Re: False Advertising ?

I don't think anyone ever said that #9 couldn't pull a 5 car train down the grade. It's getting back up that presents the problem.
But no matter, the GTLRR Inc. was routinely running 9 car trains without helpers. Even if #9 can handle a five car train, that still represents a 44% reduction in the number of cars pulled, the number of passengers that can be accommodated and in revenue earned. Add a helper and you may recover the difference but you also double your overhead in terms of the number of engine crews needed, fuel burned and general maintenance of the engine(s).
You could adopt a strategy where you adjust train length to match demand, but you then run into time constraints given the amount of switching you need to do, to make these adjustments. And you are already facing an increased time issue since your engine(s) are soaks and therefore need to be watered more often. All of which puts pressure on your timetable.
Supplementing your steam with diseasel power doesn't help much since you still require a second crew for the diseasel - unless you work out a way to MU it with the steamers, but that takes money and time.
And, of course, all of this assumes you have the equipment to even consider these options.
Regardless (or irregardless or disirregardless or whatever) you're either accommodating fewer passengers or your overhead is higher - or both.
I think the smart thing is for Railstar to take a good hard look at what equipment they can reasonably expect to have available on opening day and when additional equipment may become available. They should then adjust their timetable and advertising to match those expectations. In the long run it's better for them to be realistic with their expectations than to be in the position of having to turn away passengers.
I also think it is very much to Railstar's advantage to go to the people of Georgetown, Silver Plume and Clear Creek County with those estimates so the local economies won't experience too much a shock, when they find out what Railstar is actually capable of. The CHS won't like it, but to heck with them. They've made a mess of the situation and are counting on Railstar to bail them out. If Railstar is to do it, the CHS will have to cut them some slack.
Don