John West Wrote:
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> I believe it was September 15, 1965. It was an
> interesting trip. The Farmington branch was
> closed due to a soft fill being replaced just
> south of Durango, so all they had was one empty
> flat and some boxes of lumber from Weidmans's.
> They had tried to leave Durango the day before
> (stopping at Carbon Junction to shove a dragline
> on a flat car down the Farmington branch to the
> fill being replaced) but after heading toward
> Chama had been blocked by a slipout around where
> the hospital is now up the hill from Durango. So
> they backed to Durango, dropped their train, and
> pushed two drop gons of cinders to the slipout,
> and then returned to Durango. The next day they
> headed east again with their short train plus one
> more gon of cinders behind the tender to dump so
> the MOW guys could finish their work on the slip
> out. They set out the drop bottom gon at Falfa.
> Somewhere, I think Ignacio, they picked up a few
> high side gons. And later on they picked up some
> lumber loads at the mill just west of Juanita.
>
> The engineer on the previous day that didn't get
> through was Bill Holt. So this may have been Holt
> again.
>
> Can you also check to see if there was a westbound
> from Chama on September 16? I'm trying to fill
> another hole in my memory. And did the 483 run
> light from Durango to Gato to meet it on the
> 16th?
>
> Thanks. Having some names to go with the pictures
> really helps add some life to the pictures.
>
> JBWX
Despite the difficulties over in Durango, a train went west from ALA to Chama on the 14th, using 492 and 493. Crews were Pete Degani and Carl Jack - engineers. Larry Shawcroft and Gayle Cunningham as fireman.
On the 15th the Alamosa Crew made a Cumbres Turn in the morning. Bill Holt and a fireman named Rentfrow were on 487 headed east. The pic shows "Wild" Bill Holt.
On the 16th, Holt and Rentfrow used 492 to head back to Durango, while 487 - Degani and L. Shawcroft, and 493 - Jack and Cunningham, took another turn up Cumbres, put the two cuts together and ran to Alamosa.
