“If you were Railstar or the CHS, how would you run the Loop”.
I have asked this question a few times and have received no real answers besides “watch the Loop crash & burn” and other generic CHS/Railstar bashing.
That is until now. Thank you for your post Steve.
I would like to discuss a couple of your points. I agree that with the #111 and the #44, you could run the Loop. It would also be nice to see the 44 back together again instead of being spread all over Denver. Also, the idea of having GTL Inc. equipment back on the Loop is not as far fetched as you may think.
As you may know, Mark Greska has already offered to lease all the equipment back to the CHS along with the people to run it. So, why hasn’t the CHS jumped at this offer given the situation on the Loop? Two reasons. It’s an “all or nothing” deal. ALL of the GTL Inc. equipment or none. The second reason is the cost. It has been reported that Mark wants $5,000 a day to do this along with a cut of the profits.
Now, this would be a good business deal for Mark. He would have his equipment out earning revenue instead of being stored and possibly costing money in the future.
However, this would not be a good deal for the CHS or Railstar. After all, I assume this means Railstar would be out of a job. In my option, that may not be such a bad thing. Also, I believe the CHS is closer to getting the Loop running properly then most people say. They don’t need All of Marks equipment. They already have the passenger equipment and they already have a diesel due to arrive this summer that can handle the stand by work. They also have the #111 coming and hopefully, Uhrich has learned something from the 9 and will get this one right.
Even with all this equipment, the CHS still needs another locomotive capable of working the Loop. The 44 would be perfect but not at $5,000 a day.
Also, the CHS would not own this locomotive which I think is a big issue. After all, the GTL Inc. is gone because they didn’t own the railway and the CHS is in a bad position because they didn’t own any equipment. Now that’s fine as long as everyone gets along but if they don’t then you have a Mexican stand-off type of situation.
Because of this situation alone, I think Mark and the CHS made the correct business decision to end their relationship. The partnership may have worked for 25 years but Lindsey is not the guy at the helm anymore and Mark is no Lindsey. Down in the Gorge, Mark owns the railway and the equipment. He can not be held hostage and he knows it. Even Lindsey himself said long before 2004 that the “the family’s future is in the Gorge”.
Bottom line here is the GTL Inc. will not be coming back to the Loop as long as someone else owns it. Unless the owners want to pay through the nose. And I believe Mark is being a smart businessman for taking this approach.
The other bottom line is that if the CHS wants real control over the Loop, they need to have control over the tools that make it run. This means the equipment AND the people. While the 111 is really owned by Breckenridge, the terms of the lease are the second best thing to owning her. As for a second engine, well, that is a problem. Not many available out there that have the power to do the job, unless Mark has an auction sometime soon. Could building new power be the answer? Well, the CHS has already spent nearly enough money to build one (two would be better).
Maybe they should head to Central America and buy a couple 2-8-0s. However, that may not be any cheaper then building new, once you take into account the cost of getting them out of Central America and the bribes and the other risks and then the cost of the rebuild.
As for the people, well it does not seem that the management of Railstar fit the bill. While they do have good people working on the Loop now, these people can only do what their bosses will let them do. I think this is where the CHS has really dropped the ball. They have hired and trusted the wrong people. They hired people that have never run a mountain railway or have ever rebuilt a full size locomotive. As much as I hate the one sided CHS bashing that goes on and on and on around here, the fact is that the CHS did screw up when it came to getting the right people.
To “fix the Loop” I believe the CHS needs to concentrate on finding and hiring the right people. And as it has been pointed out else where, the right people are usually not the cheapest ones. I believe some are working on the Loop already and many have worked there in the past. Good people are out there. The CHS needs to find them and put them in charge and them, and this is the most important thing, listen to them! (Yes Lee B, that mean you)
