There is more to a lot of this than meets the eye.
First, of course, the contract that the Ashby's ran on just ended after 30 years. That means that it was first signed in 1974, right. At that time, the railroad consisted of what, 1/2 mile of track built by the seabees, the rest of the roadbed needed dug out, one or two small bridges that hadn't been installed yet, and some equipment owned by the Ashby gang. They were probably able to write a fairly favorable contract, since they were essentially getting nothing, and they were the only ones who actually believed in the idea.
When the contract came up for renewal last year, it stands to reason that there would be a fight. Now, there is a railroad with an actual following. It is nationally known, and there is, no doubt money coming in. Local pliticos would love to get their hands on that money, or control of various grants that can be had because of the physical plant that now exists.
Over the years, on numerous occasions, the locals, Silver Plume especially (I understand), have continuously complained to State and Federal agencies like EPA about such things as Smoke, noise, and water usage by the railroad. Doesn't seem like it was a very favorable environment. No real surprise that the Ashby crew didn't fight harder to win the railroad.
Oh, why doesn't the CRRM run the railroad? Wasn't it nice of them to let GLR Inc. keep the rolling stock there? Didn't I read somewhere that Mr. Ashby is on the board of the CRRM? or it's foundation? That answer doesn't help the local politicos anyway.
My opinions. And they could be based on false information, just like the rest of this thread.