As one of the engineers and new Supervisor of Operations at the Loop, I am pleased to report all is well and trains are running the former schedule "over the loop". We did double-head the diesel, No.21, with the steam engine on the opening weekend in order to handle the extream crowds.We have found that the No.21 will handle four loaded cars and No.12 will handle four loaded cars. For the past number of weeks we have only run steam as the motive power. No.21 is held in reserve for over flow.Since before opening day we have had Rob Mangels and John Rimmash retained to help with the set up and fine tuning of the steam locomotive No.12. I am proud to report that our little "Pineapple Princess" hauls the four loaded cars up the hill being able to maintain 175-180 lbs of steam pressure (operating pressure is 180). C&S No.9 is in the works and will soon join the operation. Work has continued on the up grade of the rolling stock and our shop facilities are constantly being built up.One major change from the former operation is the addition of a ticket office and gift shop at the Devil's Gate depot (formerly the Morrision Center). Now passengers can purchase tickets in Georgetown or Silver Plume.I would also like to correct (respectivly) one of Mr. Kelly's statements. The Georgetown Loop Railroad did shut down for the winter (as usual) with the new operator, Railstar, begining operations on the tracks and right-of-way, which belong to Colorado Historical Society (CHS) as the Georgetown Loop Historic Mining & Railroad Park.We all here have great respect and admiration for the former operator Mr. Ashby and his crews and thier accomplishments. We feel we have big shoes to fill and take very seriously the reputation and legacy built by thier many decades of hard work.

Oh Boy. 4 loaded cars.... and a dieselWhen that teakettle was in Chama it wouldn't pull itself up the 4%.#9: Boiler inspection on an iron boiler?

Thanks Steven for real information from the source. Although I have a long standing friendship and worked for the Ashbys, I don't have a dog in this fight and have been trying hard to stay out of the volume of misinformation generated by others with even less of a personal interest than myself. Knowing Rimmasch is involved will certainly help defuse any remaining credibility issues insofar as the quality of the steam power is concerned. He has been instrumental in helping me solve some tricky boiler issues and really knows his stuff. He is one of the few disinterested third parties whose opinions I trust completely. Best wishes to Railstar and GLR Inc - may the Loop and the Gorge both haul thousands of happy customers and injure none of them. dave

Well, the old teakettle is doing just fine. I checked the Georgetown Loop track chart and see the steepest grade is 4.31 percent at MP 53.2 No.12 has been easily hauling four loaded cars over this grade. I may have not made myself clear with my earlier posting...I meant to say that the No.12 will haul four loaded cars around the railroad without the need of the diesel helper. The diesel will handle four loaded cars as well. This of course is one car short of what the former operator offered as a consist.In no way do we think that we have picked up where the former operator left off. It took those guys decades to develop a fantastic program.Against all odds and a lot of nay saying we did open on Memorial Day weekend, we do operate the former schedule and we do offer a steam train ride....I am certain that this is better than having the Loop shut down for any length of time.

You say #12 couldn't even pull itself up the hill when it was in Chama? Well if it could have, that would have been a neat trick considering #12 was was just a collection of parts sitting on a flarcar at that time. In that condition, how many cars would expect it to haul??

Steve,Thanks for the update. Railstar has a lot to live up to at the Loop and a lot to live down after being responsible for the destruction of right-of-way and historic railroad facilities in Belfast. There are a lot of people who have broken hearts over every building and mile of track lost. I am sure that you and the rest of the crew will do you very best. Good Luck,

Tom, thanks for the well wishes...with all the Loop bashing latley, we need all the well wishes we can get.I do want to point out the real story at Belfast. First of all the tracks are owned by the Maine DOT and they have recently stated that the tracks are going no where and will remain in place. The property in Belfast, that the depot, enginehouse and turntable are located on, has always belonged to the City of Belfast. Through out this ordeal the City has NOT wanted the railroad operator to continue and they want the buildings off of thier property so that they may develop the grounds for high end commercial development. It is a shame that the City can not see a way to intergrate the railroad facility with thier plans for big time commercial development. It is a fact that Railstar has invested many hundreds of thousands of dollars into the B&MH project with little to no support from the City.

Hi Steve, Thanks for the update. I appreciate the work of you and your crews. It is essential that a safe operation is had. However, you say a couple of things that don't jive with what I know to be true. I have visited the Loop every day since the opening weekend (they were full of invited, non-paying passengers on that weekend). For instance yesterday, at around noon, I saw that the 12 was indeed pulling 4 cars, but the actual passenger numbers looked like something around 40-50 people. The parking lot was less than half full. This was a weekend day when I expected to see full cars and the (auto) cars lined up along Loop drive. When has the 12 pulled four full cars other than that opening weekend when it double headed with the 21? Another correction: The previous operators pulled 9 cars and another train with 4 cars on the weekends. Thanks again, on behalf of my tax base for working as hard as you are. I hope to keep sending people up your way. It's too bad the CHS/Railstar can't see fit to put a ticketing office in Georgetown. Getting up to Devil's gate without getting lost is a challenge. -I know since I have been spouting those "go to the right when the road veers that way and it'll take you to the station." on a daily basis. Good luck to you and your crew. Maybe you could give me a holler sometime and prove to me that I am wrong about the appearance of a serious lack of passengers on this year's loop.

Everyone I have talked has said that the city was totally unwilling to be reasonable to the B&MR and decided to evict the railroad despite the fact that the local townspeople know it helps the local economy. Furthermore, one of my personal friends just got hired as the operations manager up there. I think criticizing them about that operation is totally uncalled for and unacceptable. Regards,Trevor H.