Wow, I have not seen so much uninformed speculation in years.

One thing to keep in mind is that the Niles Canyon Railway was obsolete when Southern Pacific abandoned it after a major mud slide in Altamont Pass in 1983. Recently Pacific Locomotive Association ran an inspection trip for ACE and UP officials through Niles Canyon. One estimate that came out was that bringing the track up to modern standards between CP Hearst and Niles would cost
$41 million. It still would be fairly slow track with sharp curves. At the present time neither ACE nor UP is interested in spending that much money.

The moral to all this is that railway museums should do everything possible to own the track and land they occupy.