re: Outsider's Perspective - Don't Tar RailStar(?)

All -
As an outsider, I haven't butted it for a long time - and did so then only when things "did not compute". I'm butting in again because, to my aging mind, some of it still "does not compute".
1) Above all, I would like to see the loop itself - rebuilt with a lot of blood, sweat and tears over a thirty-year period - survive. The 'new' Loop is now also a part of Colorado History, and - if nothing else - is a monument not only to the visionary railroaders of the late 1800's, but to the visionary railroaders of the late 1900's as well.
2) I would like to see credit given where credit is due. If the CHS has indeed ignored the contributions of those responsible for the restoration - including the SeaBees who performed a lot of the physical labor - then the CHS is in direct violation of it's primary excuse for existence: the ACCURATE Preservation of History.
3) Most of us are not privy to the negotiations - or lack thereof - between the CHS and the GTLRR, so let's not speculate as to which side thought itself "irreplacable", and stick to those aspects of the situation which have taken place more-or-less out in the open.
4) Railstar was hired by the CHS in an effort to salvage the 2005 season and keep the Loop alive. That's better than having the rails pulled up and the viaduct become an access road for condos. Railstar should NOT be tarred with the brush of "guilt by association" for doing the best they can to assemble equipment and staff on short notice to run trains this summer. They should be commended for doing acceptably well, under the circumstances, what a lot of people thought they wouldn't be able do at all.
5) If Railstar is to AVOID being tarred with the same brush, however, they had better NOT cover up for the CHS, NOT make promises they can't keep, and NOT exaggerate the number of riders to date.
6) Photos of #9 and #30/74 posted today tend to make me doubt that either of these engines will be ready later this summer in time to raise capacity to "85% to 90% of 2004". I'll be surprised if they're ready by the end of the 2006 season, from the looks of things. HHmmm.
7) It was apparently promised at one of the Loop Group meetings that legitimate questions posed at least 72 hours in advance of the next meeting would be addressed. To ask for an accurate count of passengers carried seems to this outsider to be a legitimate question - especially when some of those asking are merchants who need to order this summer's supply of indian beads from China and miner's pans from Bankok in numbers proportional to the number of souvenir-hunting suckers flatland touristers that can be expected to come into town after riding the trains.
8. The number of round-trip tickets sold is a basic statistic that the operators are surely tracking. Even taking the conductor's clickers and dividing the number of boarders by two at the end of each day would be easy to do. Yet Railstar's and CHS's representatives at the meeting claim these numbers are NOT available?? And that there will be a charge levied for producing a "special report" for the NEXT meeting???? HHHhhmmmm and double-HHHhhmmmmm ...
- Russo de los Locos
p.s. I'm beginning to think about moving to Georgetown and opening up a hardware store - something that wouldn't depend directly on the number of flatlanders coming to town this summer. On opening day I'll make a fortune by selling blocks of roofing tar and large brushes. Tar heaters will be rented at 20% off. . . " />