Re: Remembering the C&TS 1980 Photo Charter, DRGW Stock Train

I was a freeloader on the stock train. I came up to see the train and offered to help out if they needed anything. So, George Lawrence and I spent the afternoon putting triple valves on 4 or 5 stock cars.

I chased the train out of Chama as far a Sublette. Bill Peter was rather P.O.ed at me for chasing his train. To my knowledge, I was the only person at trackside. I was going to give Peter $20 when we got to Antonito, but at Sublette he decided to read me the riot act about trespassing on RR property and getting in the way of all the runbys, etc. I don't recall there being any runbys at any of the locations I stopped at. At any rate, I kept my $20 and went back to Chama. I had planned to chase the train back, but because Peter's hostility, I decided not to. What I wanted to tell Mr. Peter was that next time, he could muck around under the stock cars all afternoon and I'd just watch.

At this time there were only 2 stock cars on the C&TS roster. The remainder of the train was made up of cars owned by Scenic Rys. These cars were left behind in Chama when the D&RGW abandoned the railroad in 1968. With demise of Scenic Rys, these cars were sold the D&S and to the National Park Service in Cimarron. If I recall the last stock car had inside benches to sit on and a couple of boards removed so passengers could see out.

I guess I'll have to set up my scanner and search for the slides I took.

I guess going up to Chama and volunteering for a couple of weeks in the Fall of 1980 was a good thing as the C&TS hired me the next spring.

From then on Bill and I had an uneasy truce. When he ran his Spreader Train the next year, Getman put me on as fireman. Bill tried real hard to get Getman to put George Knauff on it instead of me. George wanted nothing to do with it, so I fired. I think I worked on every other special Peter ran on the C&TS.