Bill & Friends:
I am wondering just what the passenger car restoration "master plan" is if indeed one does exist for the Friends. It seems to me that before you can make individual car restoration decisions the ultimate use and feasibility for operation needs to be addressed.
I know a lot of us would love to see a restored San Juan consist be a goal but what is the RR commitment or practicality of such and undertaking? Just consider that fact that a 5 car 1937 > San Juan = baggage, RPO, 2 coaches and parlor car, only accommodated 58 revenue passengers... so I roughly calculate a ticket today would be somewhere in the $300+ range to make it close to what a daily C&TS train would generate. I am not sure if you could fill this type of train more than a couple times a year, but maybe that isn’t part of the Friends cost/ benefit analysis. There are probably more critical safety issues that Earl or others can comment on in operating wood equipment in daily service that perhaps need to be factored into a rebuild i.e. reinforcing with steel etc.
There are also other passenger cars that have been awaiting restoration that would provide actual seating capacity, why would they not be considered for restoration first?
I think with the new operator contract in place next week this is something the Friends should consider in the bigger picture of keeping some of the C&TS passenger operations in a historical context and equipment.
Rod Jensen