Engine #9 was on its way to Antonito, Colorado to get repaired ($600,000 - 1 mil.) when the shop informed CHS that they would not accept the engine at their shop until it had all of its asbestos removed. So now the engine is awaiting asbestos removal. OOOPs! How long and how much money is that going to take?

This was the first step for CHS to prove that they knew what they were doing. We hope the local communities see this as the warning that it is. It's time to wake up and smell the train track. Smell it all the way back to the Georgetown Society, when they tried to do this very thing to the Ashby's Loop years ago.

The Georgetown Society (HGI) is in a better position now, don't you think? They have a lovely ticket booth at the brand new train station (oops, I mean visitor center), almost 4 million in assets and a CHS employee/HGI treasurer in charge of the Loop park who despises the current operators (called them gadflies at a public meeting), but what can not be denied is that what they are sorely lacking is the knowledge and expertise of our unique track that it is going to take to successfully maintain and operate the trains. Even Lee Behrens admits "We've been in this business for six weeks," as quoted in the May 12, 2004 Clear Creek Courant. It's not going to matter how many "partners" HGI gets involved, they simply don't have the rolling stock, and won't until someone spends millions and they'll never have the knowledge and expertise to operate the Loop in time for the Jan 05 deadline. Our business community needs and depends on the revenue and the quality of visitor that they bring to our town - and we can't afford any delay in operations