John, I'm really enjoying the extraordinary productivity Frank Turner, Max Pacheco, and the rest of the CTSMC crew have been demonstrating in upgrading the C&TS track. Two tampers at work, #19 with new prime movers, tens of thousands of ties being installed, etc. I just hope the states will appropriate enough money in the coming years to ballast, surface, and align the whole length of the line. Certainly CTSMC is off to a great start and doing the job far more cost-effectively than any previous consultant estimates.
While weather does limit how many months in a year trackwork crews can be out on the line, the lack of appropriations from Colorado for trackwork this year could hurt. Furthermore this year's $1,050,000 capital appropriations from NM has to be spread around for other needs as well (such as locos, passenger cars, shop needs, etc.). Really puts an imperative on getting sufficient capital appropriations from both states in the comings years, starting now with the Commission's submissions for the legislative sessions next spring. Sure would be nice to see a steady predictable funding floor of somewhere around $1.5 million annually for upgrading track.