Re: San Juan dreaming

Herb and other San Juan Express dreamers:

We have to think big and dream big just like General Palmer and Otto Mears did and then just find more people like us to share the vision. Who would have thought that a bunch guys with an idea just as crazy would have been able to pull the derelict # 315 from a park in Durango and return it to steam?

I went to the “source” for my weights and tonnage info, Earl, who posted it here:

http://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/read.php?1,9505,9528#msg-9528


and the D&RGW folio sheets/ TT as well. As Mark Valerius pointed out, the C&TS coaches started life as 6500 series flats so they tipped the scales at 14 tons before the rebuilt fames and everything else is added above. The Burnham built Silverton steel coaches are 23.5 tons.


OK before you pour that jar of red ink over my head I am not willing to accept, just yet, that our recreated San Juan would have to be a financial money loser. First, our target customers are not railfans but a similar clientele to GrandLuxe you can see here:

http://www.americanorientexpress.com/html/train/Golden_Age.html

Now Herb, you did the math right and 125 is our target rider ship, but we are not going to be able to go from 0 to 18,000 riders overnight. Maybe it starts out on a tri-weekly schedule or more likely is part of a package deal with tour groups running only on demand initially. Five 50 seat tour buses is all we need to fill our daily niche. And a $100+ fare for these “high end” folks for our “ride back in time” should be no big deal. They get in and out in half a day and are on their way to their next destination with their own transportation at each end. We can have a Starbucks in the baggage, Steven can cook up some fancy finger foods as we let folks stretch their legs at Osier, which hopefully our bar service of their adult beverage of choice will make the ride just that much smoother...

We have the scenery, the track, the locomotives, and the history all in our back pocket. What we don’t have is a train set to recreate it with. But as luck would have it some of our “friends” in Buena Park have preserved just what we need to test our idea. Notice I said “test”, as in we lease equipment for a finite period to prove the viability of the concept. Hopefully they would be open to having a discussion of some mutually beneficial exchange of assets. Before you say no way, remember money talks, and if it gets us up and running without the cubic $ capital investment of recreating from scratch it could be a win-win. No Herb, I haven’t hit the Powerball Lottery this week (yet) but I know the money is out there if we can sell the vision which looks like this ...





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2007 08:37PM by rod.