View from 1500 miles away *PIC*

While I have no doubt Ed will say it much better the next time he posts a "View from the Head End," I did want to post a brief update.
I just got off the phone to a few folks in Chama. A sparkling (and no doubt non-alcoholic " /> beverage is on ice at the stations, ready for the return of the last trains of the season. Nos. 3 and 4 should be into Chama and Antonito soon, carrying 320 or so riders between them. The Friends freight special should be back into Chama around 6pm. When the last bus from Antonito pulls into the Chama depot parking lot around 7pm and the last passenger gets off, our first season operating the C&TS will be officially over.
Poetically, we sold our 50,000th coach ticket on our last day of operation, breaking a very important psychological (and budgetary) milestone in the process. Jenny Marquez and Manny Ledoux bought ticket nos. 49,999 and 50,000 (see photo below). We'll have a final passenger count soon, with figures for special trains and caboose charters included. Look for it Monday on the news page at the Friends site. Derailments, engine failures and late trains were way down this year compared to last year as well. It hasn't been a perfect year, but it went pretty well on the whole.
On behalf of the Rio Grande Railway Preservation Corporation, let me thank the employees who worked long hours this year to serve our customers, repair our track and equipment, and keep our coaches clean. Thanks to the Richardsons for taking a risk and operating the Osier dining hall. Thanks to each of you who upped your donation at renewal time, or contributed financially in some other way. Thanks especially to those Friends members who, rather than working on historic equipment at a work session, elected to caulk and paint passenger cars, or cut brush. Make no mistake - your efforts made a difference.
Thanks also to the people of Antonito and Chama, who've been a great help during our first year. It was very heart-warming to see the "Thanks Friends and RGRPC" sign at the Cumbres Suites, or to hear the radio advertisement from Rio Chama RV Park thanking the Friends, or hear a local business person call the Friends "life savers" to my face. The folks at Chama Valley Supermarket did a cookout for our shop crew back in May, I lost count of the number of local people I met at the back door to the depot, just stopping by to chat. (The bartender at the High Country knows what to bring me without asking - I guess I'm an honorary local now.)
One season is over, but another one is just beginning. Tomorrow the Chama passenger cars will be ferried to Antonito for the winter. The shop crews will begin preparing the locomotives for FRA inspections, attending to broken windows and running gear needs in the cars, and continuing work on the track. It's a long time to next May, and we'll need your continued support to get there.
By next May, if we meet our winter goals, you'll be able to ride a Parlour Car over Cumbres Pass for the first time in many, many years. We've got a few changes up our sleeves you'll hear about over the winter. With a little bit of luck we'll have all six locomotives fired up for Opening Day. Next year will be better, we'll carry more riders, and hopefully have even fewer derailments and late trains. (Next year I'm actually going to chase a train all the way up the Pass, too.)
But until then, thanks. And congratulations.
JAC
P.S. No, I don't know when the Rotary is running " />