This continuing obsession by Jaybawb to trash RGRPC is usually good for a smirk, but every so often he gets carried away. This time he’s fulminating about John West’s post about C&TSRR ridership. Now why Jay has this compulsion to listen to the radio every day and tally riders is beyond me.
Of course, his count is wrong because the daily radio count only includes riders bound for Osier, and obviously does not include riders taking the afternoon Cumbres – Chama or morning Chama – Cumbres options. So he’s off by at least 2,000 riders (correct ridership through Sept. 11 was somewhere around 40,291). A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, especially when one has an ax to grind.
But we’re accustomed to Jay being wrong. Why, last June 5th on the Dead Goat Jay said: “I predict 40,000 passengers this year”. Good thing RGRPC stuck with its budget estimate of 55,000, otherwise we’d have looked pretty silly not being able to handle the demand. John West’s figures are correct, and if RGRPC just equals last year’s ridership for the remaining 13 days of the season, total ridership for the year will be over 55,000.
Furthermore, Jay’s carping about rider counts and other cheap shots misses the real story. Thanks to the marketing, sales, and advertising initiatives led by John Craft and Kim Smith Flowers (e.g., parlour car service, dinner trains, emphasis on through trips, etc.) the average ticket revenue per rider may well exceed $45, as compared to $38 last year and an average of $35 between 1995 to 1998. Obviously the railroad’s financial health depends upon increasing revenues, not just riders. That’s the important marketing story.
I do wish Jay would stick to doing what he does well which is on-location photography and video. In this respect he provides a valuable service for those of us who simply cannot be there every day to enjoy the operation of the C&TSRR. As for his diatribes, I do find them bizarre and wrong-headed, but, hey, it’s a free country, and sometimes he’s entertaining, if you like that sort of thing.
