In a post dated March 19 (9:17 p.m.), Mark Yeamans laid out a plan for bringing the
C&TS RR locomotive shop into a condition that would be capable of the long-time
maintenance of the locomotives, thereby keeping the railroad running indefinitely. This
reply is simply a businessman’s look at the proposal. It is NOT, in any way, intended to
be negative. It is just a view from “the other side”.
First, I want to introduce Mark to those of you who do not know him personally. This
will have to take the place of a “profile” that is used elsewhere, such as at The Goat.
Mark was raised in Los Alamos, where his father ran a machine shop. He worked in the
C&TS RR shop in the 1970’s, and frequently served as locomotive engineer. He is a fine
machinist, and a gentleman. Today, Mark is certified as Chief Engineering Officer on
ocean going ships, “any size, any ocean” if I have my nautical terms correct.
I am a mechanical engineer, the founder and former president of Scenic Railways, Inc.,
and was the General Manager of the C&TS RR through 1977. Mark and I worked
together on projects such as installing new brasses on the connecting and main rods of
locomotives, replacing badly worn valve gear pins, and even dealing with problems on the
Pineapple. (Basically, he did all the work, and I ordered parts and paid the bills.)
So, here is a look from a businessman’s perspective:
Let’s start with the revenue that might be generated by the railroad. I’m going with
80,000 passengers per year, at an average ticket price of $50, or four million in a season.
Although this does not approach the numbers achieved by the D&S or the WP&Y, it is
probably realistic for the C&TS - which is limited by the lack of tourist facilities, and the
lack of alternative attractions - such as Mesa Verde National Park, and the very pleasant
Durango downtown.
Mark’s proposal, for annual expense, if you run the numbers, includes $852 K in salaries
and benefits (estimated at 20%), interest of $400 K on the new shop building (comment
follows), and $1 M for supplies. So, it would cost over $2 M per year. ($2,252 K for you
nit pickers.) Thus, over half of the railroad’s revenue would have to go to keeping the
locomotives running. In my opinion, this cannot work, for either the states or a new
private owner. Other demands for financing, such as track maintenance, advertising,
office, and cleaning help must also be met if the railroad is to survive.
Why figure in an interest charge on the $4 M cost of the new shop? As I said at the
start, I’m looking at this from a businessman’s point-of-view. (I used to be one.) If you
are going to invest money in something, you always look at your alternatives. In this case,
you could probably buy some nice bonds that would pay you ten percent. So, if you build
that dream shop for the railroad, you are out $400 K per year. It is a very real cost of
doing business.
I have some suggestions in the way of alternatives to Mark’s proposals:
1. I think the railroad can be operated much more efficiently, as regards locomotive
usage, than has been done over the last several years. In my opinion, the lease
requirement that there be daily trains departing from Antonito has been an intolerable
burden on the operators. (I would never have signed a lease that included this
requirement.) The thing amounted to nothing more than a subsidy to the merchants of
Antonito, required of the railroad operator. Returning to the back-and-forth trips over
the whole railroad, as will apparently be done this year, is one alternative. Given my
druthers, I would run round-trip trains between Cumbres and Big Horn, with a portable
shop (compressor, generator, basic tools) at Cumbres. I would minimize the number of
locomotive trips up the 4% grade to Cumbres. (Once a week)
2. The locomotives are much more robust than might be thought. On the C&TS RR, a
locomotive might operate 100 days per year, perhaps 64 miles. This amount of use, 6400
miles in the year, is very small compared to what these machines accomplished in regular
D&RGW service. My guess is that these locomotives, given responsible normal
maintenance, can operate for several hundred thousand miles between major rebuildings.
3. And, to irritate all you steam fans immensely, I would certainly bring in a big, mean
diesel to provide helper service, cut in behind the steamer, from Chama to Cumbres. I
would paint it black, crank up the injectors so it made a lot of smoke, and give it a whistle
instead of a horn. Few of the passengers would notice the scam, and fewer would care.
My very strong feeling at this point in time, in view of the over thirty years of operation
of the C&TS RR, is that the railroad is in a very precarious condition. No particular
operating contract has worked out perfectly, or even well. In my opinion, the only thing
that can bring about the long-term preservation of railroad is to make it a sound, proper
business - independent of the need for state and federal subsidies. I do feel that this could
be done, but am certainly not sure of how it might be done.
Bob Keller
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