Here are my impressions of that day. I hope you enjoy them.
I arrived on the scene around dusk on that day. I had just made my first trip over the C&TS, running a Fairmont speeder with Terry Ross as my tour guide. I had been working on track repair in the Narrows for the last two weeks, with Sid McKinney and several Siegrist Construction guys. Up to then, I had never seen the railroad except between Chama and the Narrows. So when Terry asked me if I would like to run the speeder over the line to Antonito with him, and to see the first run of the 483, I jumped at the chance. The speeder would then be used as the patrol car in front of the train the next day. Of course, the ride was the most awesome and thrilling I had ever taken.
It was beginning to get dark when we arrived at the east end. I had had no idea what I would find when we got there, so all I had with me was a sleeping bag and a jacket. I had assumed there would be some sort of facilities at that end, but all I found was the locomotive, a long string of railroad cars, and lots of people milling around in the desert, far from anywhere. It was a scene of chaos, excitement, and celebration all at once. There were people standing in groups talking, people clustered around the locomotive, people walking back and forth, people barbequing. There were people oiling things, people checking journal packing, people checking brake shoes. Over it all there was the constant drone of a small but noisy gas-powered air compressor someone had rigged up to the blower pipe of the locomotive, trying to get some draft for the fire in the firebox. Sitting in the engineer's seat in the locomotive was Ben Greathouse, answering questions and telling stories of his days on the Narrow Gauge. I perceived he was a person of some importance, as a man with a high-quality rig was recording him as he spoke.
It was already dark now, I was tired and hungry, and it was getting cold. No one seemed to know what was going on or who was in charge. Terry Ross was the only person I knew, and he had disappeared into the crowd as soon as we arrived. It soon became clear that there were no facilities to be had out here, no place to eat, no place to sleep. It seemed like everyone but me already knew everyone else. Eventually someone gave me some leftover food. Someone said that a few guys were going to sack out in the reefers, since they would offer some warmth, but I found that they were already spoken for. Thankfully, one group of guys relented and let me join them.
Sometime in the middle of the night, the water in 483's boiler became hot enough to make a little steam, and then the process of firing her up began to slowly gain momentum. By morning, steam was up!
