Ken, I object to your name calling and the twisting of my statements.
Ken, you said:
"Now to say that the CHS should not get ANY money because they are not doing what "I want" is foolish and absurd."
"NOW someone posts that the CHS should NOT get any money."
I did not say that. It would stand to reason that if the CHS had less money to blow on this situation, they would have perhaps behaved more wisely. For instance, if the CHS purchased cars at $30,000 a piece when they were worth more like $5-10,000.00 (as I understand they have), then that is clearly less money for you and other applicants to apply for. Further, having a state full of so much rich history is really great. Unfortunately, the state tourism board does not have the resources to adequately promote that history to potential visitors and is evident in our state's steadily declining tourism industry. Tourism has a way of helping historic projects sustain themselves.
You also said,
"Recommending that people object to the restoration of a steam locomotive is outrageous and shameful"
I did not recommend that. Breckenridge had every intention of restoring the #111 all by themselves and with their own money and run it on the track that they intend to build before the CHS came along. If you'll re-read the statement, you'll see that I also say that one can file a positive statement for having the designation. I honestly haven't made up my mind one way or the other on the designation and believe that several other locos in the country may benefit from this precedence of a designation. On the other hand, it is a bit of a stretch and could possibly diminish other National Register designations. But if someone feels strongly about it one way or the other, the process is there to act on and I only just provided that information.
It's also true that the #111 would be a good fit for the Loop, and that is good news for us in the county. Unfortunately, it will take some time before it can be restored and certainly not in time for the 2005 season (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).
On the other hand, the CHS helping Breckenridge to compete with our historic designation is not a popular idea here. Also, it appears as though Breckenridge is OK with CDOT paving over our county. Remember that CHS "lost" a bunch of reports and studies on our area that would have helped protect our little communities against CDOT's plan.
10 years. The span of the contract with Railstar. The span of the lease with Breckenridge for the #111. The amount of time CDOT says it will take before they begin to pave over our county. I can not help but to consider these coincidences in light of the wild circumstances.