At today's (6 Sep 19) unveiling of the Moffat Cup, Jim Souby, President of the advocacy group ColoRail stated that things are looking positive for Amtrak's Winter Park Express. He's hoping for an announcement later this month (when customers start booking lodging, organizing ski weekends, etc.).
Moffat finally gets into DUS:
Photo 844 = the cash bar was open.
Photo 846 = event was held in the Waiting (drinking) Room.
Photo 847 = Brad Swartzwelter (aka "Conductor Brad" on duty) organized the event and told the story of turning up the long-forgotten cup in a secret warehouse.
Photo 848 = Jim Souby spoke on behalf of ColoRail, which handled the donations. ColoRail was organized in the late 1980's when developers tried to move Amtrak and the Ski Train out of DUS. ColoRail was successful over a three-decade battle, but lost its effort to retain tracks leading south. Souby is a member of the state commission for retention of the Southwest Chief and a study of Front Range regional rail.
Photo 854 = At last, the Moffat Cup itself! It's hard to take a photo of it due to the security glass and mirror around it, but that did not discourage everyone with a cellphone.
{The reference to Moffat finally getting into DUS -- his railroad, the Denver & Salt Lake, was blackballed by the established rail companies, which felt that as a UP official once said "Denver will always be a dead-end town." Rivals Cheyenne, Pueblo and Colorado Springs all were on main lines over the Continental Divide. Denver only had narrow-gauge lines west. Moffat built a separate station on the wrong side of the DUS tracks, which is now preserved as part of the Balfour/Riverfront retirement home.}
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