EBT opening weekend, and musings

(Reposted from Frads) We stopped in (on Saturday), Beth and the girls rode the last train of the day while I wandered about and took the shop tour (Yes, I hadda ticket, unfortunately I didn't have enough money for both a FEBT membership and the new T-shirts....Im selfish, so the t-shirts won).
Bright spots-- Trains are still running, and still pulled by steam (despite whatever rumors y'all may have heard to the contrary)... #14 did the honors today. The FEBT are reportedly going to be soon working with the EBT crew to do some preservation/stabilization to one of the shop buildings (including shoring up the structure, leveling the floors, reglazing, and repair/repainting work to the exterior)...IMO this could be a great step forward co-operation wise. Also, as I alluded to above, the new T-shirts in the gift shop (featuring your choice of #s 12, 14 or 15) are GREAT! The general tourist might have a bit of difficulty deciding which one they like best, and the avid followers will probably want one of each!
Not so bright spots-- Beth reports that by HER "seat of the pants" eval, the track is "still the same or maybe even a little bit rougher". (She's comparing it to my grandad's 15" gauge- He worked for the B&O and then played with the park gauge trains after he retired, he was rather fussy about the RIGHT way to do MoW) She says that the car she was in had a slight mishap when one of the open windows came down with a bang and jarred the glass loose. No one was hurt, but (she said) the little kid who was sitting there had rather a bit of a scare. (note to parents- ALWAYS check the window latches!)
Summary-- As usual, I came away a bit melancholy, I'm sure that I'm not the first or only fellow who has wished that the shops and roundhouse could be open for viewing more often (perhaps walkways with railings?), or that the operated line was a bit longer and a bit smoother. There is so much history there (much of the really great stuff the public rarely gets to see), so much potential to be a GREAT educational and fun tourist destination, and its...stuck... partly due to long years of deferrered maintenance/improvements. Its pretty obvious that the Kovalchicks simply cannot bring about all the needed improvements with the current level of ridership/public support, but finding the needed moneys, without a lot of strings attached will be a very tough nut.
My final 2c? Ride it! Support it! Buy a ticket!