Re: Creede Branch

Gentlemen: Welcome aboard the Titanic. Does anyone have a pair of crutches, my toes are bleeding. You should all become honorary citizens of Creede. Although there are grounds for concurance in your thinking, let's not simply flush the railroad down the hopper so quickly.
First of all, the line will remain standard gage for now with the possibility of n.g. via adding the third rail at some point in the future. A dual gage line has some added appeal.
Second, this venture is made possible via our 501(c)(3) status. Grants and donations provide our capital. It is our intent to open the doors for business without having debt to service. An envious position for many railroads and one that reduces the necessity for immediate success.
Third, the Colo Dep't of Transportation will be spending $83MM on Hwy 160 very soon. 160 goes by our front door in South Fork. This will most definitely add traffic and tourists.
Fourth, the rail corridor has beautiful scenery, not the powerful scene as in the Animas Canyon on the D&S, nor the Toltec Gorge on C&TS, but we get away from the highway in several locations. It will be something different, and shorter. 1 1/2 hours each way. We believe that will be a positive.
An 18 hole championship golf course is currently under construction in So Fork plus 1,100 lots/units are approved/under construction in a variety of locations surrounding the town and selling like hotcakes. Real Estate prices are going through the roof and tourists are filling the many resorts and campgrounds within the SF/Creede corridor. Several resorts now have a two year wait for reservations. These tourists need something else to do.
We currently have a deal in the works for a s.g. 2-8-0 loco including pass cars, and another deal working for a second loco. I recently purchased an historic private car, 1920's vintage Pullman heavyweight, arriving in S.F. early June accompanied by another 1920's PV whose owner has chosen our line for permanent storage and use. We've negotiated for 23,000 ties, 8,000 will be arriving soon, as well as rail and turnouts.
The railroad will operate as the Denver & Rio Grande Railway, as I own the original name. But seriously guys, don't consider us "still born". We may be starting nearly from scratch, but we're far from dead. Yes, I'm very tired of the negativity in Creede. But how about you fellow railroaders being supportive. We're not a bunch of "foamers" trying to play train.
Tear up our track for C&TS? Not right now thanks. I love the Cumbres line and want to see it succeed, better than ever, just as all of you do. But let's not assume failure for the D&RG. Maybe we are starting a few years early in South Fork, ahead of the major development. But with the way things are going, in a few years from now, we just may be able to look back and laugh, and hopefully to the bank. But if we were to quit now and tear it up, a few years from now we may really be kicking ourselves.
Believe me, I could have quit a zillion times within the past 18 months. If I had, I can assure you the line would already be scrapped, history lost, and the pieces scattered. So maybe the D&RG Historical Foundation will fail in this. At this point no one knows for sure if we'll make it. I firmly believe, " better to have tried and failed than never to have tried". We have a few hundred members that agree with that philosophy. Care to become one? Please guys, be supportive and positive. if you can't be, then at least give us credit for trying. I've had enough nay-sayers to last a lifetime.