You'll have to understand, everything takes planning and money. We can't focus solely on extending the line and neglecting other things that need to get accomplished. Though it would be nice to reach 218 quickly, there is a series of 4 steps that go into rebuilding the line.
1. Cutting the trees.
This is time consuming and can only be done safely in the winter as we burn all the branches and smaller parts of the trees.
2. Grading the Right of Way.
This includes removing stumps and replacing culverts.
3. Laying the rail.
Done usually one long weekend in the fall. 1200 feet is a good accomplishment over 4 days. This takes a lot of planning and preparation.
4. Ballasting and lifting the track.
This is normally done during the spring work weekend. Again, a lot of planning to get this accomplished, a lot of labor to unload the cars. Basically shape and lift the rails to get them useable.
So you see, there is a lot of time involved in extending the line. It can't be done at the snap of a finger or the drop of a dollar. At our current rate of 1200 feet a year, we should reach 218 in 5 or 6 years. One Major obstacle would be the Carlton (aka Trout) Brook Bridge. So it might be longer.