I'm not sure if anybody has written this as I see 20+ posts and have only read the first few.
Ron Trottier and Railstar own several narrow gauge pieces of equipment. However, the majority that I know of is 2' gauge. He runs a historical-themed amusement park in Rome, New York known as Erie Canal Village which was resurrected a few years back after being dormant for a long time. The place had a dormant 2' gauge railroad and he started buying up all of the 2' gauge equipment he could find. Originally, the Village had a homebuilt 2-6-2 steamer. Since then, he has purchased a Davenport 2-6-2 formerly of the Byron Railroad (Byron Hiatt) of Iowa, the 0-4-0T Davenport and 2-4-0 Porter from Frontier Town of North Hudson, New York (and formerly William Willock's Indian Valley Railroad here on Long Island, New York), a Crown Metal Products amusement park 4-4-0 from the North Pole-themed park in upstate New York, and various other things. I can't remember it all. Anyhow, at the moment, the only thing I believe he operates is one of those diseasel disaster Chance Rides hideousness amusement trains that you can find at the carny park down the road. The Davenport 0-4-0T was test-fired as seen in this picture. As mentioned they also run the Belfast & Moosehead Lake in Unity, Maine. It is my understanding he also owns a variety of amusement park-type miniature locomotives (Miniature Train & Railroad Company G-16s, Allan Herschell S-16s). I can also confirm that he owns a 16" gauge Hudson painted for the New York Central, built in the 1940s in Reseda, California. It's rather crude but can fit two people in its cab, under cover. I talked to Ron Trottier two or so years ago concerning his plans with all of the equipment. The equipment, all of it, is supposedly kept at a warehouse and shop in Watertown, New York.
It is obvious that none of these potential operators will be able to keep up with an operation such as the Georgetown Loop. Railstar is a rather recent group as well, and I'm sure Ron Trottier has the rescoures and capabilities, but the fact is any new operator will not even be able to try and compete with an operator such as the Ashbys/Greksas that have been running narrow gauge steam since the 1960s (correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Central City operation running pre-1970?). I've attatched a photo linked of the Willock 0-4-0T during a test firing. Looking over some things they do not own any 3' gauge engines, just 2' and standard gauge, but don't take my word for it. Ron Trottier is always buying new stuff and its hard to keep up with it.
The CHS made a big mistake here, and they're going to pay at the people's expense.
If anybody is curious by the way, I do have plenty of photos of the Byron #2968, Frontier Town/Willock 2-4-0, Erie Canal Village 2-6-2, and most of the other stuff I mentioned that Ron Trottier owns.
Keep Steaming,
Ed Kelley
