Re: Why stop there?

Thanks Padre, you have a deft touch ith the absurd. But, isn't it interesting how much passion that road from noplace to nowhere stirs up in all these fellows.
As for the free advice, yes, it is often worth the purchase price, but sometimes it can be invaluable. The secret is in sifting the gold from the chaff.
The "reds" have an edge in this arguement because they are simply more attractive to the average taste, and more photogenic. The arguments for green being more durable, and showing less dirt would be fine if this was aregular common carrier...but, like it or hate it, the C&TSRR today is very much a tourist road, it doesn't have freight revenues or a mail contract, nor does it serve as the primary link with the communities to the outside world. It hasn't in some time. The cars for a "tourist" road need to be kept neat, clean, and spiffed up more often than cars in regular commuter service.
'Nuther thing, its been generally found that style is more important than substance when it comes to separating the fickle tourist from his hard earned money. Even those that abhor the thought of "Disneyfication" of the C&TS have to admit that Disney is VERY good at making people WANT to give them money. Now the goal of the C&TSRR is a bit different, it seeks in part to preserve the past, but it also has a mandate from its owners to generate tax dollars and prop the local economies by attracting tourist dollars to an area that seems to not have much else to offer. Much as some will hate it, some compromises will have to be made, fotunately these two aims are not totally incompatable,.
If the cars were original D&RGW equipment, then we probably wouldn't be discussing the color at all, but they aren't. So if a more attractive consist will help bring more riders, which in turn will bring more money for the preservation efforts is it really such a bad thing? or is it a good one? Perhaps a compromise solution is to paint one consist red, and leave the other green, and then conduct a poll at Osier when they meet as to which the great unwashed masses (read paying customers) prefer.