It might be useful to note that both Durango and Heber City have a year-around existence, and both have skiing in the area. Year-around activity justifies the investment by the private sector in hotels, restaurants, rental car agencies, etc.
Beyond that, I would note that Durango has a college. Durango is one of the gateways to Mesa Verde, the Grand Canyon, and the Canyonlands. And the Silverton line has had the benefit of over a century's worth of word-of-mouth and paid advertising.
Both Durango and Heber, to the best of my knowledge, run winter trains; the C&TS does not. Don't know about Heber City, but Durango had (the last I heard) air service from Denver (and Albuquerque?).
The problem is that there has never been an integrated plan to create all the elements necessary for a successful tourism enterprise built around the C&TS. So the C&TS has always suffered from a lack of decent lodging, chain restaurants and drive-ins, secondary activities (what do you do with the kids in the evening), and accessibility (it is eight hours by car from anywhere of consequence).
Tourism will really work for the C&TS only when it becomes a destination attraction, and not a place to pass through on the way to somewhere else. After all, the real money in tourism is in
overnight stays!
And let us not forget, please, poor Antonito, which is in even worse shape.
Until these sorts of support services and activities become available, the C&TS will continue to struggle.
Mike