Re: New Loop Article

HMMMMM... Year three....

Well, let's see if I remember year three when the GTL was there.

There were two operative steam locomotives there (40 and 44), one operative diesel Locomotive (15). There were at least 6 passenger cars. They were the Tahoe, Silver Plume and six converted pipe gons, but they held passengers and the brakes worked. The Track was completed to the West Abutment of the High Bridge, the Georgetown Terminal had been opened (granted, it was just a ticket booth at the end of a hiking trail and steps to the tracks) and we were loading people from the Georgetown end, sans high bridge. We were offering daily service and nobody was being turned away even though many of the trains were full. We didn't have a shop yet and all the mechanical work was done in the mud and dirt. We didn't have a water tank and we were still pumping water from Clear Creek. Our oil came from one of the tank cars parked there. Passenger counts were going up and the Loop looked to be a future success. We were selling tickets out of the Baggage End of the still unfinished Silver Plume depot, which was nothing more than wainscotting and lathe.

CHS has a shop, two inoperable steam locomotives on site, one inoperative diesel, a small steel mill switcher and some passenger cars, some of which may not turn a wheel this year. Passenger counts are plummeting. Wow, what a turn for the better with the CHS takeover! The CHS promised "Better and More Historic Equipment" Yup, looks like they are re-enacting the historic abandonment of the line. I guess History is all in the way you (mis)interpret it.

Rick