On Friday, July 8th a Denver News Channel called a local Georgetown business to ask them about the Georgetown Loop derailment. Seeking more information, I drove up to Silver Plume and on the way back stopped at the scenic overlook. The diesel #21 was sitting by herself near the high fill curve, with some people milling about. I did not see the #12, but later saw it back at Devil's Gate. The #12 had returned the cars and its passengers back to Devil's Gate and by the time I got there all of the passengers had either left or already been transported otherwise back to Silver Plume. Dan Adler of Railstar stated that the derailment would be cleaned up, that the train would run in the morning and cheerfully told me to "put that on your site!". According to our sources there are a number of ties that were broken and split and the guard rail moved about a foot. Both of #21's axles were on the ground. On the way to Devil's Gate, I saw Lee Behrens of the COLORADO HISTORICAL SOCIETY & A GEORGETOWN SELECTMAN driving with children in the back of his pickup truck, sans seatbelts, presumably toting them back to Silver Plume via the interstate. Again, the COLORADO HISTORICAL SOCIETY shows us their ignorance and in this case, total disregard of the safety of children and of Colorado State Law. 7/10/05 Update: The diesel was sent down the hill early yesterday afternoon but is not running today. Today it was reported to us that they were using the #12 and 3-4 cars, but Steve Torrico, Railstar, has since stated that it ran with 5 cars. This surprises us because Railstar General Manager announced at the last Loop committee meeting that the #12 could pull 3-4 cars, but that 5 was pushing it.

Last year on this day, the previous operators carried 1508 passengers. According to Steve Torrico, their numbers can only potentially match about half that. Steve Torrico, Railstar superintendent, is obviously frustrated at this comparison and states that we should all "Just get over it"! because they don't have the motive power or the cars to do what the previous operators did. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING! Steve, your company, Railstar, signed a contract which states that they will carry 90,000 passengers which is about a third less than the previous year. Are you implying that Railstar is already conceding a noncompliance of the contract? Your company joined up with CHS and then announced to the community various cars that they were going to build and all the motive power that could be found (see the letter that your company's owner wrote to the State Auditor's office explaining their intent to buy motive power). Neither of which is the case today. Also, your company's partner, the Colorado Historical Society announced publicly on several occasions that our community would see a seamless transistion. They also placated various local politicians from raising an eyebrow by feeding them the line that makes me laugh and roll all over the tax rolls - That finding replacement motive power would be no problem! (see ex-Selectman Carla Chile's public announcement stating it was "a bunch of hooey that motive power couldn't be found."). Nope, Mr. Torrico, you either don't care, don't know, or are just a complete ass. Get over it? Tell that to the merchants in town who have relayed to me serious drops in revenue (more than 30%). Tell that to every property owner who will face an increase in their tax bill. Get over it? YOU get over it. And if you can't, then get used to the comparisons that your company and their partner gave us claim to by proclaiming them as reality in the first place.

Another issue that concerns us is the fact that there is not a single agency that is responsible for the oversight of this railroad operation. A few months ago, Mr. Trottier, owner of Railstar, claimed, via a letter to every boxholder in town, that although they didn't have to, that their intent was to administer the operation within Federal Railroad Adminstration requirements. Have they? And if they had would the derailment have happened?