John West Wrote:
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> One of the more interesting issues for the Friends
> is what era of the railroad should the various
> historic aspects of the C&TS depict. A lot of the
> still existent equipment has lived through many
> different eras on the Rio Grande, representing
> different technologies, different operating
> practices, different liveries, and so on. There
> are those like me who want everything to look
> exactly as it did in the 50's and 60's when we saw
> it....ours is an exercise in nostalgia. But there
> are others who are more interested in earlier
> eras, and their interest is no less legitimate
> than mine. And the historians and modelers who
> prefer those earlier eras are probably a growing
> fan base, whereas the old farts like me who are
> nostalgic for the real thing in the 60's is a
> rapidly shrinking population. Probably most
> interesting to me is the new generation of folks
> who are interested in the history of the C&TS
> itself, not so much the old DRGW. And the current
> C&TS employees can take a lot of pride in what the
> C&TS has accomplished over its 50 years history,
> to heck with the DRGW. I seem to remember the
> Friends have a plan to handle all this reasonably
> systematically, but occasionally it is a bit of a
> shock to to see something I remember back dated to
> something that I don't remember. But it is all
> good.
>
> JBWX
I'm of the opinion based on the rolling stock, structures, and other things pointed out by John that the era of preservation should aim for 1955ish. I understand things get lettered or numbered non-historically for charters and events or even for use in revenue service. But, the aim should be for the bulk of the preserved non-revenue equipment to be lettered and numbered as historically accurate as possible. Just my thoughts.
William
aka drgwk37
