I think it's pretty clear we rail fans don't care about amenities when compared to seeing/touching/hearing trains, especially on the C&TS.
But for us to get the chance to do what we want to do, the C&TS needs to improve the amenities. If it means that the railroad operator helps Stephen Flowers to open a decent restaurant for the evening meal that looks good, tastes good, and meets the requirements of our more discriminating spouses and the average tourist, then that's what should happen. After all, more revenue is more revenue; two meals a day for riders would improve Stephen's bottom line, and if it's in partnership with the operator, it also improves the railroad's bottom line revenue.
We've happily stayed in campgrounds, cabins, Vista Del Rio, the Iron Horse, and a few other places in Chama. The average/median/almost-every tourist is looking for a name brand.
This is where Chama falls short, and I still think that only the operator can make it happen. Think bigger, better, smarter and it'll work. Anything else, and we rail fans will agonize every year about whether the railroad will be back in the spring.