Well going along with the fact you never know who is involved, paying or not on these things I can offer a couple of other examples. In 1992 I chased the first weekend of the John Craft trips. I would pay my dues so to speak by being John's #2 on the Friday charter that followed plus the second weekend of trips which I did ride. Anyway between the two weekends John and others took off for Durango, and we had the chore of driving to Santa Fe one day(Thursday) and purchasing all the food and beverages plus incidentals that the Friday-Sunday trains would handle. I always told John that I felt a little guilty not having to pay, but he said I more than earned my way. One of my jobs was to be a guide for those wanting into Cresco the second weekend. The first weekend they stopped there, but since many of the patrons rode both trips they tried to do some different spots.
Now back on point, I first met John West while chasing the first trip out of Antonito. We wound up at the same overlook east of Toltec along the road to Osier. He stated he had bought a ticket for the weekend but preferred to get some shots like he had done in the 60's.
The back and forth about freeloaders and chase passes is never ending. I sponsored a charter in 93 and some of us yelled at some freeloaders along the way, for which I now regret. The guy later kicked in 30 bucks I think. There is a lot that goes into the trips by the folks who run them, organize them, and so forth. That being said they are a lot of expense. Because of that great cost to the participants I think they all feel they want to get their money's worth, which is more considerable each trip. Folks have their time, energy and have emptied their wallets. Also these trips require folks to be in relatively good shape. I was fine for the 92-93 trips, but today I would likely be wasting my money and not enjoy myself much. In 2014 I had just as much enjoyment out of taking video of the regular trains and special trains the C&TS ran, and our day-long ride from Antonito-Chama.
One thing we did on a L&N 152 Charter in 1988 was to offer a Rider Ticket. We limited the photographers to 40 and the cost was $175.00. Rider tickets were either $75 or $100.00, but they were not permitted off the train, except at one or two spots where there was a lot of room. This worked well for one guy who brought his wife and two kids along so they were not left out. I did that trip on a tight budget as my cost was $5K for a one-way trip (took most of the day). The extra fares helped get us to a break-even point. Now I do not know how this can help on the C&TS unless there were more seats available, say in those rider box cars. Anyway I thought I would throw out my suggestion from an experience in the past.
Greg Scholl
