Re: Leadville, Colorado,& Southern

As interesting as this sounds, I have a problem with the idea, that being that the Leadville terminus is one of a scant few historic railroad sites in Colorado that has the potential to be restored accurately as it once was. In this case, I'm referring to the C&S standard gauge operation of post-1943.
With vision and forethought, Leadville could again look as it did in the age of steam, which lasted into 1962 there. Besides the last two locomotives to operate there, the enginehouse, depot, and other structures remain. The Red Devil coal loader disappeared after the rotary was shipped to Golden, but could probably be replicated with another similar device.
Granted, the C&S is said to have never operated standard gauge passenger trains there, even in the gas-short WWII years, but at least one 1960s excursion was planned before being scrubbed. A few of the cars used on the C&S Denver-area excursions do still exist, however, and it would not be too much of a stretch for them to have been brought up to Leadville.
Restoring Leadville as a standard gauge historic site would be much easier than converting it back to narrow, at least with some degree of historic accuracy. Such historic railroad sites in Colorado aren't too plentiful. Como and Hugo are about the only engine terminals with the same potential for accurate restoration. Durango, while bustling, is not the same gritty old place I visited as a kid, nor will it ever be again. Across the border, even Chama has been modernized enough to be less than historic.
While I have no problem with "make believe" railroad sites like the Colorado Railroad Museum, I do object to turning real historic sites into something they never were. Spencer Shops in North Carolina is an example, where they plan to hang airplanes in the backshop instead of restoring it as the place where machinists and boilermakers sweated, even though a railroad restoration would probably be cheaper.
When I look at the present Leadville, Colorado & Southern, I don't see the present operation, but the site's potential to be accurately restored as it once was. Just my opinion, for what it's worth.