Rio Grande Sun Article

Nov 24, 2005 Rio Grande Sun
By Laura Onstot
SUN Staff Writer
Merchants Flinch as Railroad cancels runs
The Cumbres and Toltec Rail-road Commission has a new executive director, but there is still no schedule, and the annual Christmas Train has been cancelled.
Leo Schmitz, of Antonito, Colo., was hired to head the Railroad for the second time. Schmitz previously held the post for 24 years beginning in 1977. When the train hit tumultuous times last month after the Rio Grande Railway Preservation Corporation pulled out as the operator, the Commission decided it needed someone who already knew the ropes.
Schmitz said sorting out the financial problems of the railroad would be a priority, but before anything else happens, he will work to get a schedule set for next season.
Chama business owners turned out at the Commission's meeting Nov. 18 in full force to express their disappointment at
the lack of a 2006 schedule.
The problem was made especially poignant when New Mexico Magazine put the train on the December cover with a headline stating: "Catch the Holiday Spirit Aboard the Chama Express." The Christmas train will not be running this year. The cancellation of the holiday train is not just a problem for businesses. The Village of Chama uses income from the gross receipts tax to fund various projects in town. Mayor Archie Vigil went before the Commission to ask if they might find a way to reinstate the December run. "Please consider keeping that Christmas train open," he said. But, as of Tuesday, the train is set to remain in the shop until next summer.
With the cancellation of the holiday ride and the lack of a 2006 schedule, potential tourists are being turned away or asked to put their vacation plans on hold.
Terrie Corey, owner of the Chama Suites, already has individuals and vacation groups calling for next year's reservations. But she isn't able to give them specifics on the dates and times the train will run, and is afraid they will take their business else-where. Wylie Elison, an owner of the Branding Iron, said tour groups establish their schedules during the winter. But without a set schedule, those won't make reservations at his hotel, he said. Elison favors establishing a schedule to get reservations set, and then contacting vacationers if the schedule changes. He is afraid the tours will go to other train towns, and his hotel will be left struggling next summer. But former executive director Steve Malnar said taking reservations, then cancelling or changing them, would be a public relations nightmare for the train and the businesses that rely on it. "I think it would be sheer suicide to take reservations for something you don't know is going to happen," he said. "I would say it is suicide to not have a schedule," Wylie retorted.
The train is dependent on funding from the Colorado and New Mexico legislatures, which meet in January. Malnar said it would be prudent to wait until the funding had been determined by both states before setting times. Under the operating agreement between Colorado and New Mexico, the states are supposed to split the costs of running the train. But the money hasn't been coming in on the other side of the northern border.
Assistant Attorney General Alvin Garcia said New Mexico needs to take a more aggressive approach to getting the cash from Colorado. "So far it's been a wait and see attitude," he said. Garcia said he thought the problem of Colorado funding could be solved diplomatically, though he remains prepared to pursue other options for enforcing the agreement. "I'm not anticipating litigation," he said. But he did not rule it out.
Despite the hurdles facing the train and it's ridership next year, Commissioner Wayne Quinlan remains optimistic. He said he is 99 percent sure the train's whistle will blow again in 2006, he just doesn't know what time of day that will be.
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