Thank you to the citizens/elected officials/business owners in our community who have volunteered their time to inform their community of the Loop happenings. The questions you ask or don't ask are important to our county's and Georgetown's economic futures. Your diligence in demanding quantifiable proof of the answers given to those questions are just as essential.

1. How many passengers can your proposed rolling stock carry per trip? How does that compare to current operations? If the passenger numbers are going to be less, how much loss revenue for the community does that translate into?

2. Can your proposed rolling stock pull enough coaches to make daily trains profitable?

3. Will there be back-up stock capable of pulling a dead engine and its cars if a breakdown occurs and have the ability to stand in for steam power with a full train for uninterrupted service?

4. After Jan. 1, 2005 what is your timetable for a new operator to install all needed replacement equipment, train replacement crews and staff and insure uninterrupted service by the traditional opening on Memorial Day 2005 as promised?

5. Do the steam and diesel locomotives to be run by the new operating company meet the required size and turning radius limits imposed by the curves on the line as well as the clearances for the station platforms and fit the weight restrictions of the bridges?

7. Will CHS fund the rebuilding of #9 or is that the responsibility of the new operator as the RFI implies.

8. If the new operator is to rebuild it, what is the CHS expectation for the financial resources and time allocation to complete the rebuilding within the 5 year contract term specified in the RFI?

9. Prior to the rebuilding of #9, what will be the primary motive power?

10. Will the CHS obtain the necessary water rights for the new operator?

11. What is CHS's official stance on the behavior of their employee, Lee Behrens. -who has trashed the current operators in public?