wde3rd Wrote:
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> I was also on this trip and I have to agree with
> Dave's comments.
I have a few questions about the 2008 Railfest:
(1) Saturday's #315 Trip: Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Saturday #315 trip originally advertised as being one-way Durango to Silverton? My recollection is that #315 was supposed to return to Durango on a separate excursion on Sunday.
The reason I mention this is because I'm wondering: Have any past D&SNG photo trips ever attempted to do the entire roundtrip in one day?
(2) Attendance: I am under the impression that fewer people turned out for Railfest than in past years. Anyone know if that was actually the case?
Getting to Railfest this year was surprisingly expensive even though we are supposedly experiencing a "downturn" in the economy. Airfare was about the same as in past years, but rental cars were bizarrely expensive at both DEN and ABQ. DEN's high rates were understandable given the political convention that was happening there, but I don't know what caused ABQ's rental rates to be so high. Thanks to a successful gamble, I ended up with a reasonable rental rate on a 4wd vehicle...lets just say that I saw parts of the C&TS that I wouldn't have seen had I been driving an economy car.
Worse, Durango hotels were incredibly expensive this year -- I think it was Nathan who told me that even the Hampton Inn was charging over $150/night during Railfest! I can explain this -- during my time in Durango, I saw several busloads of European tourists loading and unloading at my hotel. I don't recall seeing these busloads during my past visits to Durango. Consequently, I presume that the weakened dollar allowed Europeans to fill up Durango's hotels, thereby making those hotels unaffordable for average American foamers that would normally make Railfest.
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Chris Webster
