The problem with the 483 as I see it is that there are so many pieces that have been 'borrowed' from it to keep the other engines running that rebuilding it to operational condition is going to cost double the money it costs to rebuild an operational K36 for a 1472 and running gear rebuild. What parts on that engine are probably worn out parts to make the engine look more complete, other missing parts have been lost. Until ridership improves the fleet of 5 engines are more than enough to do the job.
Having said that, I understand the affection toward the 483 as I feel it too. It is the engine that hauled every single piece of rolling stock back to the CATS when the states bought the railroad, and it was the lone engine that was running to pull the very first passenger trains when the new tourist line first got started. We can argue till the cows come home about the merits of restoring the 168 to be used only for charters and movie work as it is doubtful it could pull any size of passenger train, but charters and movie work bring exposure of the railroad to the masses which translates into butts in the seats in the regular passenger trains.
A good example of this is the rotary snowplow piece which lasted something like 2 minutes on the CBS nightly news in 91. John Bush said that ridership on the CATS went up 20% the next summer because of that short video. You can't even begin to afford that kind of free advertising if you had to buy it for that many markets.
A younger John Bush and his rotary