Re: Today's Crew Call - Oct 2, 1963, 1966

There were crews based in Alamosa and Durango, although they worked off the same senority board. (If life got slow in Durango, and you had enough seniority, you could go to Alamosa and work). There were 3 boards in Alamosa - Narrow Gauge, Standard Gauge and Extra Board. If you were a promoted engineer and had enough senority to hold a fireman's slot on the SG board and they needed an engineer on the NG, you went to Chama. Most of the men who were working then hired out in the 1940's and early 1950's. A few were hired in the late 50's and into the early 1960's. One gentleman who appears regularly is Carl Jack who hired on in 1952, ran the last eastbound out of Chama in 1968 and ran the last DRGW train to Silverton in 1981.
Usually a crew worked from Durango and Alamosa to Chama, laid over, then worked home. Often the Alamosa crew would stay an extra day doing Hill Turns, then go home. Occasionally during brief periods of heavy traffic, an Alamosa crew would stay in Chama a few days working in helper service. Very few crews were deadheaded around, except in cases of passenger specials where a Durango crew would deadhead over to take the train west, etc. RR management doesn't like to deadhead crews, it costs money.