I really fail to see where anyone is putting down or claiming one “historic” operation is better than another in this thread. What I do see is it has wandered from the original discussion about the direction for the C&TS in regards to Heritage Tourism.
I would call your attention to the linked document which is the Friends of the C&TS Summary of their Strategic Plan. To wit: “The responsibility for and the leadership of the historic preservation and museum functions of the C&TS will rest with the Friends, to be known and respected internationally as the best non-profit, historic railway preservation/ museum organization in the world.”
The Friends mission as an equal partner with the commission and operator of the C&TS should be extended to the operation/ marketing portion of the RR. What it appears from the outside looking in is that the other two partners, the commission and the operator, don’t have a clear mission plan for the operations/marketing of the RR. This has resulted in the varied and heated arguments about what construction configuration and color passenger cars are utilized, what color and logotype is used on engines and operating equipment (MW02) , lettering on the Chama water tank etc. etc. Having a clear plan and sticking to it is what this is about. We have 35 years of history of doing it the other way. Russ, Greg, Jerry and many others like myself are advocating for letting the history be the cornerstone of the marketing and then operating with historically accurate equipment (within reason).
Second, the point about the UP owning the Ro Grande name doesn’t make sense in that equipment has been and will continue to be preserved and restored in the D&RGW and Rio Grande logos on the C&TS and other historic RR’s. Just because someone in the UP management decided to make a buck off of the licensing of these logos shouldn’t alter the mission of historic preservation. I am confident Union Pacific does understand this concept and supports historic preservation of their acquired RR entities.
Lastly if you take this to be snobbish or arrogant then that is your interpretation, but it is not intended this way. Standing up for what you believe in is IMHO what makes this a great country. I think we all are thankful for the job each of the NG RR’s are doing to preserve and operate in what can best be described as a difficult economic and political environment that currently exists. One can only admire the accomplishments of the many operations in this country and abroad to see the dedication and professionalism that is exhibited.
To sum up, as noted in the Friends plan, many of us aspire to fulfill this mission by extending the historic and preservation aspects of the C&TS to operations and marketing. This is about leveraging the RR’s historic capital in the operations of the RR. How this is executed is the devil in the details. I am confident it can be done if the powers to be create the plan and then execute it with a passion second to none.
Rod Jensen
