I do apologize for offending those who have worked on this locomotive and would love nothing more than to see it operate. My perspective came from a view that there is limited grant money and that there are better projects that the "Historic" team should focus on to keep the C&TSRR alive for 50 more years. Cosmetically restore this engine, yes, fully restore, not now.
My statement on the Pile driver came from a perspective that it is currently (during the summer months) under covered storage. Wouldn't that beautiful restoration work be better served so that the casual rider who is not in town for the special occasions could easily see and admire the work that the Friends did as well as have the opportunity to read about this historic piece of technology? Currently one snow plow in Chama is wedged over by the oil derricks and the other one is behind a string of box cars making it hardly accessible to the everyday rider on the C&TSRR.
I believe getting grant money to better display and provide education with what the C&TSRR has already achieved is a much better use of time and resources. #168 is a beautiful engine, but it is stored inside away from the general public. The historic car fleet are beautiful pieces of restoration, but are not going to be used on everyday service. That is great because they are beautiful examples of 19th century railroading and are also used for movie work and other special opportunities. But, is there really a need for another locomotive (key word being ANOTHER) that cannot pull the day to day trains when those locomotives that do the day-to-day work could use some TLC themselves? (The C&TSRR crew do a phenomenal job keeping the locomotives running in what is becoming a lost art. But, I think applying for grant money to fix cosmetic issues that are commonly ignored might help).
My statement on covered car storage came from strolling around the Chama yards and seeing the Pullman green restored baggage car with paint peeling. It was beautiful last time I saw it and now it looks a bit neglected. It was stored over by the oil derricks.
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On the most basic levels, my thoughts are this:
1. Create a well-run and maintained railroad that keeps the historic side going. This includes having well maintained operationally and cosmetic passenger cars and locomotives so that riders have a good experience and so that the photos they take in front of the steam locomotives or passenger cars are appealing and make other people want to ride.
2. Create interpretive exhibits that educate the public. I don't think it's enough having a pile driver, snow plow or tanker car restored and sitting in storage, but the C&TSRR need exhibits explaining how a boxcar was used and how a pile driver might have operated. Maybe the pile driver could be displayed standing up in a posed position of it driving a pile? Just things like that.
3. Have a restoration plan that is sustainable in the long term. I drove down to Sublette and it is rotting away. Why restore another locomotive when things that currently a big part of the C&TSRR foot print are rotting away?
4. The D&S roundhouse museum is excellent and gets a lot of visitors. I also love the shop tours. Overall, the C&TSRR is a better model for being a historically-accurate railroad, but I think the D&S does a better job of having historical artifacts and information accessible to the day-to-day rider via the museum. Something I think the C&TSRR could accomplish if they had a proper museum building which could probably be achieved via fundraising and grant money.
