I don't think there has been any intent to keep this work secret. I first heard about it at a Projects Committee meeting in October 2005. There was no gag order for those present ! Since I know the people leading this effort very well, I have all the confidence in the world that they tried to consider everybody's input and had evaluated all alternatives. When you are working on this type of project you can't necessarily satisfy everyone, and you need to get your ducks in a row before you advertise to the general public what you are doing.
Some of you are thinking this a new initiative for the Friends and that the organization should continue to paint boxcars. I believe interpretation has been a goal of the organization since it was founded; however for many years the BoD was mainly composed of those who had been active in restoration projects. Only over the course of the last couple years has the museum aspect been important. I also think the success of the Docent program has shown the need to spend more resources on educating the pubic on what the railroad is all about.
Face it, it won't be too many years that very few people alive will have lived when the narrow gauge was running. It is very conceivable that at some point the knowledge that all of us treasure will be lost. We can continue paint boxcars until we can't hold a paint brush anymore, but unless future generations can understand why that was so important to us, we might has well give up and sell the property for condos.
I'm sorry this ruins a couple photo opportunities. As much a I like to see a good modern photograph that depicts the "way it was", I also tell myself, who are we trying to fool ? only John West has original photographs :-). But seriously, when we're all gone, who's going to give a damn ? I hope someone does. That's why it is important to take on a challenge like this. You can be cynical all you want, but you also got to realize that some people are spending a lot of their free time and money actually trying to save these memories for the benefit of future generations.
