Chris Walker Wrote:
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> Down here we have a saying.... "You're Dreamin',
> Mate".
>
> Some have suggested some Wild West Towns and other
> ideas to be built in the remote areas of the
> C&TS.
>
> Just why in the heck anyone wants to drag the
> civilization circus of Americana into the last
> refuges of the unspoilt West beats me. What was
> that song? Something or other like "Paved over
> Paradise and put up a Parking Lot".
>
> Where's the Water to supply these Ideas coming
> from, the services like Electricity, Sewerage
> disposal and Roading for these improvements come
> from? Who's paying for that and still with no
> guarantee of reaching the sustainability limit.
>
> I guess then you have a duplicate of every other
> attraction across the US and lost what is so
> special about the high country on the C&TS. Open
> space, no Human detritus apart from the Railway
> line. The one concession is the facilities at
> Osier and that's a matter of necessity in my
> book.
Great Post...a voice of reason!
>
> My first exposure to the Line was in an 1973 or'74
> issue of Rail Classics, after looking at that I
> decided that is what I wanted to see, not the
> Hollywood version. If I want that version I can
> save thousands of dollars, stay home and watch a
> movie.
Wow someone else who read Rail Classics!!! It was about that time in 1973-76(I cannot remember exactly), my brother Randy did an article for Rail Classics on South African Steam. It had lots of great images, good article and so forth. I believe he got a whopping $75.00 and bragging rights. Anyway Rail Classics was not the best looking mag, but had some neat stuff in it that the other tow-the-line US mags would not publish.
>
> Because of that desire awakened by the Rail
> Classics mag, I have visited and ridden 3 times,
> visited and chased once more on top of that.
> Convinced 2 other Kiwis to accompany me on the
> ride along with us in '82 that were not interested
> after riding the D&SNG. Even after getting back
> home I've steered 5 more Kiwi's into going to
> Chama and riding it. I don't know how many they
> also talked into going, I guess several more.
Sometimes when I mention the Cumbres and Toltec, I have to repeat myself. The other day a customer called to order something, and he had just watched the "Rocky Mountain Snowplow"(OY on the C&TS in 1997 for those who do not know). He could not even remember the word Toltec when trying to relate to me the video, and he had just watched it recently. He said he had ridden that Durango to Silverton train, but never the C&TS. Everyone seems to know about Durango, but then again that train ride was there long before the C&TS existed.
Cheers to down under!
Greg