Re: Timing is everything
| December 03, 2010 01:00PM |
|
OK, now we are getting somewhere!
NOTE that in this discussion, and the title attached to it, I have deliberately avoided using the term "rotary" by itself. I refer to WINTER SPECIAL.
In my model scenario (which ended with a snowball fight in the middle of the night
if you recall) I said that snowfighting equipment will be on display and will be used as conditions warrant.
This was the lesson we learned as we "pioneered" this type of event on the C&TS in the '70's.
With OM-74 (our first attempt) we got lucky with two to four feet of fresh snow.
OM-75 we had to reschedule at the last minute due to lack of snow on the first chosen date. That decision/necessity was not fun for anybody involved. Then, when we did run we bogged down on ice in the Narrows.
When we cleared the line for the John Deere Snowmobile commercial (about two weeks after OM-75, I believe) it took two days of hard work in fresh snow with no photo runs or other distractions to reach Cresco Tank.
OM-76 ran in the middle of February, and even then the snow was barely adequate for a good show.
We skipped 1977, and it was a good thing we did because it was a very snow free winter.
By 1978 we had learned our lesson: we picked a firm date that seemed reasonable, promised only to have a rotary under steam and other snowfighting equipment available, and then to do whatever seemed appropriate under prevailing conditions. WYSIWYG (does that date me?).
IIRC, when we did that Miller's Time commercial we had to truck snow down from Cumbres and dump it in the narrows or somewhere closer to Chama.
The critical thing is: don't make promises that you don't know that you can keep!! If you promise (or raise expectations for) Cumbres and you only make Cresco they'll never forgive you. If you promise Lobato and make it to Cresco they'll love you. But on the other hand, if you derail at Cresco with half-a-hundred middle-aged outa-shape fair-weather foamers on the train, how the devil are you going to get them out of there? I've made that climb from the highway to the tank in the summer when I was young and in good shape, and it wasn't all that much fun even then.
As for timing, I think the more critical thing is planning. Frankly, Im assuming three to five years down the road, given my understanding of available resources (motive power and manpower) and the condition of the rotaries. Planning should begin with a committee (could even be a committee of one in the beginning). No commitments, no promises, just a quiet, lowkey investigation of issues and possibilities.
Coordinating with the D&S winter event sounds like a great idea.
Let's keep kicking this thing around, positively and productively. We may score, or we may not score, but we should at least end up knowing the score.
Sorry I'm so verbose, have never been good at sound bites.
"Time spent with CATS is never wasted." -- Sigmund Freud
"Nothing endures but change." -- Heraclitus
"C'est le meilleur des mondes possibles." -- Candide
NOTE that in this discussion, and the title attached to it, I have deliberately avoided using the term "rotary" by itself. I refer to WINTER SPECIAL.
In my model scenario (which ended with a snowball fight in the middle of the night
if you recall) I said that snowfighting equipment will be on display and will be used as conditions warrant.This was the lesson we learned as we "pioneered" this type of event on the C&TS in the '70's.
With OM-74 (our first attempt) we got lucky with two to four feet of fresh snow.
OM-75 we had to reschedule at the last minute due to lack of snow on the first chosen date. That decision/necessity was not fun for anybody involved. Then, when we did run we bogged down on ice in the Narrows.
When we cleared the line for the John Deere Snowmobile commercial (about two weeks after OM-75, I believe) it took two days of hard work in fresh snow with no photo runs or other distractions to reach Cresco Tank.
OM-76 ran in the middle of February, and even then the snow was barely adequate for a good show.
We skipped 1977, and it was a good thing we did because it was a very snow free winter.
By 1978 we had learned our lesson: we picked a firm date that seemed reasonable, promised only to have a rotary under steam and other snowfighting equipment available, and then to do whatever seemed appropriate under prevailing conditions. WYSIWYG (does that date me?).
IIRC, when we did that Miller's Time commercial we had to truck snow down from Cumbres and dump it in the narrows or somewhere closer to Chama.
The critical thing is: don't make promises that you don't know that you can keep!! If you promise (or raise expectations for) Cumbres and you only make Cresco they'll never forgive you. If you promise Lobato and make it to Cresco they'll love you. But on the other hand, if you derail at Cresco with half-a-hundred middle-aged outa-shape fair-weather foamers on the train, how the devil are you going to get them out of there? I've made that climb from the highway to the tank in the summer when I was young and in good shape, and it wasn't all that much fun even then.
As for timing, I think the more critical thing is planning. Frankly, Im assuming three to five years down the road, given my understanding of available resources (motive power and manpower) and the condition of the rotaries. Planning should begin with a committee (could even be a committee of one in the beginning). No commitments, no promises, just a quiet, lowkey investigation of issues and possibilities.
Coordinating with the D&S winter event sounds like a great idea.
Let's keep kicking this thing around, positively and productively. We may score, or we may not score, but we should at least end up knowing the score.
Sorry I'm so verbose, have never been good at sound bites.
"Time spent with CATS is never wasted." -- Sigmund Freud
"Nothing endures but change." -- Heraclitus
"C'est le meilleur des mondes possibles." -- Candide
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488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
The NGDF was started by Don Richter and is currently operated in his memory by Nathan Holmes and others. Others who have contributed to the upkeep of this board are (in no particular order): Charles McCandless, Everett Lueck, Ted Wilton, Cole Adams, James Bane, John Moellmer, Jon Bentz, Linn Moedinger, lloyd lehrer, Rod Jensen, John Craft, Steven Forney, Herb Kelsey, Bill Ramaley, Russ Sperry (El Russo Loco), Josh McNeal, John West, Jim Armstrong, Bob Bergstrom, Greg Scholl, Blake Forbes Doug van Veelen and Mark Fuller.