Real railroading

I sure hope nobody in any position of authority at or around the C&TS ever thinks of the C&TS as anything but a very real and challenging mountain railroad. Any railroad that hauls passengers through that kind of remote and mountainous territory, and up and down steep grades, not to mention with elderly steam engines is about as "real" as it gets. And the downside from underestimating the challenges is ugly. The fact that the C&TS has "graduated" folks who have gone on to successful careers on the "broad guage" underlines just how real the C&TS is. But it is also one of the reasons the railroad needs to respect its heritage, because the DRGW did things the way they did for good reason, often learned the hard way. Which is not to say change is not good, simply that it has to be done carefully and for good reason. But for anyone who actually works at the C&TS, I'm simply preaching to the choir. Which is one of the reasons it is such a neat railroad for an old timer like me to visit.

JBWX