I got this off of the 1:20.3 yahoo group a garden rr group.
My apoligies to the author for taking this.
He seemed rather impartial and up-beat.
Jim
After driving through some darned thick fog to have the skies clear up on the other side of Floyd Hill, I spent about two hours at Silver Plume chatting with the key figures in the new Georgetown Loop Railroad.
First, the loco in question did come from Idaho. This photo of them prepping the loco at Silverwood, from the press kit they gave me:
[1stclass.mylargescale.com]
And safely in the engine house at Silver Plume: (stills from the video I was shooting for work...)
[1stclass.mylargescale.com]
It is ready to go, pending reassembly and routine safety inspection.
[1stclass.mylargescale.com]
They "test drove" the loco before purchasing it, so it does work well. It was reboilered in 1988, so that shouldn't be an issue. The fellow who built the boiler (seen above inspecitng the firebox) made the trip down to CO, and is working with them to get the loco prepped and ready to go. It looks to be in great shape, really.
[1stclass.mylargescale.com]
The loco will keep its current color scheme. According to Peter Gores, Georgetown Loop's new GM, the loco will remain that color. "I like the green, actually," he told me. The tender will be relettered for the GLRR. The cab and tender are black, only the boiler jacket, domes, and cylinders are green.
The backhead
[1stclass.mylargescale.com]
As for rolling stock, they had 4 open cars sitting up there ready to go. They list Colorado & Southern passenger car #76 on their roster of current equipment, though I didn't see it up there. They have a long list of "Pending" rolling stock as well, including two additional open cars and an excursion car.
[1stclass.mylargescale.com]
I'd imagine they're going to want more covered cars as time passes. Perhaps they will be converting some of the open cars. (I didn't ask.)
Now for the other exciting news...
Colorado & Southern #9 is expected to join #12 some time in June as the second locomotive. It's currently undergoing restoration, and they expect that to be completed shortly after opening day.
Also on the locomotive roster:
Colorado Fuel & Iron #21 - arriving late march (diesel)
Colorado Fuel & Iron #11 - arriving June 2006 (diesel)
Colorado & Southern #74/30 arriving June 2006
Everyone I talked to up there today sounded very upbeat and excited. They know full well the story and controversey with the previous operators. But as they told me (and their current roster demonstrates), they know that they need steam on the railroad, so they busted their butts and got steam on the railroad. They know there's going to be the odd bump and bruise, but they're no strangers to running tourist operations. They have every bit of confidence they'll be able to pick up where last season left off.
Trains start running May 28th.
Later,
K
