Kevin,
You are looking at this as though it will be a normal charter. The problem is, a normal charter may have a potential market of 60 people with 35 or 40 actually signing up. This is an event that 300 or more people have expressed an interest in. If you run it out of Antonito, do you really think 300 people could be accommodated? 200? 100? Leading even 75 people through snow to get to the plowing area will be time consuming and challenging. Not to mention that even this year, with all the snow, there was very little snow on the east side.
I see this as possibly a missed opportunity to create a ton of good will by maximizing the number of people that will be able to thrill to the sight and sound of the rotary in action. This isn't like a regular charter where there is always next year. This may be the last time in a generation, so for a lot of us it could well be a once in a life time opportunity. You don't want to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the C&TS by leaving a lot of unhappy people behind as the train chugs off with 75 lucky people aboard.
The logistics of operating out of Chama are so much easier to manage. As others have pointed out, highway closures are not out of the question. If you have a flagman at either end of the closed highway section and send convoys through with a pickup at each end to eliminate the problem of stragglers, the highway isn't actually "closed." Buses can transport the paying passengers and since there will be people standing in the roadway, have a couple of squad cars to protect the photo area when the convoys go through.
This will not produce the same photo results that a high end charter would do, but it's a lot more democratic and will create a lot more good will for the railroad.
Michael Allen
