This is in response to an article about bids for a Brunswick “garage” to house entire Downeaster trainsets (June 15).

Northern New England Passenger Rail group’s Patricia Quinn and others need to read back issues of the 1940-’50s Railroad Magazine and learn how passenger equipment is handled during layovers. A 100-foot structure for motive power servicing and minor mechanical work during turnarounds is one thing; a 700-plus-foot building to store entire trainsets laying over is quite another.

All layover terminals do maintenance checks by car inspectors and repairmen while the equipment is being connected to facilities that supply heat and electricity for the interior cleaning work force, and exterior cleaning is done at major terminals by pulling the train through outdoor washracks.

It stretches the imagination to spend $50 million for Portland-Brunswick trackwork and a garage housing entire trainsets, all for a projected 100 passengers daily out of 1,300 riding between Boston and Portland each day.

Rather than run near empty five- to seven-car trains on turnarounds from Portland to Brunswick three times daily, it would be less costly on equipment usage utilizing consists of two self-propelled “Budd-type” cars between those points.

Locate the garage where it precludes noise from moving trains around? C’mon, this operation is not marshaling freight trains at all hours, as at Rigby. The train arrives, people get off, it is parked for servicing and sits quietly until departure time.

Terribly disturbing?

But more disturbing is unnecessarily wasting taxpayer money.

John R. Davis, South Paris