Oh, the train...

Funny thing is, there are probably a lot of people who could care less about any "railroad" at Georgetown. From my perspective, the main reason for going to Georgetown is the railroad, but it isn't a big deal to my wife. She is more interested in the quaint victorian look and the shops in town. She tolerates my RR interests. There are a lot of Colorado tourist towns that don't have a RR, and they do OK. It's a shame however, to see what once was (and still can be) a great tourist magnet, shut down due to a lack of foresight and vision.
I don't do much traveling independent from my wife and children. I enjoy being around my family, it is the whole point of taking most of our trips. At this time in my life I don't have spare time to go off on expeditions by myself. As a result, our travel goals have to address the entire family's desires. If I say "let's go to Georgetown" it is not hard to get the family out of their seats (of course it is a day trip for us, living in Colorado). If I were to say "lets go to Antonito (or Chama)" the answer would be "Why?" followed by the realization that Dad wants to go look at trains (with the accompanying roll of the eyes).
Most certainly, Georgetown benefits from the presence of an operating railroad, but do they need it? No. It's a free country, and Mark can do what he wants. Will it gain him anything? Probably not.