Requests For Quotes

Hadabs Ventures Limited
OPERATION MARLOW-WILLARD

Some business in Lagos, Nigeria apparently noticed that I had taken a few photographs of train lavatories and concluded that obviously I also sold train lavatories.

From ABU MOHAMMED <hadabs2k4@yahoo.com>
Subject:

Mr Bob,
Good day, we are Nigerian based company and wish to urgently inquire about
the possibilty of placing an order for the purchase of the train toilet we
saw on net with inscription (MARC) MARYLAND RAIL COMMUTER SERVICE .
Please respond asap.


Abu Mohammed Oboni
Hadabs Ventures Limited
1B Lander Close, Off Liverpool Rd
Apapa - Lagos.
Tel: 234-(0)-8067671616
Email: hadabs2k4@yahoo.com

At left is the picture that had interested him, and here, here, and here are the pages that show it. None of those make the slightest suggestion that I sell stainless steel train toilets!

A friend had pointed out that some of my previous bid submissions lacked specific prices, and maybe if I were to include specific figures then someone would take me up on one of these nutty schemes.

So, I again assembled an illustrated quote, but this time I provided two options, one of which had a specific price that was attractively much less than that of the more ambitious alternative.

I also involved some coincidentally related recent spam and dragged the spammers into the mess.

From: Bob Cromwell
To:  ABU MOHAMMED <hadabs2k4@yahoo.com>
Subject: OPERATION MARLOW-WILLARD
In-Reply-To: <705791.21946.qm@web63302.mail.re1.yahoo.com>
Cc: mr.abdulhamid9@gmail.com,
  marymensah21@yahoo.com


Mr Abu --

You recently asked:

> Mr Bob,
> Good day, we are Nigerian based company and wish to urgently inquire
> about the possibilty of placing an order for the purchase of the train
> toilet we saw on net with inscription (MARC) MARYLAND RAIL COMMUTER
> SERVICE .
> Please respond asap.
>
> Abu Mohammed Oboni
> Hadabs Ventures Limited
> 1B Lander Close, Off Liverpool Rd
> Apapa - Lagos.
> Tel: 234-(0)-8067671616
> Email: hadabs2k4@yahoo.com


I congratulate your exquisite taste in train toilets!  You
are inquiring about an item that appears on these two pages:
  https://toilet-guru.com/train.html#marc
  https://toilet-guru.com/usa.html#marc

The problem with the specific unit you have your eye on here,
and see the attached image train-marc-dscf6699.jpg, is that
those toilets are peculiar to the custom-built rail cars used
by the Maryland Area Regional Commuter system.

However, as you have found my on-line catalog, no doubt you
have also found the linked archive of descriptions of worldwide
toilet delivery operations in which we have taken part.  We
are nothing if not resourceful here!


I can provide you with two attractive offers at widely varying costs.


First, for the low sum of just US$ 250 (payable via PayPal to my
e-mail address), I can put you in touch with an Indian supplier
of custom-built stainless steel train toilets.  In a recent
message he confided thusly to me:

> Dear sir,
>
> We manufacture railways toilets according to customer specification and sizes,
> So, prices are dependant on them. we do not export single pc. Your
> friend needs them in high quantity minimum 30 pc then we can supply .
> We need toilet specificstion that you want to buy.
>
> thanking you
>
> M**** M*****
> +919219******

That's right, just US$ 250 and his e-mail address and GSM number
can be yours!  Do bear in mind that South Asian stainless steel
train toilet manufacturers and artificiers are renowned for their
attention to detail, high quality and low price!


On the other hand, I realize that you hail from a land renowned
for wealth possibly surpassing even that of the legendary Croesus,
the last king of the Lydians.  Therefore you may be interested in
our second offer -- it is significantly more expensive but far,
far more rewarding.

You see, MARC is due for an upgrade of their rolling stock.  We
can purchase some of their cars, ship them to Nigeria, and you
can either put them into service as is, or else have your
maintenance shop remove the toilets and install them in your
cars.

As you are no doubt aware, most of our operations have involved
air delivery.  Yes, this is possible with railway cars, see the
attached images for some examples.  However, after consultation
with our aviation experts we think it would be best to deliver
these cars to you by ship given the runway requirements for the
larger Antonov cargo aircraft.  That is also quite straightforward;
again, see the attached images.

For this operation we would utilize our M/V Nostromo, originally
the ferry City of Havana connecting Key West and Havana, Cuba,
before Fidel and his cabal seized control of that fair island.
With certain updates and additions, including crane-deployed
escort boats, the M/V Nostromo is ready for cargo operations
both trans-ocean and venturing well inland into the riverine
environment.

For example, a consultation of our most current Nigerian inland
charts (attached) reminds us that we can easily operate up the
Niger river as far as (and well beyond) the border of that
eponymous nation.  So, Lonodzha, Bida, and Elea would all
be possible unloading points.

However, a cross-reference with the current Nigerian railway
map indicates that you have not yet built out your railway
infrastructure in that direction, concentrating instead on
the north-central and north-eastern regions.  Kaduna should
be quite feasible, although I'm uncertain about Djos.  If we
turned eastward onto the Benua river at Lokodja, we could
certainly unload at Makurdi and at the closest approach to
Kumo.

