Re: Historic Lines

Dear Historic Foamer -
I have been to four of the five RRs listed; all of them have enough of their original infrastructure intact to provide some feeling as to what they were like 50 years ago. Also, all of them have been in existence - though not necessarily operational - since constructed. The SVRR is a REconstruction, and from all accounts an excellent one - which is why I asked about it. The NN and the EBT are probably the most intact; Sierra's depot, I believe, was - like Silverton's - rebuilt after vandals destroyed the original. Durango is missing its coaling tower and water tank, and Antonito's facilities are all replicas. (With money tight, it's not likely the tracks will be relayed to the stone depot in town anytime soon, though I certainly hope to see this happen during my lifetime.)
My main point was intended to be that there is only a small handful of original or almost original HISTORIC steam railways out there. All of them are valuable reminders of a bygone era, and all are worthy of HERITAGE Tourism in addition to sightseeing and recreational tourism. C&TS is one of these few, and IMHO should be taking better advantage of this in its advertising, and better care to preserve this aspect when upgrading its passenger fleet, etc.
- El Curmudgeonito