Big discussions? Big and heated discussions?!! (Perish the thought....)
Seriously though, what went before is gone, it's not coming back and the people responsible for this are going to get away with it. Now, back to the present. If all goes well we shall have steam on the Loop five days a week (courtesy of #12 and it's rebuild.) This is cause for celebration! (Oh, c'mon people! Just because it's the same steam engine they rammed into service to insure that the CHS wasn't shown to be bald faced liars about "Steam on the Loop" and "...a seamless transition..." and that it was too small to adequately carry five cars up the Loop without beating the poor thing to death doesn't mean that the current operators haven't taken the time and effort to properly restore and prepare her for daily duty in 2010!)
There are those of us that still harbor ill will to those people in the CHS heirarchy for their egregious mismanagement of an irreplaceable historical resource but what will happen this year will not change what has occurred in the past so we might as well accept that "Life's not fair" and move on!
I will not ride behind a diesel on the Loop. That is my choice and I will not debate it. If steam is indeed back then I will gladly ride the Loop again and again and again even if it costs more.
From all accounts, the new management is doing a wonderful job with what they have been given to work with (and who under!) I have every reason to expect that I will be both pleased and amazed by the quality of the experience and I look forward with anticipation for the 2010 season to commence! My only caveat would be that, for me, the season will not start
until there is an operable steam engine operating on a regular basis on the Loop (as was promised by the CHS when they first started this whole situation.)