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Richard Eckfield's crusade to get a train stop built at Del Mar Racetrack,
I have said this before in your story last March called "Del Mar Un-Fairgrounds," where the Reader pointed out that this fellow has been pitching the idea of re-establishing the train stop at the Fairgrounds for three years...but no one there is listening. Bing Crosby started direct train service the second year of racing at Del Mar in 1938, and it ran for almost 30 years. So I will try again to get you to listen to me. From East County have three choices when it comes to horse racing. I can go to Barona, Viejas,or drive to Del Mar. If I now take the Trolley to Old Town to catch the Coaster, I likely WOULD do that if I could get off at the track and walk in the few hundred feet into the grandstand. But I hate the traffic and the idea that I will go to Solana Beach just to catch a bus back the 2 miles to the track stinks, just like the busses do. I do not know if this guy Harper ever gets out of the Turf Club to find out what the real fans want, which is service and a fun experience. No wonder this sport is dying. And please Turf Club, don't take the credit for that beautiful setting. God and the vacationers made Del Mar a financial success, not the insightfulness of the marketing staff. Building that train stop is truly a "no-brainer." I thought Arnold was going to sell this place. Any real racing firm worth its salt would build that stop in a nano-second.— September 28, 2009 10:03 a.m.
Del Mar Un-Fairgrounds
I read with interest the discussion of building a train stop at the Del Mar Race Track. Since they are a State agency, I assume it is the usual problem of overcoming inertia and contentment with the status quo which has prevented the Ag District from moving forward on something this worthwhile for the past 24 years. I bet the horses at the casinos in East County. I would not dream of fighting the traffic to Del Mar to watch them live --- but a train ride to the track would be fun, easy and convenient. If there was a train that took me directly there, I would go. Perhaps the Indian-owned casinos should take over the races. They no doubt would build that train stop in a minute. They understand the value of convenience to the customer.— March 27, 2009 10:04 a.m.