Once again the folks on the Gote are attempting to re-write the history of the C&TS, which is getting pretty tiresome; this time accusing the Friends, and particularly Terri Shaw its president at the time, of failing to deal with the new FRA boiler requirements back in 2000 to 2002.
For the record, the responsibility lay with the Commission, which under the agreements with an operator, then and now, has always been responsible for paying for expenditures (usually capital) necessitated by new FRA requirements. Furthermore the Friends only role was to raise money from private sources to help fund the work.
For those of you interested in the history who prefer fact over fiction, below is the Fact Sheet that was used by the NM Legislative Finance Committee in its deliberations in November 2002. It is not a pretty history, but those are the facts, and they are stubborn things.
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Fact Sheet – Locomotives
Status As of November 2002
1. In August, 1999, the Commission engaged Dan Ranger and Steven Butler, experienced steam locomotive experts, to perform external inspections of the railroad’s locomotive fleet. They found that the locos were either seriously deteriorated or inoperable. During the 1999-2000 RFP process, the Commission disclosed the Ranger/Butler study to bidders, but did not disclose the new FRA rules (Part 230 Form 4) for boilers which would further increase costs.
2. Also in late 1999 the Commission was only requesting $80K from the states for loco restoration. However, in early 2000 the Friends led a successful campaign to up the fiscal 2000-01 appropriations to $400K for the locos as well as contributing $90K of its own funds.
3. In July, 2000, RGRPC issued a study to the Commission regarding the new FRA rules. This formed the basis for the Commission’s fiscal 2001-02 appropriation request of $560K to the states (action on this was delayed until the September, 2001, NM special session).
4. Late in 2000 RGRPC hired Dan Ranger as General Manager, and in January, 2001, Steven Butler joined as Chief Mechanical Officer. Both additions greatly strengthened the railroad’s technical capabilities.
5. Meanwhile, over the 21 months from April, 2000, to December, 2001, RGRPC spent $474K of state appropriations and $1.3 million of its own working capital on restoring and maintaining the loco fleet. While this severely drained RGRPC’s financial resources, the sums were necessary in order to have a minimal number of locos available to pull trains.
6. On November 26, 2001, in order to perform the new FRA boiler inspections, RGRPC entered into a contract which the Commission modified in ways that radically changed the scope of the work from the original appropriation request, but without advising RGRPC of the changes. Interpretation of this contract remains in dispute, and RGRPC remains in favor of mediating the differences.
7. By the Spring of this year Ranger and Butler had progressed sufficiently in their internal inspections to conclude that all six locos required rebuilding at an average cost of $600K each. The problems are a combination of age (the boilers are 75 to 100 years old) and inadequate maintenance, especially under the previous operator. Furthermore, only one loco would be able to get a one-year extention under the FRA regs. This meant no 2003 season.
8. As a consequence the Friends prepared proposals to the federal EDA for funding to rebuild all six at a total cost of $3.3 million over 3.5 years. The Commission agreed to be the lead applicant. Fortunately, last week EDA agreed to invite the Commission and the Friends to complete an application for the first phase of $1.3 million (10% from the Commission, 10% from the Friends, and 80% from EDA) which would enable the railroad to start next season with three locos, but only if shop work began immediately.
9. However, since the Commission chose not to negotiate with RGRPC after the summer closures by the FRA and NFS, RGRPC had no choice but to vacate the premises at the end of October. Notwithstanding this, on November 18 RGRPC submitted a proposal to do the loco work this winter. Instead, a week later the Commission determined to do the work on its own, hiring many of RGRPC’s former employees."
