The following article is in today's Denver Post:
3 finalists eyed to run Georgetown railroad
By
jblevins@denverpost.com
Jason Blevins
Denver Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 12, 2004 -
A tourist-train operator, a freight-train operator and a former train-company executive are the finalists to run steam-powered trains on the state-owned tourist railroad at Georgetown.
New York's Railstar Corp., Michigan's Adrian Clinton & Southern Railway and New Jersey consultant and former train-company executive Jason Kuehn responded to the Colorado Historical Society's call for potential operators. Only Railstar has experience with both tourist and narrow-gauge operations, and only Railstar has some equipment needed for the rails above Georgetown.
The Denver Post secured the names of the bidders through a request for documents made under Colorado's Open Records Act.
Railstar, based in Cape Vincent, N.Y., operates a tourist train in Maine and New York and manufactures and restores train equipment.
"I have been through Colorado many times, and I'm familiar with narrow-gauge railroading," said Ron Trottier, the company's vice president and general manager. "We are intrigued and interested in Georgetown."
Trottier said he has some equipment and would be able to construct equipment if his company were tapped as operator of the state-owned Georgetown Loop Historic Mining & Railroad Park.
The Colorado Historical Society oversees the park's operations. After failed contract-renewal negotiations with the existing operator, the society began restoration projects on several steam engines that potential operators could use in a new operation. The engines have not operated for several decades.
Kuehn, a consultant with New Jersey-based Multi- Modal Applied Systems, said his individual bid likely will not be considered because he could not find equipment to use on the railroad.
"They had steam engines they were overhauling, but those would not be ready by next season," said Kuehn, a former executive with the Southern Pacific Transportation Corp. and the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Co. "The problem I ran into was finding locomotives. Most narrow- gauge stuff is either in museums or being used right now."
Kuehn said the society wants to use steam-powered locomotives that once ran on Colorado narrow-gauge rails. That means lengthy restoration projects for long-idled equipment that will not be ready by next summer's train season.
"They really needed two years' lead time to restore the other steam engines," Kuehn said. "Whoever operates it next year, I don't think they will have any historic steam engines up there."
Jason Midyette, publisher of a monthly newspaper covering Colorado railroad operations called Colorado Time Table, said the society should not employ rare equipment in day-to- day tourist operations.
"These are the only objects of their kind on the face of the earth, and you should not want to wear them out with day-to- day service," Midyette said.
The Adrian Clinton & Southern Railway company in South Haven, Mich., also said it does not have any narrow-gauge equipment it could use if chosen as the operator. The company has never toted tourists or run narrow-gauge trains, but it has worked for freight-hauling operations in Wisconsin, Michigan, Kansas and Minnesota. The superintendent of the company said he would search for equipment once he got word from the society.
"We are qualified railroaders and qualified steam locomotive engineers," company superintendent Mel Jessup said. "The problem is that there's very little narrow-gauge equipment out there. That is something we will have to address with the present operator."
Not a chance, said Mark Greksa, co-owner of Georgetown Loop Railroad Inc., which has run trains on the Georgetown rails since 1974.
Greksa said his company's equipment will go to either a train museum or another location where he can grow his business. Georgetown Loop Railroad Inc. bowed out of contract negotiations with the society this past spring after failing to agree on maintenance and insurance costs. The company also operates a tourist train in the Royal Gorge outside Cañon City.
"This equipment is our children, and after the way we've been treated by the historical society, no way. Never," Greksa said, adding that his team's negotiations with the society broke down after they were unable to agree on $100,000 in expenses. "We are looking forward to competing against a company we helped create."
Staff writer Jason Blevins can be reached at 303-820-1374 or
jblevins@denverpost.com .
