Re: current GTL

No qestion that Railstar are the new boys in town. Unfortunately, they will beoperating under the cloud of hypocracy and suspicion that has been formed by the CHS.
My comment was that Peter Gores will be starting from scratch again. Yes, the CHS bought a Hawaiian 2-6-2, a wheel arrangement that the C&S never had in their dogged quest for "authenticity" (as opposed to the 2-8-0's that ran on the Loop for many years, and the Shays that were the mainstay power for the historic Argentine Central).
The 2-6-2 has an ASME boiler in opposition to an FRA one. The FRA (formerly ICC) regs. are much tougher as the boiler is not stationery as in a standard ASME application. So we'll see how the "final restoration" pans out.
Personally, I'll believe in the operation when they run steam on an daily basis like the Ashby's did for 30 years. Things aren't looking rosy, even with one locomotive.
You can counter that when the Ashby's started up there, they only had one locomotive and two cars, too. There is a big difference, however.... The GTL's Locomotive ran. This one doesn't. They had two cars while building the business and added equipment as it was needed. The business is now there but the equipment is not there to take care of it. It can only decline.
I would hate to be in Railstar's shoes, especially with Lee Beheren's comments as to getting rid of any concessionaire in 10 years. If I were Railstar, I'd keep my bags packed.
Rick