"Our mission is to preserve and interpret the railroad and to support the operation of the C&TS for the people of Colorado and New Mexico who own it, and the tens of thousands of visitors who come to be transported back in time through the beauty of the San Juan Mountains....If economics are your only concern then you should buy diesels as soon as possible. It hasn't hurt the White Pass one bit."
There seems to be a "Diesel VS Steam" attitude in much of this discussion. A successful railroad uses both efectively. The WP&Y is a good example where the large number of revenue passangers are transported daily by diesels with a once-a-week premium cost steam excursion for the hard core railfans. The diesel operation makes the steam operation possible, by providing the revenue base.
Most toorists don't know what's pulling the train, and could care less if it's a diesel, a steamer or a Kenworth dresed up like Thomas. As long as there are steam engines available for photos and walk-arounds they're happy. A well run interpretative program helps too, since most folks need to be told what they see.
Concentrate on getting as many revenue passangers as possible when the opportunity is there, instead of trying to get all the steamers operating.
With good management of resources you can have historic steam AND a revenue generating passenger service. However if the goal is just to have a historic steam operation it probably won't make enough to keep itself afloat economically, and it will continue to be just another tax supported train ride.