Re: Unique Chama

I'd heard of Chama for years but first got to go there in October of 2012, during a Florida-Washington state road trip my wife and I were doing (5000+ miles on the rental SUV when we turned it in, you should have seen the look on the faces of the rental people when they realized that).
We spent the night in Las Vegas, NV so I could see the town where "Red Dawn" had been filmed (after driving over a couple of giant tarantulas crossing the highway, something that still gives my wife the heebie-jeebies). We got up uber early that morning, passed through Taos, and were at Chama just as the sun was getting up. I pulled up to the parking area to the left of the station as you faced the yard, got out into the chilled air, and darned near broke my jaw when it dropped to the ground.
I've been into historical re-enacting for most of my life, starting as a kid. You name a timeframe, I've probably tried to re-create it.
But I have never, ever felt as much like I was in another timeframe like I had as I walked past the modern vehicles and looked out into that yard. It really felt like I'd walked back into the mid to late 1950s. I've never had that strong a feeling before or since.
Sure, there were some laminated signs and modern lights at the enginehouse, but they were easy to ignore. nobody else was walking around, so I had the place to myself. I have no idea where the crews were or where the train was we'd be riding later, at that time. People started filtering in soon enough, but for a good half hour, I'd actually gone back in time.
And that moment alone had the entire trip worth it.

-Lee

Flickr photo set of my On30 layout