To: Ken Shattock: Mis-information seems to be the order of the day. The IRS is indeed out of the picture. Timberlake's gates were installed last March as a gift for Carl Vanderspek (the wealthy Canadian) and his P.O.A. Manager, John Black of La Conner, WA, to use as a tool to "shape up" members I identified. These members have made both my son Tom and myself unwelcome at TM. We have suffered mail threats, vandalism, security cameras stolen and tampered with, mailbox shot up, gunshots at night, and finally an arson fire set in Timberlake's own historically accurate 120' wooden tunnel. When I informed Carl and John of the closure, I wrote: "You now have a powerful tool...Use it wisely." Instead they turned the tables on us and accused us of breaking our license agreement with TM. Thus they have revealed themselves as the enablers of those that hate us. Further, their words indicate a motive to take over Timberlake through suing for legal damages that will result in TM taking Timberlake away from my son, Tom. The gates were locked shut for about 10 days last March...days in which the track was frozen over and impassable anyway. They were then re-opened with an 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. closure. This was then extended to 11 p.m. for meets. I asked cooperation from members in operating the gates...but John Black soon threatened anyone that helped us with legal action. We then opened the gates in mid-April permanently locked open...AND THEY HAVE BEEN IN THAT POSITION EVER SINCE. No member has to our knowledge ever been truly shut out. In his daily reports, John Black has said negotiations have been ongoing. This is not true. TIMBERLAKE HAS OFFERED RRI A PERMANENT EASEMENT AND THEY HAVE REFUSED IT. Yes, there is a price tag attached which they say they can't afford. Since they refuse to deal with the issues of our security, we're asking them to index their yearly fee for the easement to our escalating insurance coverages. Remember, an easement burdens the property that grants it. Hope this will start to clarify some of the confusion. We have always supported the membership...and spent tens of thousands of dollars in doing so. The trackage rights agreement that John Black boasts about, was my idea and negotiated with Quentin Breen for 13 months until his dishonesty in failing to reveal the extent of his IRS tax exposures led to our original closing of the tracks in 2008. Quentin had refused to present copies of his insurance policies. We could not allow the trains on our track until he did...with a new policy some weeks later. (We never saw the old one.) That's all for now.