FRESNO, CA: It was reported in the Jan 26 edition of the highly-worshipped Fresno Bee that the Fresno Area Residents for Rail Consolidation, FARC (which, by the way, is only one letter away from being FARCE), has finally, after being formed more than ten years ago, annulled thier crazy train of fiscal irresponsibility.

"The website's coming down, and I've disconnected the phone that we had. It's over and done with." says Tom Bailey, of FARC.

For those of you who had the fortunate experience of NOT having to follow this squeaky wheel with bourbon-salved disgust, the premise behind FARC was to consolidate the BNSF line to the UPRR line and Hwy 99 so-called 'corridor' (think NEC fantasies, here fellas).

Not that transportation corridors and consolidation don't make sense. Far from it; the issue here from the start has always been about cost and piss-poor urban planning. While the UPRR runs roughly parallel to Hwy 99, the BNSF follows its original alignment through the sprawling urban scene of the Greater Metropolitan Fresno Area. This, of course, enrages the NMBYs who own homes nearby or sip their lattes waiting for the efficiency of 2 horsepower per TON to get their raw goods and UPS packages to San Pablo. These fine folks would rather the Big Bad Railroad move thier 120+ year old right-of-way to the poor, mostly hispanic, side of town. Interstingly enough, nary a mention of just why the Hell the Fresno Building Department would allow the construction of a large hospital, an old folks home and countless other residential properties to be built within a flying brake shoe's distance from the haz-mat carrying freight trains.

Perhaps taking into consideration the continued people-friendly improvements, like numerous grade crossing closures and consolidations, improved fencing near City Hall, or the multi-million dollar refurbishment of the Fresno Amtrak depot, has caused the fuel to run low in thier tanks. Most likely, though, is the High Speed Mass Conflaguration and its impending influence.

The current price tag for Move the Tracks golden-haired brainfart is currently estimated at a staggering 803 milliion to 1.4 billion greenbacks. Regardless of current economic conditions, transportation money of that signifcance can be spent on far more important projects, like double or triple tracking for more fluid operations, or dare I say it in this forum....FREEWAY improvements, as example. Also salivating over this pie in the sky cash is the current High Speed Trainwreck.

Assistant City Manager Bruce Rudd said city officials (who, exactly, is unknown) were warned that there might not be enough funds to cover a rail consolidation project, as well as a local route with a station in downtown, or even an express route on the west side of town. It is assumed by me they are talking about high speed rail, but that was not made clear in the article.

As the next chapter unfolds, lobbying has begun in ernest to have a High Speed HMS Titanic shop facility located in Fresno. Questionable political clout will most likely see such a facility located closer to Sac or The City. Not because it would make sense, but because of good ol' gerrymandering pork-barrell.