Fritz,
Facts have been presented to CHS.
Many of these facts provide solid objective evidence that CHS is not being reasonable or wise with the Loop situation. CHS is in the process of wasting well beyond a million dollars for the sake of not having to make the effort to work out mutually beneficial terms with GLR, Inc. CHS may cry "mudslinging", but there are too many instances of CHS making bad decisions. CHS deserves more than mudpie for their approach to this. CHS is giving themselves a world-famous bad image for their current decisions and actions. GLR, Inc. has established themselves as a world-famous historic steam mountain railroad and CHS refuses to acknowledge this and remain a loyal partner.
This is personal for the people that you reference as mudslingers. We've put our backs, brains, hands, and hearts into this railroad, while CHS has quietly watched in the shadows. Most of us have some considerable scars to prove it. This situation is disgusting for us to see it come to this, but we remain dignified. We are proud of what we have accomplished between Silver Plume and Georgetown. For some of the current GLR staff, the Loop is the primary source of income. So, yes, we're passionate about this little stretch of track that CHS is now commandeering.
CHS refuses to retract and renegotiate with GLR, but CHS will make several compromises / concessions for Railstar? Rules and laws apply only when CHS says they do?
GLR, Inc. wants to stay and wants to continue to operate the Georgetown Loop. GLR, Inc. would like reasonable terms to do so. CHS knew that the terms presented last spring were less than favorable. Yet knowing this, CHS had no contingency plan. No contingency plan is the cliche of "egg on one's own face", not mudslinging. After presenting this dead woodchuck of a proposal to GLR Inc., CHS scrambles with wreckless abandon to mop up this mess, get another operator, acquire eqipment, restore equipment, and try to keep the public as blind as CHS to this entire mess. Why now can reasonable terms be worked out with Railstar and not GLR, Inc.?! How can Railstar state that the insurance requested is unreasonable, yet GLR, Inc. can not make the same statement?
A few facts:
1. CHS does benefit financially from gambling. CHS may not be the reason for Central City and Black Hawk transforming, but how can CHS complain when CHS receives megabucks from that modernized historic district (oxymoron)?
2. The only operation that generates a profit for CHS is the Georgetown Loop Railroad and Lebanon Mine. CHS is in the process of spending more money then CHS will earn in our lifetimes from the Loop operation to oust the current operator.
3. The railroad is in place due to the efforts of GLR, Inc. CHS efforts for this operation are either none, or something that CHS contracted out. If I am wrong, please let me know exactly what CHS has done to actually get railroad dirt on their hands to contribute to the Loop operation.
a. The US Navy Seabees initiated the rebuild of the Georgetown Loop by clearing right of way and laying track from Silver Plume to the Lebanon Mine. The US Navy Seabees were acquired through the efforts and connections of GLR, Inc.
b. GLR, Inc. installed the remaining track to complete the Loop and has maintained that track in near-perfect condition for 30 years.
c. GLR, Inc. provided and maintained equipment at no cost to CHS for the past 30 years. This in itself should have CHS grateful and anxious to renew terms with GLR, Inc.
d. GLR, Inc. has maintained the Silver Plume depot and built the deck around it. It is GLR, Inc. that crawls and digs under the Plume depot when there's a plumbing problem below. CHS has allowed the alarm systems in the car barn and depot to run months at a time during the past several winters. CHS has not made the effort to even bother to drive by their property because they depend so much on GLR, Inc. Yet, CHS won't trust GLR, Inc. enough to explain how to check and turn off the security system that bleeps noises into the mountain air for months at a time.
4. CHS projects typically don't work and are rarely finished.
a. Stone abutments on bridge. CHS promised to have granite faces made for the concrete, but never did.
b. The glass car barn in Silver Plume. All that money for this building, and CHS has never allowed the public inside. All that money to restore equipment, and CHS will not allow people to see the restored coach and restored baggage car.
c. The glass car barn in Silver Plume design was not shared with GLR, Inc. So, the tracks can't connect and the door height is too low to fit the caboose inside as CHS had wished to.
d. The passenger cars in the car barn were sent to Ordway Federal Correctional Institute and had some nice restoration work done, but these railcars won't even roll. These cars had to be drug inside because the running gear/trucks were not completed properly. These cars had hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on volunteer prison labor (go figure), but they are not roadworthy.
5. GLR folks are not a bunch of negative olgars that look for trouble. We are a tight knit bunch, a family, that run a tight operation. We get along great with each other and even better with the people that ride on the railroad.
WE LOVE THE GEORGETOWN LOOP! Ron Trottier is not the only person that loves historic railroad operations. This one is ours. We built it. We maintain it. We operate it quite well. The landlord is kicking us out of the place we consider home.
