Re: It's about time.

Dick,
do you know what lol means ??????
I had come over from Germany to rode the D&S(C&T too)for some 15 times in the last 10 years and I really like it. But while I like it I feel I have the right to critizise it too. The restrictions for photographers (in the depot, not on the Hig Line which is understandable) and totally commercialed sourroundings in Durango have ruined a bit of it's splendor.
For most European railfans the C & T is the more appropiate choice, because it is the "real thing". Have you ever took b+w pictures in Durango and Chama ? Guess which look more like the 40ies !
The rebuilt of the Durango roundhouse after the fire and the Museum are great improvements. But if you look at the station, there is nothing of the "flair" of the old Durango left.
If I was owner of the RR I would never had allowed a "Golden Arch Country Club" right behind my yard. This totally ruins the view. The whole yard is laid out only for tourist operations.
Boy, what would I pay for a real freight train consistng of gons, reefers, stock- and boxcars running up to Silverton. I made the whole way up to Silverton two times by foot with 70 pounds of cameras. lenses, equipment (tent) and food in my backpack (Fall 1987 and Summer 1998, tooks me two weeks each time and results in some 700 pictures) to catch the trains in remote areas. But a freight that is really what I missed most. The last freight photographer specials had been in 1995(I suppose) with some 3-4 cars behind # 480 (not very prototypical consist, exspe. the EBT-hopper). This could not be compared with the excellent "fall freight specials" on the C&T.
Preserving the heritage is not only running a museum it also results in prototypical opreations. Enough freight cars are in every siding from Rockwood up to Cascade Canyon and Silverton, most are very desolate but some could be restored to operational condition.
They are on the right way (Railfest, Museum, Silverton display) but there is much more to do
to "catch the spirit".
Awfully Durango and Chama are too far away from each other so the rebuilt of the connecting track will stay a dream.
Steffen