Re: C&TS 40th - Labor Day Weekend, 2010
| September 23, 2007 12:14AM |
|
Micheal -
The C&TS was created for TWO reasons -
1) Enhance the economies of s.w. Colorado and n.w. New Mexico.
2) Preserve the railroad as a living museum of a part of American History that had already vanished from the rest of the United States.
There is NO inherent conflict between maintaining the appearance of C&TS rolling stock and structures as close to their historic appearance as possible and running a successful "tourist" or scenic railway. In fact, if I remember correctly, there is a huge "plus" to be gained by the marketing folks if they can advertise an "adventure" that recreates a complete historic experience - and the more authentic, the better.
There are a few compromises which must be made for safety reasons, some for economic reasons, and some that are necessary for the preservation of the historic artifacts themselves. For the most part, authentic paint schemes, etc., enhance the overall value of BOTH the museum AND the "tourist train".
Of course there is always the question of exactly which period of history is to be re-created. In the case of the C&TS - given the equipment which survives - it is mostly a matter of 1930's vs 1950's lettering styles, and I'm sure one of the many historians on the board or among the Friends could pick a year when some equipment was still lettered in the earlier "Railroad Roman" style and some in the newer "Flying Rio Grande" style. This justifies having some equipment in the new style and keeping some in the older style, whether the name on the tender is "Denver and Rio Grande Western", "Cumbres and Toltec Scenic RR", "Rio Grande" or "Cumbres & Toltec". It does NOT justify a 'Rio Grande Southern' style logo, except maybe temporarily on "mudhen" #463 for a chartered fan trip, IMHO.
*****
Personnally, I hope that we are able to raise enough money, soon enough, that #483 can be used to pull a replica of the first C&TS train into Chama to celebrate the 40th anniversary. Some of us who were there are no longer here, and many of us who were there may not still be here for the 50th, so I for one feel at least a bit of urgency. If it's necessary to have one of the other engines masquerade as #483 for a weekend, that's better than nothing, but the main point is that it is an opportunity for a bigger-than-usual weekend that could prove very valuable both as a fundraiser and as an advertisement for the C&TS.
- Russo Loco
The C&TS was created for TWO reasons -
1) Enhance the economies of s.w. Colorado and n.w. New Mexico.
2) Preserve the railroad as a living museum of a part of American History that had already vanished from the rest of the United States.
There is NO inherent conflict between maintaining the appearance of C&TS rolling stock and structures as close to their historic appearance as possible and running a successful "tourist" or scenic railway. In fact, if I remember correctly, there is a huge "plus" to be gained by the marketing folks if they can advertise an "adventure" that recreates a complete historic experience - and the more authentic, the better.
There are a few compromises which must be made for safety reasons, some for economic reasons, and some that are necessary for the preservation of the historic artifacts themselves. For the most part, authentic paint schemes, etc., enhance the overall value of BOTH the museum AND the "tourist train".
Of course there is always the question of exactly which period of history is to be re-created. In the case of the C&TS - given the equipment which survives - it is mostly a matter of 1930's vs 1950's lettering styles, and I'm sure one of the many historians on the board or among the Friends could pick a year when some equipment was still lettered in the earlier "Railroad Roman" style and some in the newer "Flying Rio Grande" style. This justifies having some equipment in the new style and keeping some in the older style, whether the name on the tender is "Denver and Rio Grande Western", "Cumbres and Toltec Scenic RR", "Rio Grande" or "Cumbres & Toltec". It does NOT justify a 'Rio Grande Southern' style logo, except maybe temporarily on "mudhen" #463 for a chartered fan trip, IMHO.
*****
Personnally, I hope that we are able to raise enough money, soon enough, that #483 can be used to pull a replica of the first C&TS train into Chama to celebrate the 40th anniversary. Some of us who were there are no longer here, and many of us who were there may not still be here for the 50th, so I for one feel at least a bit of urgency. If it's necessary to have one of the other engines masquerade as #483 for a weekend, that's better than nothing, but the main point is that it is an opportunity for a bigger-than-usual weekend that could prove very valuable both as a fundraiser and as an advertisement for the C&TS.
- Russo Loco
| Subject | Author | Posted |
|---|---|---|
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michael | September 22, 2007 09:10PM |
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Russo Loco | September 23, 2007 12:14AM |
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488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
The NGDF was started by Don Richter and is currently operated in his memory by Nathan Holmes and others. Others who have contributed to the upkeep of this board are (in no particular order): Charles McCandless, Everett Lueck, Ted Wilton, Cole Adams, James Bane, John Moellmer, Jon Bentz, Linn Moedinger, lloyd lehrer, Rod Jensen, John Craft, Steven Forney, Herb Kelsey, Bill Ramaley, Russ Sperry (El Russo Loco), Josh McNeal, John West, Jim Armstrong, Bob Bergstrom, Greg Scholl, Blake Forbes Doug van Veelen and Mark Fuller.