A recreated San Juan would consist of (in car order) front to rear RPO (54), Baggage, Coach (s) and Parlor/ observation. Using the #54 RPO for anything other than the occasional photo special doesn’t make a lot of sense because 1. It does not have end doors for access 2. It is almost 30 tons of dead weight 3. It is a wood car with some steel reinforcement on the ends though still questionable for use between the engine and revenue coaches without more frame reinforcement.
If the recreated San Juan coaches and parlor are going to have electric lights and steam heat then per the prototype the electric generator could be located in a recreated baggage car which also would do double duty for snacks, souvenirs etc. The C&T could build this car on the San Juan baggage car plan but utilize all steel construction for its daily revenue use.
So then to understand the economic side of this idea we optimize our San Juan train set for daily revenue use based on a 230 ton K-36 capacity eastbound from Chama. Therefore the design criteria would be a maximum 9 car train set, each car weighing an average of 25 tons (D&S steel coaches are 23.5 tons). So to build it you would be looking at maybe $250K+ per car X 9 (1 baggage, 7 coaches and 1 parlor) cars = $2.25 million that the states would need to come up with. And guess what, the states master plan calls for basically this same equipment plan by 2010 assuming ridership continues to rise to previous levels.
So where is the Commissions funding request to both states so that the design work can be undertaken this coming year for the return of the San Juan? Maybe Uncle Pete would even like to help as they seem to be in a giving mood (and have deep pockets) and besides it is part of "their" heritage fleet that we are recreating.
