I would like to try to reopen the discussion on the location of the proposed Chama Railroad Visitors Center (RVC) here on the NGDF which has also been taking place over on the Goat and Ashpit (links below).
I believe that most people are in agreement as to the need for a visitor’s center for C&TS in Chama. I also don’t want to argue in this thread about whether the RVC should be built now vs. other more pressing and critical infrastructure needs i.e. like an improved backshop. Let’s just focus on the location of the proposed RVC. What we have been told is the visitor’s center needs to be close to the center of the “action” on the RR for it to be an effective draw for visitors.
If we go back and look at the master site plan for the RR, developed back in the mid 1990’s by the Commission we will see that a crucial piece of RR property designated for development (tickets, operations etc.) was to be located on the site that the town clock/ park area now occupies (see Area # 3 on linked post from the Ashpit.com ). Apparently this property was given to the town/ state during the highway reconstruction program that also had the former Commission Ex. Director Gomez unilaterally give away the area that is now the percolation site adjacent to the South yards. I bring this up as it affects the larger RR master plan and how the RVC fits in with other RR related needs in the future (# 9 on the linked plan is the proposed location for the North yard RVC).
Could the location adjacent to the Narrow Gauge Gift shop and between the pharmacy not serve the dual purpose of the tickets/ operations/ and RVC and be more centrally located to visitors in the core of town?
[the-ashpit.com]
You can also get a good perspective of the overall yard by rotating and zooming in the linked views here (note that this view represents pre sidewalk/ clock park installation):
http://virtualguidebooks.com/NewMexico/PuebloCountry/SanJuanMtns/ChamaAboveStation_FS.html
http://virtualguidebooks.com/NewMexico/PuebloCountry/SanJuanMtns/ChamaRailroadYard_FS.html
Now the proposed North yard site for the RVC may be the preferred location as determined by the Friends task force; however I would like to see an explanation/ discussion with the pros and cons of each of the other specific locations that were evaluated and why the North yard location is preferred. I will post some current photos of the North yard location as well as reference my original post of over a year ago where I placed a structure of the size of the RVC in the approximate proposed location. Some architect rendered views of the proposed structure so that we could see the impact of the structure from various angles (street, yard, etc.) would be extremely helpful at this point in determining the visual impact of the proposed North yard RVC.
[ngdiscussion.net]
Rod Jensen
