YES, the Cass, SVRR & WW&F should be added to the short list - THAT'S WHY I ASKED ...
By the less-than-ideal lower standards of education, history, etc. that we live by here in the Colonies, all of the railroads mentioned are more-or-less qualified. IMHO, the more original locos & rolling stock, buildings, shop facilities, etc., the better - but all eight of these RRs have something to offer the serious historian. Some are better than others, but all are worth visiting for something more than just a choo-choo ride. There's probably a couple more as well, but certainly less than a dozen RRs in the whole country - Standard Gauge and Narrow - that are running with original engines & cars on their original rights-of-way.
To repeat an earlier post:
"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 [very] 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."
*****
C&TS is a LONG way from the British standard of authentic Heritage preservation, but it still has a chance to be one of the best in the U.S. Hopefully with the New Beginning someone will add enough black or brown to the red paint to turn it into an authentic maroon, and there will be no more turquoise wheels on speeders ... The C&TS is one of a VERY few HISTORIC railroads still operating, and its uniqueness should be preserved, not squandered. THAT's my point!
- El Curmudgeonito
