Re: How I caught the bug!!!!!!!!

My infection is recent. I've been a longtime fan of mainline standard gauge railroading, particularly the EsPee in the '50s and '60s. I moved to Colorado in 1990 with the Air Force and retired in 1997. Last year, my wife designed a set of trips for our summer vacation that took us to every steam train operation in Colorado. We did 'em all - from the D&S to the C&TS to the 341 at Golden to the Georgetown Loop, all the way "down" to the Cripple Creek 2-footer. (did we miss any? let me know...) We'd ridden the Durango & Siverton a few years before, which piqued my interest, but the "infection" came at the Cumbres and Toltec. We took the halfway trip from Antonito; between that day and the poring over of Doris Osterwalt's fine book, I'm hooked.

I have a wonderful wife who is very supportive of my interests. Funny thing, she's now hooked also; she's the one who tried to find a way to get back to Durango (her favorite) this summer. Looks like all we'll get time to do is the Leadville train (not narrow gauge, not steam, but the last railroad experience in Colorado left for us to do). Oh, we live in Colorado Springs, so all of this is accessible with no more than a day's drive.

I'm originally from Louisiana, so this entire Colorado experience has been wonderful. The narrow gauge has been the clear highlight for all of us, dad, mom, and Matthew, our 10-year-old. As Yakov Smirnoff would say, "What a wanderful caountry!"