Devise a way for economic driver

Opinion

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I just have to respond to the letter "Coal trains may run tourists out." The writer is correct in stating that tourist jobs are hard to measure, So why the comparison to jobs that can be measured? Any type of increase in commerce are real jobs. As far as the coal trains being noisier, this is simply not true. I live less than 200 feet from the railroad tracks and I hear and love every train. Having been a working man all my life, these jobs are music to my ears.

The older-type boxcars are much noisier than the newer coal trains. Railroads in the earlier days brought commerce and jobs to the area and as a result cities were built around them. We chose to build cities along the railroad tracks, so it is not fair to now blame the railroads for our problems. They were here before us. There is a solution to this problem, but it will take a lot of work and cooperation, something that seems to be lacking in our society today. It is possible to reroute the mainline around Marysville over the Tulalip Reservation to points further north. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater, but work together for a solution to this issue.

Andy Korthius
Marysville

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Herald Editorial Board

• Peter Jackson, Opinion Editor: pjackson@heraldnet.com (@PeterJHerald)

• Carol MacPherson, Editorial Writer: cmacpherson@heraldnet.com

• Josh O'Connor, Publisher: joconnor@heraldnet.com

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