Funny, the solution is right in front of them....

I seem to recall GTL Inc. still has three operational steam locomotives only 40 miles away.... oh yes, that would mean that the CHS would have to admit they "screwed the pooch!" Say what you will but Railstar, with the CHS as lord and master, isn't getting the job done! They are trying to slip in diesel power as an alternative to steam rather than as an emergency back-up and they can't even get that right! There is a perfectly reasonable way to salvage this debacle but there will be a freeze warning for Hell before the CHS would ever do the right thing!!!
This will be the first year that I won't go up to the Loop. I don't believe that #12 will be ready by August or even September! I don't believe that the #111 will be ready by the start of next season. In fact, I believe that it will have at least as many problems as the #9 did when it's "restoration" was rushed to completion.
Speaking of the #9 (the only "historical" engine in this whole mess) I believe that the CHS will send it up to Breckenridge to sit on it's proverbial ass for the next 10 years!!
I believe that the chances for seeing #30/74 put back together are almost nil. There is nothing in it for the CHS so they will "ignore" it until it's too late.
Finally, I believe that the Loop will limp along for another four or five years until the CHS is in a position to show that the Loop is a money pit and that the Loop would be much better off as a "historical" bike path winding through the rows of new condos that will spring up along the widened section of I-70. Sadly, I believe that the CHS will try to put the blame on Railstar, GTL Inc., the economy, the waning enthusiasm of the railfan community, the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and ANYBODY but Bell and Behrens!