463 Charter Update

[Tim Tennant]

Yesterday, Monday April 30th there was a review of the status on the Locomotive 463 rebuild project. I met with Marty Knox, Marvin Casias, Paul Schranck and new C&TS Interim General Manager Ken Matzick. The crew did get a great deal accomplished from the previous week. Most notable was that both the lead and rear trucks where placed underneath the 463. However, in spite of the progress made the locomotive is still 5-6 weeks from being completed. This means that the May 15th charter is postponed. We do not have a firm alternate date established yet but we are looking at some dates in late June. Today the Friends Office have been contacting passengers who purchased tickets by e-mail and phone. People have been pretty understanding of the situation and we thank them for their understanding. The Friends will make a full refund to passengers who purchased tickets if that is their request. Paul Schranck and Ken Matzick indicated the railroad will work with us on an alternate charter date. We apologize for this situation and are disappointed. With rebuilding a 100+ year old steam locomotive sometimes additional challenges surface and we had our share of challenges. Everyone associated with the project is very dedicated and are putting their heart and soul into the rebuild. We are also committed to a quality restoration of the locomotive. We will keep you informed as to when a new charter date is selected. We appreciate everyone's support.

[Dick Cowles]

Tim --
Thanks for the timely phone call from Gwen today. Better to do the job right than to jam it. A year from now few will recall the delay, just as few today remember that Lobato Trestle -- an extraordinary undertaking -- also was a few weeks late. And since then trains have been running over the trestle just like nothing ever happened.

[Tim Tennant]

Thank you Dick and we did get through the list of passengers during the day. People were very understanding and supportive of the project. We appreciate everyone's support and understanding. We will keep updates coming as news comes our way.