Do you have a specific compound where you would most like these
rail cars unloaded?

We have, in the past, encountered what some have termed the brutal
instincts and monsterous passions to be found at isolated compounds
far inland.  Hence our auxilliary watercraft, which not only scout
the river ahead of the Nostromo for shallows and sandbars but also
provide more than a modicum of security.

Now, it just so happens that we were also contacted by Mr Hans Mensah,
also operating under the aliases, or shall we say alternative names,
of Mr Abdulhamid9 and MaryMensah21.  He has (or perhaps they have) a
very attractive offer of used rail scraps, somewhere over 2.2 million
tons of them at the low price of just US$ 150 per ton.  As he points
out, these are "very auction prices".  These rails seem to be of
Ukrainian manufacture, and those Ukrainians do know their rail
manufacturing.  They are now languishing dock-side in Ghana, just
waiting in a vast pile to be employed in a project such as this:

> From: Mr.Hans mensah mr.abdulhamid9@gmail.com
> Sent: Tue Apr 27 10:56:46 2010
> Subject: USED RAIL SCRAPS
>
> PRODUCTS:USED RAIL SCRAPS
> QUANTITY :OVER 2, 200,000 TONS
> PRICE: US$150 per ton CIF ANY SAFE PORT
> ($135 FOB any safe port)
> PAYMENT TERM:T/T after 7days of delivery
> of the goods to buyers port.
>
> LENGTH:12.5 METERS LONG
> ORIGIN: URKARINE STOCK IN GHANA
> SPECIFICATION: R-50 R-65
> Chemical structure of the
> materials (used rail scrap )
> is:C - 0.71 - 0.84%
> Mn-0.75 - 1.25 %
> Si- 0.18 - 0.55%
> S - not more than 0.045%
> P - not more than 0.035%.
>
> We need direct buyers, any broker or agent is not needed for the
> sell of the product.We have in stock 2.2 million metric tons of
> used rails for clearance sale,at very auction prices. Site inspection
> and physical verification of materials are allowed before signing
> of contract. It is pertinent to letyou know that you will have to
> visit the yard (  GHANA )for inspection,and signing of the contract
> and also meeting with all concerned.  satisfied,do contact GEENT
> Steel Miles LTD. Immediately as the end seller .  Best regards,
>
> MR HANS.
> MAZEE GROUP OF COMPANIES LIMITED
> Hus 16B Ashangman Estate
> P.O. BOX AC 693 ART CENTER,
> ACCRA-GHANA.
> TELL:              +233542444401         +233542444401            ,
>
> marymensah21@yahoo.com

Unfortunately, Mr/Miss Hans/Hamid/Mensah does not specify just how
many of those 12.5 meter rail pieces are available.  But estimating
a weight of approximately 200 kg per meter (as I am sure you are
aware, Ukrainian rail standards tend toward the sturdy), his horde
of 2.2 million tons would mean approximately 11,000,000 meters of
rail!  That could be used to construct 5,500 kilometers of railway!
Obviously we have access to more than enough rail to land the cars
anywhere and then construct the rail line needed to connect it into
your existing network.

Now, while we plan on swinging past Ghana on the way to Nigeria to
pick up some rail, obviously we will make only a very slight dent
in that vast supply.  But how much do you think we should pick up?

Furthermore, in past projects (see, for example, a project we
proposed to Metito Overseas, Ltd, constructing a series of
lavatory service pits in Bahrain, consult our corporate archives
for details: http://cromwell-intl.com/fun/requests-for-quotes/), we
have found that Saudi-owned Bangladeshi indentured servants (and
while the Saudis are rather touchy about sticking to that
terminology, you are quite right in assuming that they are slaves
in all but official title) can be quite useful for coolie labor
in projects such as this -- cutting a path through the forest and
laying rails.  Should we also bring along a ManPak or two?  (those
being the standardized coolie shipping containers )  And while we're
at it, do you have any immediate or near-term need for the expansion
of your railway network?


Well, I may be getting ahead of myself here.  You may not want to
opt for the full package of riverine delivery and railway extension.
As for prices, the current best prices:
  http://www.leg.state.vt.us/reports/2010ExternalReports/253921.pdf
show that road-worthy rebuilt Amfleet I cars can go for as little
as US$ 300,000 each.  However, fully-equipped bi-level Bombardier
cars, the very thing operated by MARC, go for US$ 5.5 million each.

If you are willing to accept used Bombardier cars with the MARC style
toilets, I think we could probably get them for US$ 500,000 each (in
heavily used condition) to US$ 2,000,000 each (for used but significantly
better condition).  There would also be the cost of delivery.  While
the M/V Nostromo is a good and efficiently operating ship, it is by
no means cheap to operate.  Rest assured that its captain Jozef
Korzeniowski has a great deal of experience, including the very
sort of dicey inland operation that this project requires.


But on the other hand, for just US$ 250 I can put you in touch
with my Subcontinental manufacturer of customized stainless steel
railway toilets.


Bob Cromwell