The new east loop of the Huckleberry RR was built in the fall of 1990. Trains started running over it in November of 1990. The loop was built to shorten the trip time for our busy programs, Christmas and now Ghost Train. This was a result of a study done by an outside consultant. They came in thinking that the entire railroad should be abandoned - after surveying the customers they realized that the railroad was the reason most people came to Crossroads Village.
The argument was made at the time that if we were given the money it would take to build the new loop and used it to upgrade the track we could get the trip time down; the decision was made to install the new loop anyway. It took another ten years and a state grant to get the money to rehabilitate the mainline. It took all my powers of persuasion to convince the Director to railbank the old loop rather than remove it. As you said, it would be easy (but not cheap!) to add a switch on the north side of the new loop and re-hab the old so we have a choice of a long or a short trip.
One thing to keep in mind is that the Huckleberry Railroad is operated by a county park system; decisions are made for political reasons which may be difficult for outsiders to understand. Be grateful that the Huck exists and operates at all - it is NOT your typical park railroad.
As for hiring, we open applications in the spring, usually March, with interviews in March and April. Applications have to be filed with the Genesee County Human Resources Department; they send the applications to the park, I review them and select who will be interviewed. An interest in railroading is not an automatic in to an interview. I look more for an interest in and experience with mechanical things. The main thing I am looking for is someone who is responsible. I have interviewed several Live Steamers and other railfans - none of then believes me when I tell them they do not know as much about the job as they think they do. Those who I have hired consistently say they didn't know anywhere near as much as they thought they did before they started!
If you have any more questions I can be reached at (810)789-8508. I usually work Sunday through Thursday, 9AM - 5:30PM.
