Everyone can put their spin of these issues, and the writer is obviously for the folks against the smoke from the tone of the article.
I suggest that they picked the heaviest time of the year to monitor the smoke stating that 5 trains a day burn 6 tons eash. Thats nonsense, cause we all know that the 5 trains a day is only peak time, and of those 5 one train only goes to Cascade Wye does it not. Therefore instead of 6 tons of coal it likely only burns 2-3 tons, since not all of that run is upgrade as are ALL the runs beyond that point to Silverton.
Now to be fair how much pollutants would be generated from running a pair of diesels on all those trains....They seem to forget that Diesels and other forms of transportation pollute also, but one cannot as easy see diesel exhaust as much as steam exhuast....out of sight, out of mind I suppose. In addition lets say all those folks rode buses or SUV to Silverton instead of the train, so what would be the amount of pollution in those terms. When you compare other modes of transportation and subtract their amount of pollution from what Steam generates, then you might have some tangable numbers that make sense. At that point the amount will not be as great, unless you did away will everything!!!
These guys should be happy the train is well patronized to boast their economy. Someday it may be rough times like when the fires were there, then they will change their tunes. Just remember the job of the media is to speculate and stir up discussion which means they continue to keep their jobs!!!!
Greg