Re: 44 Years

55 years ago last month for the first Colorado narrow gauge ride - Silverton behind 476. 64 years since the first ever narrow gauge ride at Knott's Berry Farm behind the 340 (then "40"). Went to Knott's with my grandfather who was a retired Rio Grande switch foreman. Showed Ed Randow his pass and we got ushered into the stall-a-parlor-car "Chama" to sit in the big tiger striped seats and watch the engine run out the parlor windows. Quite a treat for a 6-year-old. Of course I didn't know what narrow gauge was all about until 1959 when I first saw the 3-rail operation at Alamosa.

My first ride on the C&TS was in '72. 484 on the point. Ken Pruitt signed me up as a car attendant as we rolled through Los Pinos! Showed me the ropes - er, I mean 'chains' - on the old fall-down car door/steps.

Good times. The next year I spent a month riding as a car attendant and met the Osterwalds. But that's another story.