Re: Osier Siding in the early 1970's . . .

Josh McNeal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was not aware that the siding had been modified.
> That was what confused me as I always thought it
> was never altered.  I was certain it was there in
> 1970 as I believe I remembered equipment was
> stored there at times with all the moves from
> Antonito to Chama.  So when I saw the missing
> siding in 1972 it made me wonder if the C&TS
> had to take it out of service for a time.


My memories are similar, Josh -

Here's an Ernie Robart photo taken from the top of the water tower on September 27, 1970:

Photo copyright 1970, 2010 by Ernest W. Robart - All Rights Reserved.

. . . and one of mine from about three weeks later — X483E picking up three gons loaded with new ties on 10/16/70:

(See [ngdiscussion.net] for 'The Rest of the Story . . . )

Here's another one of mine, from Labor Day Weekend the following year:


Unfortunately, the west end of the siding is hidden in shadows and behind the train, but I'm pretty sure the switch was still there.

. . . or maybe not!  In this shot of the Toltec Rattler passing through Osier on 10/22/1972 it appears that the west switch has been taken up — or at least buried:

(For photos of the C&TS very first Photo Freight, The Toltec Rattler of 10/22/72, see [ngdiscussion.net] et seq.)

OTOH, the third of the "Three Great Events" moonlight dinner trains had run the night before, and IIRC in all three cases #483 had pulled the train to Osier, run around the train there, and had pulled the train home to Chama running in reverse as far as the wye at Cumbres.


IIRC, there's no way the engine could have run around the dinner train at Osier if either switch had been out of service, and I can't imagine that Scenic Railways would have given even two seconds to the idea of pushing a long train full of passengers uphill from Osier to Cumbres . . .

- El Abuelo Histœrico, Greengo y Curmudgeoño de los Locomoturas Viejos y Verdes,
aka Der Grossväterlich DünkelOlivGrünDampfKesselMantelLiebHabender



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2019 12:48PM by Russo Loco.