Re: Goose 4 to Telluride 5-17

Several points:

Originally this was going to be a static display restoration, but it was turning out so well that the owners, the Telluride Volunteer Fire Department, gave the go-ahead to do a fully operational restoration. Number 4 has operated on the CRRM at Goosefest last June. As far as future operations are concerned, we would like to operate it occasionally, but as I pointed out, it will be very expensive for us. We are a small, privately funded museum - around 15 locally active workers, around 150 members worldwide. Right now, Number 4 is located an hour's drive from us. To operate it, we would have to contract with a trucking company that is 100 miles away to pick it up, then deliver it to either the D&S - around 140 miles the way the truck would have to go - or to the C&TS, which is around 250 miles one way. - and then do it again for the return. Pickup from Telluride is somewhat complicated in that it requires blocking off a block of their main street right in the middle of town for a couple of hours, and this would be difficult during tourist festival season. Then we'd have to schedule half a dozen people to go run and maintain it for the duration, probably 5 days or so. This is all in addition to making arrangements with the railroad, who will want to make some money off the situation by selling tickets, and we would get a percentage of the ticket income. Since the ticket sales would not cover costs, each time we run it would likely cost us at least $3000 or so out of our annual operating budget. And we absolutely do not want to get into the situation where we are competing with our friends in Dolores with Goose 5, if we did, we'd both make 1/2 the income that either would make separately and that would hurt us both. They have been very helpful to us, and we want to maintain that relationship.

so we absolutely hope to run it occasionally, but the planets will have to align properly, or it will have to be a special occasion. Keep your fingers crossed, hopefully you'll see number 4 on the rails sometime.

JP