Rod, While you would be hard pressed to find ANYONE here who would not LOVE to see another San Juan train set. Just how many people here are going to buy ticket to ride that train EVERY DAY in the summer? Most of the riders are not rail fans. They will not know what a "San Juan" train was until we educate them. The visitor center needs to be done first, because it will be the centerpiece of making the R/R look more like the world class historic treasure that it is.
When the Friends built the CRF in Antonito, we changed status from being a bunch of guys and gals working out of our pickup trucks to a REAL group serious about preservation. Nothing really changed, but in the eyes of potential donors, we became a group that they wanted to partner with because we show them results for their donations.
Being just one of the grunts here, I have no decision making power, but having worked beside many of our directors, I can assure you that they listen to what you have to say. At some point, a decision about what course of action must be made, and not everyone will be happy with it, but for the railroad to survive, we got to move forward.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2007 10:30AM by John Cole.