Re: Jack, Please Don't Drop Out On Us

I think that Jack Campbell’s insight to the shop workings and requirements for a better equipped facility in the future is something the "new" commission should take a look at sooner than later. Setting the bi state politics aside for a moment I think the solution is obvious to anyone interested in operating the RR in a "for profit" or even break even mode. The commission and states did have an "understanding" of how all this is supposed to work. I don’t think I will get a lot of argument that there will always be some state/ federal/grant subsidies required for capital improvements, locomotive rehabilitation and ROW maintenance. The "deal" has always been that the operating revenue would cover the operating expenses and also some portion of the maintenance.
Looking at the D&S, the C&TS needs a centralized locomotive/ car repair shop on the level that exists in Durango. It doesn’t make any economic sense for the D&S to have shops in both Durango and Silverton nor does it make good business sense for the C&TS to duplicate shops at each end of the line. It really gets back to the Commission having a long term economic plan for the RR as a business (as opposed to a pork barrel). If the revenue is going to be grown to get back to the level of the late 1990’s (and more) then the shop situation will have to be addressed as part of this business plan.
At the end of the day I think Jack’s plan for a state of the art shop facility on the old lumber mill site near the wye in Chama will prove to be the most cost effective and efficient way to deal with the future maintenance. This location avoids the whole historic alteration issues with the current yard and makes sense from an operating standpoint as the base for all heavy maintenance. Whether is it is a roundhouse with turntable or a more modern steel shell building is not the issue, efficiency is the key to a shop that can handle the expanding maintenance needs for many years to come. Finding the political will and having a business plan that supports a single centralized and modern shop facility in Chama is the issue. My gut tells me that over the long haul a new shop in Chama will pay back its investment many times over in improved overall efficiency.
Rod