Randall Hess Wrote:
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> To me, the ultimate issue is time. Yes, I know
> DSNG day is roughly the same length, but that is
> beside the point. Osier is not Silverton; you
> cannot compare the two experiences. The point of a
> shorter run would be to reduce cost somewhat and
> reduce the total time commitment immensely. To me,
> the goal is to get the time commitment down to 4
> hours. Right now, riding CATS requires committing
> at least part of three days - the day you travel
> to Chama/Antonito, the day you ride the train, and
> the day you travel away from Chama/Antonito. With
> a reduced ride, the commitment would be reduced to
> parts of 2 days. Yes, I know that would reduce
> hotel business in the area, but building railroad
> business needs to be a higher goal.
Not True. We rode the D&S in September 2014, 2 days before doing the C&TS. We left at 8 am(or were supposed to), and thats 2 hours before the C&TS departs. We also got back later than the 4 pm the C&TS gets back. D&S is 90 miles roundtrip, cause you go up there and back on the same railroad line. On the C&TS if you go one way over the whole line its 64 miles, and its definately a quicker ride than the D&S. On the D&S I shot video almost the whole way to Silverton, and only shot a few things coming back that I missed, except I shot the highline again. Thus I spent more time in my seat on the return trip.
So the time factor is more in favor of the C&TS. There is a shorter option for the D&S which is to ride the bus one way, train one way. This is not any cost savings, but time savings basically.
In the old days of the Rio Grande excursion trains ran for either 2 or 3 days, not a few hours. The idea was to cover most of the system. We don't have the portion from Chama-Durango anymore so we need to ride the portions that are left, not bits of those existing lines!!!
My feeling is that the guys in charge probably know way more about all this than we do. Some of this comes under the heading of "beyond our control" with the ever changing mindset of today's tourists, travel costs, and the economy.
Greg