Re: Killing the 483 deal

Popeye8762 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > The pleaders involved all kinds of tears of
> sorts
> > and the commission voted no at the last minute.
> A
> > number of Chama insiders were supposedly
> involved
> > including a Chama webmaster. I still wonder
> how
> > bad some the C&TS fans and friends really hate
> Al
> > Harper? One would think he could be a better
> ally
> > than enemy.
>
> I'm not aware of -any- ill will between the C&T
> and the D&S/Harper. I have breakfast with the
> webmaster several times a week, and he's not shy
> about heralding who he does and doesn't like.
> Their case was that there is, and should be, a
> sentimental attachment to the 483, being the first
> locomotive in service for the C&T. Our last swap
> wound up with a locomotive stuck semi-permanently
> in the roundhouse, and there was varied opinions
> whether a 470 could make the hill with a heavy
> train, requiring expensive double-heading.


Not everyone in Chama wanted to nix the trade. I was very much in favor of the trade. The trade would have been beneficial for both railroads. Very simply it was good business. 478 is in operation and 483 will likely never run again on the C&T. Secondly it would have added a level of missing history to the C&T. 470 series is a passenger locomotive. With the adding a level of missing history, that's the biggie imho. I commend the work by John Bush to get 168 and 478. It makes the C&T a true slice of narrow gauge history on various levels. Also, the Commission is asking the states for funding every year. They could have traded something in bad shape for something just needing a rebuild. There are others who will likely agree with this comment: If the swap had taken place, we could have easily had a 5 day flanger charter this past March with 478 on the C&T raising a good chunk of the money for it's rebuild prior to it's time out. And as well, sold a potential 478 flanger charter out quickly. The Commission imho was hookwinked by these individuals. A bunch of phoney excuses and sentiments similar to a 50 year old guy lamenting about his first car that's a pile of junk sitting in his backyard. Funny thing is I actually ran a needle scaler on 483 a few years ago. I did not see any of the individuals who screwed up the trade working on that locomotive during any of the recent Friend's work sessions. I expect to see all of these individuals in the Chama yard this summer working on 483. Reality is none of these folks will be in the Chama yard working on 483 and none have actually set a hand on 483 to help. If as much of their negativity was channeled into positive vibes, they'd have 483 in operation this summer One person I respect has one word to describe what happened: unfortunate.

If things move around from the D&S, Loop, CRM and C&T to become operational and it helps all parties, it's good. It's highly counter productive for folks to sit behind the scenes and try and screw up hard work that's for the better benefit.

I have no doubt we could have done fund raising charters with 478 before it's timeout to raise money for it's rebuild.