The Loop???

A friend recently informed me that the loop will no longer be running steam on a daily basis! It would seem that current management feels there is more money to be made without the added expense of steam. I also was informed that the state(or maybe operator) bought another diesel?

It would seem that since Phil and his crew were unable to get the steam engine back together "proving" that steam is to costly and time consuming to maintain for full time operation the decision has been made (or at the least being pushed with the state) to only run steam on special occasions.

If this has happened, or does happen, then does the place not then become just another run of the mill tourist operation? Rather than continuing a long standing tradition of carrying people "back in time" to experience a piece of colorado NG and mining history?

The last operator was ripped to shreds for not having steam even though they were trying to get it back on line. Now, this one is going to all but DECIDE to do away with it?