What a shame for the Times Record would waste its valuable space printing Tim Halpin’s vapid platitudes regarding the massive train barn planned for Brunswick West. Amtrak shills offer nothing substantive to rebut Pem Schaeffer’s arguments. Talking points, no matter how frequently or mindlessly repeated, do not constitute truth. Epithets (“NIMBY!”) are the last refuge of those with no arguments.

The facts are simple: Brunswick West neighbors are not against the train, they are against being compelled to subsidize a wasteful and dangerous project in their neighborhood. The barn is not necessary to maintain or increase the number of trains to Brunswick. It will generate no new tax revenue, but will cost the town in lost property value. There are better sites in Brunswick for it. The final end of the line has yet to be determined, but is not likely to be Brunswick. Trains are not the most energyefficient way to move people in Mid-coast Maine. And the barn will generate environmental hazards which have yet to be fully explored or managed

These are facts, which none have credibly disputed. We may disagree on the issues, but let us please stick to hard information. This is the basis on which responsible decision-making must rest.

There is more at stake here than a train barn. As a Brunswick West resident, I would be satisfied with losing on the facts of the case. We all lose if we make decisions on any other basis.

Patrick Rael Brunswick