The politics is HUGE

The political dimension to the C&TS is HUGE. And in a way that is why the concept of the Friends and Iowa Pacific cooperating seems so important.
In addition to being world class preservationists, the Friends have proven themselves to be pretty good lobbyists for the railroad. Wouldn’t it make more sense for the Friends to invest their (not unlimited) energy on working with the Commision to create a better governance structure for the railroad, a structure that helps put politics into its proper place. And then utilize Iowa Pacific as an ADDITIONAL resource that can put professional railroaders back in charge of running trains and fixing track and equipment.
I could readily see this new corporation that the Friends propose to create with both Friends and Iowa Pacific folks on the board, the Friends people handling relations with the Commission, marketing, and preservation issues, the IP contingent running the railroad. Back when RGRPC was created five years ago, having somebody like IP involved might have resulted in a much more successful outcome.
Hopefully the folks actually doing the heavy lifting on this are way ahead of me.
But like many things, the theory is great. In the end it boils down to people and whether they can work together effectively.
JBW