Re: Queen of the roster .

I would bet that was June 12, 1967, first trip east out of Durango for the year. Am I right? I caught you guys steaming into Chama that afternoon, having chased the 487 and 498 out of Antonito. 484 went east to the shops and you guys took '87 out to Durango the next day - wheezing compressor and all. Chased you out to Dulce. Those two days were my first and last exposure to real live narrow gauge freight operations. You may well have been the guy who called my attention to an airplane at Dulce. I came 900 miles to see these old steam train and the trainman on this anachronism calls my attention to something I see every day. Ironic.
I rolled rocks on the Silverton branch with Don Gibbs on the 14th. He was firing for R.D. Schock when we came across a rock slide about MP477 on the way back to Durango. Two of us fans started to help the crew but Blackstone didn't like passengers helpin' out and chased us off. Insurance and all. When he left to get some 65# rail and dynamite from Hermosa ol' R.D. called me and the other guy back over. "I'm too old for this, you guys get back over here!" We got the slide cleared before Blackstone got back on the speeder, with a lot of elbow grease and the help of a track jack I happened to trip over in the weeds. Used it to move the big rock Blackstone was going to blast.
All in all a very memorable couple of days.