Kerry Ann and everyone else,
Using you and your in my previous post (as in "All of the energy you put into insuring that Railstar does not succeed" and "What did they do to deserve your anger?") was not ment to apply to anyone person in particular but too all of the people as a whole who are doing so. I really don't know what each indivdual person is thinking or doing, just that there seems to be a general feeling by some that the CHS needs to be taken down and if that requires taking down the Georgetown Loop its self as well as the business owners of Georgetown and silver Plume, then so be it. I totaly disagree with that course of action and think that it is short sighted and in no one's best interest. I was not at any of the contract negotiation meetings, so I do not know enough to comment on the legality etc of teh CHS's behavior. If those who were and do feel that the CHS needs to be called to task, then so be it, just don't kill the Loop over it, two wrongs do not make a right. GLR Inc. is irreverseabley gone at this point (no I am not overjoyed about that but it is the reality we now face). If you care about the Loop itself and the towns of Georgetown and Silver PLume, but hate the CHS you must find a way to take action that satisfys both of those desires. It will be hard, but it can be done. Rise above the petty feelings of spite and anger and do what is right for the greater good.
As for "It is absolutely atrocious that you would say that I am trying to destroy the Loop -In what way?" Please see above. Again, I was not meaning to reference you specificaly.
On the subject of "You stated, "Both in my opinion acted poorly in this situation." How did the Loop act poorly?" In my opinion GLR acted poorly by instituting a campaign of "we are leaving, all of our equipment is leaving and the CHS will never find anyone else" from the very beginning. If you look back at EVERY press release and public statement made by GLR, that is the message that was conveyed. Never once was it publicly stated that "GLR would love to find a way through this impasse and stay", the message was always "CHS sucks, they are a bunch of fools, we are out of here, no trains will run next year, better ride will you can" Worked great to increse ridership this year, but what will it do for next year?(Even if GLR was to stay next year) Even the announcement that the train crew gave at the end of each run (GLR has been operating trains over this railroad for the past 30 years, this will be our last year)was designed to impart a message of finality. Why not add "we would like to continue to operate this lline in the future, if you enjoyed your ride today please contact teh CHS and let them know" or something to that effect. GLR succeeded amazingly well at getting thier "we are leaving, no trains will run next year" message deliverd to the public. GLR failed miserably in conveying any sense at all that they wanted to stay. To the average citizen, it looked like GLR had no desire to stay. Really, it begs the question of if GLR wanted to stay, why would they do this? This campaign would only have hurt them in the future had they stayed. To some it could look like a final F you to the CHS designed to cause as much damage and ill will as possible. (I'm not saying that it was just pointing out how it could be perceived) The tombstone on the website stunt, coupled with the press release, only serves to continue that perception. While the tombstone was well done and accuratley reflected many people's feelings it was absolutley childish and unprofessional to make it the centerpeice of an otherwise professional company's website. It only makes it look as though the GLR has sunk to the level that it is accusing the CHS of being at.
As for my "activley working against my employer (to paraphrse) when the whole thing with #30/74 came up, I and everyone else assumed that the CHS and GLR would reconcile their differences long before anything happend with the locomotive, wors case it would get running and be used on the Loop by GLR or maybe turn out not to be restorable. Fact remains that #30 did not leave Boulder and no agreement was signed until AFTER Railstar was announced as the new operator. To add to the confusion, a am an employee of the City of Boulder as well, telling the state to "stuff it" would have been activley working against that employeer's interests. What would you do? I chose to be up front and ask everyone I could for their opinion and input. General consensus among the GLR folks was "go for it, see what happens".
At this point the reality as I see it is this: GLR is gone and not coming back next year. I do not fault nor disrespect them or any of the people who work there for not wanting to help next year, that is their choice to be made for their own reasons.
As for me, I too think reality sucks, but thats what there is. I am doing my best to stay away from the conflict end of it, there are enough people working to figure out what did or did not go on and I am sure they will figure it out and expose any ill deeds that need exposing. My energy is not needed in this area. For my part, I will work to do what I can make next year a success for Railstar and the towns, that is what I can do to make the best of a bad situation and I think it is the right thing to do. I know others disagree, but I do not hold it against them nor think ill of them for their position, I can only hope that they are decent enough to do the same for me.
I believe this will be my last post on this subject, I look forward to returning to talk of what locomoitve or car is going where, what cars had their journal bosxes cleand in durango in March of 1951 and what color things were painted in 1956 etc.
Jason Midyette
