1) Re: anonymous sources - please read/re-read the “Sources” paragraph elsewhere in this thread.
2) Where was it stated that “the man who built #12's boiler...can be found IN SILVER PLUME working on #12”? On the CHS/Railstar website? On this Forum? On the website of the Boulder County Railway Historical Society? Nope, nope and nada. ‘Twas an e-mail from Karell and Phil Reader that gave me the name of John Braun of Colorado’s own Mammoth Locomotive Works.
3) That the boiler was BUILT in Colorado has no bearing on the fact that its ASME configuration will require proper documentation for it to be USED in Colorado.
4) Neither CHRRPA in general, nor I, specifically, want a failure of the Georgetown Loop. A letter from us to the Clear Creek County merchants showing our concern of potential economic impact was printed in the Clear Creek Courant last September. If it turns out that we were crying ‘Wolf”, we’ll ’fess up - but we doubt that will be necessary.
5) "This course of action is hardly fitting for an organization that has "Historic Railroad Preservation" in its name."
There is nothing ‘Colorado-ically’ historic about RLR #12, although that would change should the locomotive and the Loop Park survive the next thirty years. However, if you want to argue ‘Historic/Historical’ as part of an organization’s name, why not take the Colorado HISTORICAL Society to task for failure to follow through on various Loop projects, the (mis)-use of the State Historic Fund to pay for supposed restorations in Georgetown, and its failure to save some very historic Colorado landmarks (see
[www.coloradohistory.org]).
6) Re: the 44-ton diesel - there should not be as much emphasis on an operable diesel as on an operable steam engine. It is interesting, however, that the delivery of the 44-/22-/whatever-ton locomotive to Silver Plume earned a twenty-six entry Forum thread.
7) In the interest of fairness and a truly open discussion, you, Mr. Midyette, should mention that *you* have a dog in this fight in that the Colorado Historical Society has paid you to convert rolling stock for operation on the Loop.
Jim Poston, President
Colorado Historic Railroad Preservation Association
