Greg:
I do not have a copy of the documents. I was in Vietnam when all that work was done. I have seen the documents at the Colorado RR Museum and the Colorado Historical Society. I will try to get my hands on a copy and scan it and make a PDF available.
I think some of the comments here came from folks who were not around and have not seen the documentation. The newspaper articles from that time period talk about how a piece of Colorado and New Mexico history was being preserved. I do not recall seeing any mention in newspaper articles about any economic impact. The emphasis was just to save as much as possible from the scrapper. I can remember people not even being sure if or when trains would start running. I think everyone was relieved that at least a piece of it had been saved and running trains and bringing in tourists would come at some point in the future.
I am sure there are people here who were involved in the initial effort to save the equipment. I know that a group of folks from Colorado and New Mexico were actually involved in selecting the equipment that would be preserved. They had stencils and yellow paint to mark the equipment that would be moved by the D&RGW to Antonito. I first arrived in March of 71 and a lot of equipment still sat at the end of the dual gauge in Antonito (Rotary OY, etc.).
There were those who thought they might only be able to run short trains from Chama to Cumbres as there were no facilities at Antonito, but a gigantic effort between the winter and the first run was able to build enough rider cars, a wye and coaling station, and the original depot at Antonito.
Those who say the line was only preserved for economic reasons are simply trying to revise history as it was not that way.
