Re: The Last Rotary, Charter, etc Before Internet
| April 15, 2014 07:40AM |
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This last rotary trip was a memorable one with both good and bad memories. My best friend and longtime C&TS employee , Chris Pease, had passed away after a tragic accident on the Santa Fe Southern the previous November. My wife and I, along with our year old daughter, traveled from Phoenix to Santa Fe to assist Chris’s widow sort through his belongings and pack up her house for her move back to Colorado. It was heartbreaking to say the least and tougher on me than I thought it would be. After a day or two, I left my wife and daughter behind in Santa Fe, and met my friend, George Lawrence, in Chama for the first day of the rotary run. We watched as the operation struggled up the pass and I was able to meet up with old friends from my C&TS days, Cliff and Margret Palmer, Doug Stamps and others. We were able to reminisce about our time with Chris and out time on the C&TS.
The following day, George and I traveled to Cumbres, were I found Earl, Jack Campbell and others getting the rotary outfit ready for the day. Thanks to Earl, I was able to take a ride on the 488 and help out a little (firing) as the train worked its way toward Los Pinos and eventually retreating back to Cumbres. Being able to do something on the railroad that I first worked with Chris on was pretty therapeutic for me at the time. Now here it is, 17 years later, my daughter will be graduating from high school next month, and not a day goes by where I don’t think about my friend Chris and the good times we had on the C&TS, Georgetown Loop and Grand Canyon Railway.
And thanks Earl, I probably never told you how much that meant to me at the time.
Mike Ramsey
The following day, George and I traveled to Cumbres, were I found Earl, Jack Campbell and others getting the rotary outfit ready for the day. Thanks to Earl, I was able to take a ride on the 488 and help out a little (firing) as the train worked its way toward Los Pinos and eventually retreating back to Cumbres. Being able to do something on the railroad that I first worked with Chris on was pretty therapeutic for me at the time. Now here it is, 17 years later, my daughter will be graduating from high school next month, and not a day goes by where I don’t think about my friend Chris and the good times we had on the C&TS, Georgetown Loop and Grand Canyon Railway.
And thanks Earl, I probably never told you how much that meant to me at the time.
Mike Ramsey
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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.