What if?

As someone who dosent look at this board very much; this may be a question that has been posted on this board before but I will put it out there for discussion again. My question is this. What would have happened on the Alamosa-Durango N.G. in the mid-late 60's if there had been a major upsurge of business. As a Rail I know that freight or passinger traffic patterens can change dramaticly in a short period of time. If in say 1966 or even 68 a mineing/drilling/manufactureing/construction boom had happend in the four corners area and the Rio Grande was called upon to haul some major freight, as happend in the 50's what would the possibilities have been? Would we have seen steam powered freights in 1979 or 80? And if the NG had survived untill 1980 or so would the states have let them rip up the lines that were left, or would they have been rail banked. I think if the NG could have lasted for 10 more years the presavation movement that got going with the 1976 bicentennial would have had a impact on what would have been saved in Colorado and New Mexico. I'm interested to hear your opinions from "those in the know". thanks in adavance. -SLS-