6. The GLR staff is diverse, professional, and experienced at running a steam mountain railroad. The GLR staff is better qualified than anything listed on the railstar proposal. We don't want to work for a new operator.
7. The owner of GLR, Inc. lives in Georgetown. He is available almost right on site. New York is a considerable distance further. Current money generated on the Loop stays in Colorado more than it would with Railstar.
8. GLR, Inc. operation and equipment is rich in history, yet CHS has never promoted what has happened in the past 30 years. Locomotive #40 has as much, if not more, of a colorful history as C&S # 9. This locomotive has operated in Guatemala / El Salvador, Central City, the Loop, White Pass & Yukon, Durango & Silverton (one run after a D&S overhaul), and the Colorado Railroad Museum.
9. The way in which CHS treating the people that built this railroad for them is truly biting the hand that has fed into CHS. CHS negating 30 years of huge efforts is in itself mudslinging. At the very least, CHS should do something to officially acknowledge and thank GLR, Inc. for rebuilding the Loop. But, CHS will likely once again show true colors and no class. How can CHS show appreciation to the group they worked so hard to oust?
10. It is logistically impossible to restore any of the locomotive candidates to operation before Memorial Day of next year. If by some miracle a steam locomotive does appear, that locomotive will take time to get dialed in to being reliable. There are lives that depend on that locomotive being dialed in properly. If by rare chance there is a locomotive dialed in, one locomotive is not enough.
11. Clear Creek communities have grown to depend on business generated from visitors to the Loop. CHS telling these communities that all is well and there IS a train is outrageously disingenuous and negligent. CHS is mucking with the livelihoods of local business owners by promising a train that exists only in imagination. At the very least, CHS could state that they have equipment, but it might take a year or two to have it ready. Next memorial day will be the legitimate proof. It will take an army and a lot of cash to materialize that train (a lot of wasted effort and money just to not get along well with others).
12. CHS has learned from NGDF and the so-called crybaby boo-hooing of railfans. Reportedly, CHS has backed off of the idea of using C&S # 9 (after the railfan community pointed out dozens of reasons against running # 9 for daily revenue service) and CHS is allegedly planning on trading # 9 for # 111 in Breckenridge. Perhaps if CHS keeps reading and actually listening, their knee-jerk decision making may turn into some good.
13. Railstar's estimates on their proposal make no sense. They base their creative numbers off of numbers that GLR, Inc. establishes and maintains. Having no equipment ready and planning to run diesels will not generate current GLR numbers. The margin listed is craftily small enough so that Railstar can tell the communities that money will be served to them as promised, but really won't if any one little thing happens. So, tell the communities what they want to hear and never have any intention of following through? Why not be straight upfront and say that the local gas station is not required to split profits (beyond taxes) so why is the railroad now required to do so? This idea of free money for the sake of sleeping near the train needs to be nipped, or more bad relations are imminent in the future.
14. If CHS were to maintain relations with GLR, Inc., they wouldn't be bleeding megabucks for buying equipment. If CHS were to maintain a working relationship with GLR, Inc., this current waste CHS is now spending could be applied towards
a. Finishing their car barn and having it as a first class museum exhibit.
b. Perhaps finishing the C&S railcars in the barn so they can make special runs.
c. Perhaps restoring C&S # 9 for special operations and placing it in the car barn with the cars that are a matched set for # 9. This idea sure beats putting it outside at Breckenridge, behind a rotary that # 9 could fit inside of.
d. Perhaps finishing the Lebanon mine and opening up the mill building for tours.
e. Developing better parking arrangements.
f. Perhaps restoring #60 for special runs.
15. The Georgetown Loop Railroad, as it is now, is recognized internationally as a first rate operation. WHY RUIN A GOOD THING?!
There's a lot more for CHS to ponder, Fritz. This situation boils down to a handful of individuals that lack the ability to get along with each other. These people are impacting the lives of hundreds of other people unjustifiably. These individuals need to lighten up or go away. I would bet that if a few individuals were to be replaced, this situation could become very simple and very profitable for CHS and GLR, Inc. As it stands, everybody must dump huge money to destroy what has taken 30 years to create. It will cost even more for each group to rebuild, and it is doubtful that the Loop will ever be as good as it is now.
If CHS can make this work for Railstar, CHS could make this work twice as well with GLR, Inc.
What happens if Railstar wakes up and realizes they are heading for a hornets' nest and Railstar backs out? What happens if Railstar figures out that the communities Railstar would like to diversify and develop fiercely do not want added attractions? Would CHS bother to go back to the group that rebuilt the Georgetown Loop and ask to talk again?
GLR, Inc. wants to stay.
28 days left.
