Two questions- Does anyone have a brief history for when the C&TS was organized/began operations? And I was wondering- How are things looking for the coming season? After the recent season of curtailed trains, will they be able to afford "normal" operations? Boxcab E50
C&TS was formed in 1970 after the states of Colorado and New Mexico jointly purchased the line from the Denver & Rio Grande Western. The states have never physically operated the line, as that has been done by a series of concessionares (Kyle Railways was the operator for many years until they pulled out in 1997? 1998? Another for profit ran the line for a year before the commission that oversees the road gave them the boot, the last couple years it has been the Rio Grande Rail Preservation Corp (formed by the non-profit Friends of the C&TS auxillary) in one form or another operating the road.). There was a news report (Altamont Press?) a day or two ago that quoted the current operator as saying that things have never been better. The State of Colorado stripped almost all funding from the road, which could have been a major bummer, but the state of New Mexico responded by increasing their annual contribution to cover what Colorado cut (although some Colorado agencies have sent funds to the railroad out of their budgets). In addition to this the railroad has received several large grants that are paying for such long-neglected necessities as track and equipment maintenance. The article stated that they hope to have three steam locomotives up and running by opening day. Hope this helps. JDLX Elko, NV
Found the news articles I was thinking about... Go to http://www.rypn.org. There are a few links to newspaper articles about the road in the "flimsies" section and a few discussion threads about the road in the "interchange" section. JD Moore Elko, NV
1970? For some reason, I was thinking it was later. Was that also when C&TS operations first were started? Guess I'd better check the RYPN site. I forgot that it was is available. Anyhow, it's nice to hear that they are in good shape financially. BTW- Do they still have an operable rotary? Boxcab E50
