As soon as school was out in June 1973 Nancy and I loaded everything we thought we would need for the summer into our 1966 Falcon, and we headed for Chama. As we drove into town in the late afternoon a couple of days later, I grandly exclaimed “Well, here we are!” She looked around and asked, somewhat apprehensively, “Where we are?” “Chama,” said I, “Our new home.” “No way!!” said she, then, “Just for the summer, right!?” I said “Well, we will see.” Expectations! We all have them, and they are good – except when they aren’t.
The C&TS experience has been fraught with expectations. Some were little more than flights of fancy, totally unrealistic, and yet they survive. Others were counterproductive and have led to decisions that have done more harm than good. But many were sound, which is why the C&TS has survived these 40 years.
From the beginning there were two primary interest groups working to save what they could of the D&RGW narrow gauge. The railfan/preservationist group thought it should be saved because of its historical value. They expected to preserve it, and hopefully to operate it, as the D&RGW narrow gauge they knew or imagined a la 1950. It is my understanding that they got the “Save the Narrow Gauge” ball rolling.
With a little encouragement from the railfan activists, local community and business leaders began to see the economic value of having their own “Silverton Train.” They expected it to provide employment and business opportunities for locals. These two groups obviously had a common goal, but very different expectations.
Well, actually, there was a third interest group with a diametrically opposed goal: the D&RGW wanted the narrow gauge gone, period. They fully expected that if any part of the abandoned line survived it would come back to haunt them. The D&RGW lost that one as we all know, but fortunately for all, their worst fears have not been realized.
Once the deed was done and the 64 mile line from Antonito to Chama was saved, the parties involved were faced with the question “Now what?”
A dedicated group of volunteers, drawn mainly from the railfan contingent, congealed into the Narrow Gauge Railroad Association (NGRRA). They played a critical role in the early days of the C&TS. It has always been my impression that the movers and shakers in the NGRRA assumed that the C&TS was
their railroad, and
they expected to run the show.
But the suits had picked up the tab. There’s an old saying that economic development talks, historical preservation walks – something like that. The suits expected this to become another Silverton Train sooner than later, and they had enough sense to know that a non-profit membership group of volunteer enthusiasts, no matter how dedicated, could not be trusted to accomplish that. Accordingly, the states decided to seek a private company with experience operating a steam-powered tourist railroad. The expectation was that such an operator could combine practical business experience with operational expertise in a way that a group of volunteer weekend railroaders could not. In those days, though, there were few options, and those few already had their hands full – except for Scenic Railways.
Scenic Railways won the bid to operate the railroad and signed a 10 year contract with the Commission. The Company expected to have a reasonable chance to turn a profit at some point in the foreseeable future (because that’s what companies are supposed to do), and that it would be allowed to focus its time, energy and resources on doing those things that would make that possible.
So, by the time I arrived in Chama the scene was dominated by three well-established and competing sets of expectations: those of the communities, as represented at that point by the C&TSRR Commission; those of the railfan volunteers, as represented by the NGRRA; and those of the contract operator, Scenic Railways. Now, competition isn’t necessarily a bad thing, except when it is. And in this case it definitely was: the expectations weren’t just competing; they were in conflict with each other. It was like they were living in three different worlds.
Well, Nancy and I arrived in Chama oblivious to all of that. After securing a kitchenette for the summer at the Chama Station Lodge we went down to the High Country expecting to enjoy our first meal in Chama. In that, we weren’t disappointed.
"Sometimes he remembers things that never happened and forgets things that did happen!" Mrs. B.
See also:
Scenic and the C&TS, an Oral History, Part 1: Meeting Fritz
Scenic and the C&TS, an Oral History, Part 3A: 1973, Filling Trains
Scenic and the C&TS, an Oral History, Part 3B: 1973, "If the world ended today...."
Scenic and the C&TS, an Oral History, Part 4: OM-74
Scenic and the C&TS, an Oral History, Part 5A: 1974, Biting the Bullet
About the author
Also of interest:
How Many Winter Specials did Scenic Railways operate?
Bite the Bullet Photo Gallery
"Time spent with CATS is never wasted." -- Sigmund Freud
"Nothing endures but change." -- Heraclitus
"C'est le meilleur des mondes possibles." -- Candide
Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2011 08:50PM by gothpapa.
