Thanks for your balanced stories I your paper and in particular Wed Keller's reporting. I attended the meeting on Saturday, July 25 at Horning's Mills sponsored by The Highland Companies,but open to the public.

To the taxpayers of Mulmur and Melancthon, I share their concerns if they are directly affected by open pit extraction. This would be like taxpayers (land owners) living along the roads and Wilson's and Downey properties.

I do not live near the road allowances or understand the affect of truck traffic and I am not a politician.

I am and always will be a railroad conductor (40 years). Unfounded statements are still being made regarding the Highland situation and the abandoned Right of Way through Amaranth, Shelburne, Mulmur and Melancthon.

Towards 1996 the CPR had won the right to abandon the "right of way" from mileage 2.2 Streetsville to Owen Sound and an offer was made by Mayor Adam's to purchase the "right of way" from 2.2 to Orangeville Town limits (Veterans' Way), thereby saving hundreds of jobs at Union Carbide (Clorox) and other plants in Orangeville's west end that still use rail service. In order to save these jobs an offer to sell Orangeville's Right of Way to the Highland's Group has been made.

To my understanding, switching maintenance and all operations, signals, crossings will be under Orangeville Brampton railway Group who now have hired Cando to run the very complex operations. Cando has safely and efficiently done the job, but the equipment could and should be replaced.

I cannot and will not speculate on what is going to happen to the line from Veterans' way through Amaranth, Mulmur and Melancthon, but I would love to see the railway back to Shelburne.

We would need the following - 3 million dollars per mile for rail, ties, signals, etc., for the sidings and main line; restoration of crossings, signals and gates (Shelburne); we would need switching at the Lumber Yard and Fertilizer plants, 2 million more.

By the way, Mr. Strang, we need a new Green Diesel Engine (they cost a million dollars or so, but they can pull 10 ore cars loaded and they're environmentally friendly.

The right to do this has been down-loaded from Federal to Provincial to County (Dufferin) to Townships to landowners to politicians.

Finally, you build it and they will use it as it began with Sir John A. McDonald. We don't need another consultant. We need sweat and tears for the future of our children and grand children.

Thomas Kelly

Orangeville