Issues and Addresses

Here are the addresses of NM legislatures, and the Federal Delegations of each State. The ones chosen in the House were picked by Bobby Gonzales, who is the Representative in Taos. He chose the people that he thought should best be contacted. He told me that he would be glad to sponsor another bill with Debbie Rodella for the present $400,000 for the next year. The Senate was picked out by me, if there are corrections. The Feds have been posted before. I hope someone else can do Colorado State, as I have other things to do.
I don’t have any idea what direction the Friends are headed. I have talked with a few of the politicians and there is some positive light out there. However, we need to remind these politicians of the seriousness of this RR, and they need to support it any way they can. So, with my creative effort and genius, I have put together some of these issues that they need to be made aware of.
A few of the issues that need to be brought up to these people are:
(Send copies to the Commission)
Not enough serious participation by the Commission, and what the Commission has done to address bridges(Cascade should be painted, etc.)? What has or does the Commission plan to do about the water system, and how fast are they going to do it? My experience in the engine is that I kind of like to have the water glass full, with the tender full and being able to know that every tank has sufficient water in case of an emergency. It is hardly that way at the moment, with no plan for it to change. They may think that there is something more important on the locomotive, like maybe brakes, but if you don’t have water you probably don’t need brakes(if there is a debate on this check with El Coke). Demand that the Commission come up with some kind of reasonable plan for the RR, that should have been done 30 years ago. They need one just to get back on track. This way we could go for Grants . Without a plan no one is going to give money. A grant needs to be found to repair the passenger cars, and replace trucks. I have heard we only need about $50,000 a car. This could be handled from the State funds over several years, but again there is no plan.
The Railroad is stuck with an unfunded Government mandate. This has been know for several years, and the politicians need to be reminded that all the boilers need to be torn down, mapped and put back together. Emphasize that they will then be good for another 15 years with the proper maintenance. This is an enormous task for any line using steam engines, and is putting a very heavy burden on the C & TSRR. I would think that the States would be well aware of unfunded mandates and know how to deal with them. The State Legislatures need to go to their Federal Delegation and ask for at least $600,000 per engine. Remind them, that with the engines are tenders and all of them need close to $20,000, although the above figure would probably cover this and running gear. Sadly this needs to be pointed out and emphasized to the commission over, and over again. It needs to be brought to all the politicians attention.
We need to demand that the Commission pay the RGRPC, and straighten out whatever the problem is. They need to be reminded that they should be helping the operator, who has just undergone a terrible shutdown with no help from them. They don’t need to hinder this operation.
The Commission needs to move ahead rapidly and resolve the problem over our operation. Right now the Forest Service has shown they have whatever power is necessary to shut us down, and this needs to be resolved SOON! Friday, while coming around the curve at 305 was a Forest Service truck spying on us to make sure we comply with their orders. I wanted to open the blow down, as a precautionary measure. If this Forest Service employee decides to burn his love letters, or weld a fence, the RR will definitely get the blame for the fire he starts.
Everyday, the engines sit there waiting for the necessary repairs. There is hardly enough time now. As it is every year, opening day is a surprise. In 2003 opening day will come as a surprise. But if we don’t get some help, the surprise may not be that “Hey, tomorrow we run a train!”, but “Hey, tomorrow we only have one engine to run.” Then history will repeat itself with the age old traditional argument of where to run the one engine out of, Chama or Antonito. I can hear all the merchants and politicians that I hardly ever hear come to life. You will see people come out of the woodwork you never heard of, and some you have heard of, demanding explanations. Instead of helping they will be threatening the RR, and as it is today blaming everything on the RR. Anyone, who was at the last Commission meeting would have wished they had brought airsickness bags. One wonders if any of these people wrote their Congressman or demanded an explanation from the Forest Service. Maybe all of them should have been trying to sue the Forest Service for their personal losses. It appears to be much easier to be part of the problem than the solution, and blame the RR! It would be worth ten times the money not to listen to this again.
