required at the Russian River bridge.

I agree about the misleading and hiding of information. One time, there was an interview with a SMART board member in which he said "Startup in December! Hurrah!". In that article it was noted that Mansourian declined to comment. Two days later, Mansourian or whomever says "All engines to be rebuilt! Startup in late spring! Hurrah!".

So the question is what did that board member know and when did he know it? And when did Mansourian know about the engines issue and when did he inform his board about it?

Either the board member was kept in the dark, or the board member was intentionally misleading the public. Either possibility is bad news and reeks of the cheesy rottenness that I think needs to be uncovered, aired out, and possibly spread out to dry in full sunlight.

#enginerebuildgate