Thomas Hinman and the proposed RG&SJ

According to John Norwood's account in his book Rio Grande Narrow Gauge of the abandonment proceedings in 1968, Thomas Hinman had announced earlier in 1967 that he'd formed a corporation - the Rio Grande & San Juan Railway. He'd also filed a "certificate of convenience" to operate an excursion train out of Alamosa to Chama. Later that same year, he withdrew his application. It received passing interest at the Alamosa hearings in 1968.

I've always been curious about this short-lived venture that produced only one material artifact, the infamous Hinman Coach, later renamed the William B Richardson. Can anyone provide more details of this proposal, including:
1) Who was this guy?
2) Was a "certificate of convenience" essentially trackage rights?
3) How the hell did his coach (a narrow gauge coach of Mexican origins) come to be resident rolling stock of the D&RGW and when did it arrive?

If this has been discussed in detail before, I must have missed it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/2018 10:38AM by Brian Shoup.