Re: CHS - dead - Horse trading

Sorry to spoil your evening Don. The fact is none of us know what has been negotiated in the final contract that goes to the Breckenridge council on Tuesday. We are both speculating based on what was intially offered by Bell & co. I am aware that Breckenridge may have amended the terms.
I am not so sure that the CHS giving up a piece of C&S history in the form of # 9 is a good thing. As far as I know there isn’t even a plan as to who, what, when or where Breckenridge is doing. Maybe #9 will get better care under new owners, she can’t do much worse than the neglect CHS relegated her to all these years.
The point I am trying to make is the Georgetown Loop Park and RR needs a vision/plan for what they are doing. To me, recreating part of the C&S RR in the historical context of the park would be a goal worth pursuing. Wasn’t this the original vision for having the RR and Mine tour etc. to show people the history of the area? The C&S #9 and its associated passenger cars coach #76 and mail car #13 in the Silver Plume Crystal Palace display barn are a priceless set. I am not advocating operating any of this equipment in daily service, but to me the historical society needs to stay true to its mission of preserving historic equipment in its care first and foremost. Trading away part of this C&S legacy for admittedly a more powerful and “expendable” non Colorado historic steam engine in the #111 while expedient for the CHS, eliminates a historical connection that in my opinion should take precedence. In less than 72 hours the CHS will potentially have traded away an irreplaceable locomotive they were entrusted with preserving. Maybe it is just me but I think lack of a long range plan and the pressure to get something going on the Loop has clouded their ability to rationally think this through. I would be curious to know in fact if the State Preservation officer or perhaps Georgiana Contigluglia “acting” in this capacity has approved this deal.