When a freeloader is not a freeloader

We need to be careful when we think of someone as a freeloader, especially on the C&TS. The guy who didn't "pay" may be the guy who put many days of hard labor into restoring one the cars behind the engine, without which there would be no charter, and he just wanted to get a picture of his handywork doing its thing. There are a lot of folks involved in the C&TS who do not want to pay the high cost of some charters but enjoy seeing their preservations efforts at work occasionally. The Friends have tried to respond to this by running some charters at a lower price, but it is hard because the costs of running a train are not cheap. In the end it is mostly a courtesy and good judgement kind of thing, for both the paying riders and those who are looking from trackside. And of course the problem is courtesy and good judgement are often in short supply. Some people genuinely are freeloaders and choose not to pay simply because they can get away with it. I think the off-road issue over on the Antonito side also has an environmental dimension, which perhaps the railroad should ask the BLM and Forest Service give more weight to. I believe in the past I have seen some off road restrictions in that area, perhaps they need more of them and more enforcement. But of course enforcement costs money. No simple answers.

JBWX



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/06/2018 12:58PM by John West.