This is an old story! Sad, but true...

What did you guys expect? Most of what we consider valuable as "historical artifacts" are considered junk by the average person (and this includes nearly everybody!) All you have to do is re-read the history of the preservation attempts for the business cars at Durango (Nomad and Cinco de Animas) to see a parallel!
Somebody gets an "old" railroad car and a few decades later preservationists want it. More often than not the owner either wants WAY too much money or is a complete jackass about dealing with any preservation attempts!
Real estate agents are no different! What do they care about preserving history? I guarantee you a real estate agent would LOVE to get his (or her) hands on all of that lovely land that the Georgetown Loop is running on and it wouldn't be for railroad preservation!
It's a complete waste. It's sad. It was totally unnecessary and it is also going to happen again and again. This is what we as railroad preservationists, historians, and even railfans have to keep in mind! This is why we can NEVER be complacent! It's not anybody's fault that this opportunity was missed but it IS a lesson for the future that I hope we all take to heart!