Re: 481 on the D&S

I see your points and agree with it partially. D&S has the right to do as they wish of course, no problem there.
I guess I always considered the history portion to end with the end of the Rio Grande Narrow Gauge. Now on the Chama side that would be 1968, and on the Silvertn side that would be 1979-80.
Yes everything technically is history after that, but remember, its TOURIST RAILROADING now.
We are trying to remember history of REAL railroads, not made for tourist lines history.
All that said, C&TS and D&S are pretty neat tourist lines, and the closest to being as they were in the "Old Days" as one could expect given the years that have passed.
I do think D&S is trying to increase their role in preserving history...they rebuilt the roundhouse, made their new coaches look like the old ones, started a museum, had the Needleton tank rebuilt with Rio Grande Logos, and have done a few railfan trips with Rio Grande trains. Thats way more than was done during the Bradshaw era. Right now it might be easier to pull off a typical former Rio Grande train on the Silverton Line than it would on the C&TS. Maybe we are comparing apples to oranges. Silverton Mixed, versus a rear pusher out of Chama, but I wonder how long it will be until you see a rear pusher out of Chama once more!!! We did one in 1997, but not sure if one was done after that! The crews don't like to do mid-train, or rear pushers any more, but those were the typical operations out of Chama to Cumbres, not doubleheaders.
Greg