Earl's presence on the TSRR was like a shot in the arm to us steam starved Texans. For years the railroad had been limping along with the lame red circus engine, #300. Earl brought the 201 back out of semi retirement, and brought back its original livery and number, Texas and Pacific #316. 316 became the only T&P engine running, anywhere. A finer and louder machine does not exist. Lots of plans were made to improve the railroad, its service and its image. The overhaul of former TSR #400 was completed and the engine painted in the livery, of its second owner, Magma Arizona #7, copper firebox and all. A large effort was made to reach out to Texas railfans, and steam fans all over to create a volunteer organization along the lines of the Friends of the C&TS. For a brief, shining moment, TSRR could have had three operating steam engines, not just two. The enthusiasm was palpably contagious!
Then, the bottom fell out. 316 was sidelined due to boiler defects related to the construction of its replacement boiler, and those defects would prevent the new boiler built for former Santa Fe pacific #1316 from ever being used. Dispatching the railroad from WISCONSIN, and selling tickets over the phone from COLORADO, were just part of the IPH attempt to force fit the TSRR into the IPH mold. Expecting one person to be the FRA trainer, locomotive engineer, general manager, and public relations officer (because there was no money to hire additional staff) was more than could be expected of anyone. No one can properly manage a railroad without direct control over its operations, expenses and personnel, and especially without sufficient trained personnel to do the job. None of this was given to Earl, and very little given to Steven Butler, or even Greg Udolph, although each of them got more autonomy and personnel than did Earl. What happens now, with Greg running the railroad in Rusk, and Earl's old boss, now running Business Development for the Western Group promises to be interesting. Many of the things that Earl planned were implemented in the years after he left, but others probably never will be even discussed again.
20/20 hind sight would tell us that trying to take a state owned, and state operated railroad, and overnight create an FRA compliant operation, and at the same time upset the way that the railroad had been run for 40 years, such as dispatching from Wisconsin via track warrant after being run for 40 years simply by timetable, and dispatched out of Rusk was probably too much for a single person to be made responsible for, but great credit should be given to Earl for trying especially within the rules in which he had to operate.
