Right On, John -
Two major and worthwhile, but VERY long-term projects for The Friends that would keep Johnny Coal and company out of mischief for several years - reconstructing the entire snowshed at Cumbres and reconstructing / rehabilitating water service at Lava Tank. The latter would also provide a way to replenish the tenders of the smaller locomotives such as #315 (and #168 once she's operational) that simply can't make it all the way from Antonito to Sublette without a drink. Filling a tender from the water tower at Lava would be a lot more historical than pumping water from the m.o.w. water car, and provide an opportunity for Phraud-O-Graphs and videos not available for many years
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This is one of those extremely rare cases where I actually agree with Willie. Even if a modern high-powered pump on a trailer were used occasionally rather than a permanent replacement pump being installed in the old pump house, a tremendous effort would still be needed to restore the long pipeline up the side of a very steep hill. OTOH, a couple of tank cars could be spotted at Sublette with a hose trickling water into them for a week or so, and then as part of the prep for a high-end charter these could be hauled down-hill to Lava and used to fill the water tower a day or two in advance. Even just one carload of water should be sufficient to allow an extra run-by or two between Lava and Sublette, but #19 probably has enough power to haul two empty tank cars to Sublette and then ease them back down to Lava when full. Worth a try??
- El Abuelo Histœrico, Greengo y Curmudgeoño de los Locomoturas Viejos y Verdes,
aka Der Grossväterlich DünkelOlivGrünDampfKesselMantelLiebHabender