Thinking about expanded operations of the DV 5 motor car.
The motor car is under long term lease by Inyo County to the Bishop Museum & Historical Society and there are no provisions for subleases. This would preclude other entities from using that car. The economics of this will always be tight, but not impossible, regardless of the operator.
Operating off the Museum grounds will most probably require a new business model. To be fiscally sustainable, the train would initially need to predictably operate at least two days/week or more likely four days/week. The long term goal being to operate every day of the local tourist season, about 100 days/year. The crew requirements to meet this schedule would be far greater than the number of potential volunteers available. If you look at this years operating schedule you will see that it was for less days that previous years. This was due to the number of trained volunteers available. We have added volunteers, but that hasn't increased their availability.
I believe that the new business model would be structured along the lines of a 501(c)3 corporation and include a paid operating staff. Maintenance might be done with a mixture of contractors and volunteers.
About 2.6 miles of original ROW are potentially available for development. Full development of this route suggests a 1 hour/trip, including station time, schedule. We have found that it takes a 3 person crew to operate the motor car; Operator, Conductor in the car and Ticket Agent in the Depot. We have operated without the Ticket Agent and they miss that portion of the “train” experience. For safety reasons we can't operate without a Conductor.
Labor costs for the crew are probably $175/hr, fuel $15/hr., etc. Lets say operating costs are $200/hr.($5.88/seat.) Labor costs may seem high, but remember, these are not minimum wage jobs and employers also have to pay state and federal employment taxes, workers compensation taxes, etc. that about double the wages paid. What will the average, non-train buff, rider be willing to pay for a ride? I don't know but pick any ticket price you want and it becomes evident that it takes a pretty high
average daily ridership to break even at the end of the year.
By next year we would like to refurbish more of the main line and maybe add a switch and short stub on the museum grounds. We have some of the resources to do this. This would give a little more diversity to our current operations. And, who knows, this might be the beginning of a “Field of Dreams” situation.
Max Cox
Laws Railroad Museum
Bishop, CA
www.lawsmuesum.org