It was brought to my attention by Senator Bingaman’s office, if this RR was ever going to be successful or will it have to be bailed out every few years. We might suggest to them that if has had years of use, and the equipment had deferred maintenance before the states took it over. It needs a complete overhaul. It needed a complete overhaul when they took it over. The State legislatures need to look at the contract with the operator, look at the overall equipment and see that 3 operators have let this go in 10 years. The equipment needs to be repaired and a reasonable contract written. Maybe this RR is always going to be subsidized, but the return will benefit the States in taxes, and jobs and income coming to the area. However the RR has to have a direction and a plan set up. Somebody else posted this before, but I don’t remember who or when it was?
We need to urge the NM politicians to talk to the Colorado politicians and see if they can come up with the measly $400,000 that NM is matching. I can hardly believe they don’t have this money. They came up with 500,000 for the Durango and Silverton. It needs to be emphasized very strongly that this will produce over 40 million in the area. Remind them that this is an area that can’t afford to loose anther job. This hardly seems like a poor investment for the return, regardless of the votes or amount of people.
Even if you don’t live or vote here explain that you come to visit and spend money here. Tell them you have 5 kids, come 5 times a year, or you have your own tour groups and you go to Taos, Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Tell them, you had planned to come last June, but there were problems. We have to convince these politicians that this RR needs to be fixed and not just patched.
Sadly, if we cannot convince them, there will another lousy winter while they look for other operators. The 484 will be fixed, and hopefully the 488 will be put back together, and the 487 will limp on. If we operate at all, we will be in the exact same position we are in right now, and everyone will say, “It is going to be a tough Summer!” I wonder where I have heard that before?
New Mexico Legislatures:
House of Representatives
Danice Picraux
4308 Avenioda La Resolana NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
Nick L. Salazar
Box 1076
San Juan Pueblo, NM 87556
Debbie Rodella Representative from Rio Arriba County(home of C&TSRR)
Box 1074
San Juan Pueblo, NM 87556
Roberto J. Gonzales
Box 6193
Taos, NM 87571
Jeanenette O. Wallace
1913 Spruce
Los Alamos, NM 87544
Patsy Trujillo Knauer
Box 15532
Santa Fe, NM 87506
Ben Lujan Speaker of the House
Route 1 Box 102
Santa Fe, NM 87506
Max Coll
1430 Canyon Road
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Luciano “Lucky” Varela
1709 Callejon Zenaida
Santa Fe, NM 87501
John A. Heaton
102 South Canyon
Carlsbad, NM 88220
Bengie Regensberg
Box 246
Cleveland, NM 87551
Senate
Manny M. Aragon
Drawer Z
Albuquerque, NM 87103
Sue Wilson Beffort
1516 Gray rock Place NE
Albuquerque, NM 87112
Carlos R. Cisneros
Box 1129
Questa, NM 87556
Phil A. Griego
Box 10San Jose,
NM 87565
Roman M. Maes III
1488 B St. Francis drive
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Richard C. Martinez
Box 934
Espanola, NM 87532
Nancy Rodriguez
1838 Camino La Canada
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Richard M. Romero
907 Silver Avenue SW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Govenors and Federal Delegation, listed many times
Governor Bill Owens 303-866-2471
FAX 303-866-2003
governorowens@state.co.us
Senator Wayne Allard 202-224-5941
[allard.senate.gov]
Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell 202-224-5852
[www.senate.gov]
NEW MEXICO:
Governor Gary E. Johnson 505-827-3000
[www.governor.state.nm.us]
Sen. Pete Domenici 202-224-6621
enator_domenici@domenici.senate.gov">Senator_domenici@domenici.senate.gov
Sen. Jeff Bingaman 202-224-5521
senator_bingaman@bingaman.senate.gov
Rep. Tom Udall 202-225-6190
Tom.udall@mail.house.gov
Rep. Heather Wilson 202-225-6316
Ask.heather@mail.house.gov
Rep. Joe Skeen 202-225-2365
Joe.skeen@mail.house.gov
Railroad Commission
P. O. Box 561, Antonito, CO 81120.
e-mail is ctsrrcom@fone.net
Telephone: 719-376-5488