Re: Railroad hotels and reading rooms

I seem to remember the railroaders stayed at both Fosters and at the Shamrock (now Roger's place) across the street. Seems to me the crews from one end stayed at one, the crews from the other end at the other, but I don't remember which was which. I stayed at the Shamrock several times, and remember it as being reasonably decent, certainly better than some of the flop houses I had used when working as a fireman on the SP. Don't remember eating at Fosters, since Gordon Chappell and I favored Kelly's Cafe down the street where a very young Vera was working as the cook. Kelly's subsequently burned down, and we like to joke that Vera's green sauce caught fire one day.

For those staying at either Roger's place or Fosters these days, it is useful to keep in mind that both places are catering to a more upscale clientele than they were 50 uears ago, and presumably have cleaned up their places accordingly. Also, Chama is a much more upscale place, with tourists replacing the mill workers, railroaders, and sheep herders that dominated the culture back in the bad ole days.

But while a lot has changed in Chama, it is a whole lot more like it was than Durango is.

JBW