"It seems logical that projects undertaken by the Friends volunteers are prioritized to provide the most immediate benefit to the railroad and would have the concurrence of the RGRPC and the Commission as beneficial."
Someone on the Projects Committee could speak more eloquently to this, but in "normal" times Friends preservation projects aren't chosen to support the Operator. In fact, the genesis of the Friends was to help preserve artifacts the Operator didn't have the resources or the justification to maintain. Sublette is one example, the historic car fleet is another. Individual projects within the historic car fleet often get started due to the initiative of one person or a small team, not a top-down assignment by the Commission or the Operator. The recent volunteer efforts on passenger cars, for example, will (hopefully) be a short-term phenomenon.
The majority of the boxcar coaches are no longer needed for revenue service, and haven't been used for some years now. With participation at Friends work sessions growing annually, finding the volunteer labor to revert a car doesn't detract from RGRPC's mission. And only one car is being done this year - it may be a while before another is done.
When the Friends were preparing for their May work sessions, the Projects Committee offered to help out on the passenger cars if RGRPC needed the help. We gave it some thought, but didn't want to take away from the work being done (more than just yard clean-up), and we didn't want to have volunteers doing work our employees were best suited to do.
The quicker we get back to normal - the Operator maintaining what is needed daily, the Friends preserving the rest - the better for all concerned.
JAC
