The Railroad Is Coming To Gunter, TX
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August 28, 2023

The Railroad Is Coming To Gunter, TX

This information came to me last month and it actually sounds like a story from the Old West. The railroad has bought and is buying more property in and around the small city of Gunter, TX for a new rail yard. The railroad PR person calls it a “logistic center” but let’s call it what it really is, a rail yard. I always like it when companies try to make something sound better than it is. The railroad is owned by “a nice old man” but in reality he is a ruthless tycoon. I am always concerned when billionaires say or think “they are going to help the people.”

When finished the values of other property in the area will be depressed, along with more traffic, noise and pollution. The railroad is promoting the project by using the old and worthless statement, it will improve the community and create jobs. It never happens, usually the area deteriorates, single family residences get pushed out to bring in more businesses. Win for the giant railroad and a loss for property owners left behind. As usual corporations stepping on hard working Americans wanting to just keep what they have and live their lives. It will create jobs. For who? Not usually for people in the area. This reminds me of when I was fighting against a solar farm nearby and the developer said it would create jobs. When I wrote my dissension of the project to the county I said, “How many jobs would it create? One, a guy in a pickup truck with a squeegee?” The developer never responded to questions from the community and the project was shelved.

History has shown big business has been destroying the little guy from the beginning of this country. Railroads and government have always been the worst, in their opinion, they are unstoppable.” Thanks to the Supreme Court you can add other big corporations to the list. The conservative Supreme Court got it wrong with its decision on Kelo vs City of New London. This was to benefit Pfizer and they never built the plant, it just destroyed lives.

The video from the local television stations showed the smirks on Gunter City Council member faces, they don’t care. The residents are meaningless to them until it is time for an election. People are worried and bearing their soul in front of them and it falls on deaf ears. I’ve been in this situation and it’s terrifying. To have your home and neighborhood taken by a greedy corporation and have the public officials approve it without any regard for the community is absolutely disgusting. I am pretty sure those officials will be okay because they usually benefit. It could also be criminal because a lot of these so called business dealings have been done in secret because they don’t want the public to know until it is too late to cancel the project.

In Gunter, TX the local residents didn’t find out until after the contract was signed by the city and the railroad. Now the so called city attorney is looking for a loophole to get out of the contract that their firm okayed. Does anybody truly believe the law firm that vetted the original contract and had city officials sign it will find a loophole they didn’t see before. Their job was to make sure there were no loopholes in the first place. People actually believe they will do this. If they find a loophole that means they didn’t do their job right in the first place. This would lead to a major lawsuit from the railroad. It all sounds like a lot of smoke and mirrors to me to appease, delay and squash the outrage of the community. It sounds like the trans will be chugging through Gunter, TX bellowing diesel fumes and making a lot of noise in the next few years.

People have been fighting the railroad and tycoons from the beginning of the industry. In Texas it looks like nothing has changed, the railroad will win. They might not build in Gunter, TX but they will somewhere else.

That’s An Old Timer’s Opinion.

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