Re: another blast from the CATS past, '74 brochure

drgw0579 Wrote:
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> I think this was in a 1971 New Mexico Magazine
> [attachment 61950 CTS1971.jpg]

You can see the operating schedule on the bottom of the poster.

In 1971 the format was run the train from one end of the railroad for a few weeks, then run across to the other end and run trains from that end for a few weeks, then swap back. The out and back trips were round trips by train. The Chama departures went to Big Horn and back (90 miles). The Antonito departures went to Cumbres and back (100 miles). Trains ran primarily on Saturdays.
If you chose to ride one of the one way moves over the entire railroad, they provided bus transportation back to your starting point, probably in borrowed school busses.

As the summer progressed, additional short runs were offered during the week. Somewhere in all my stuff I have a copy of the revised schedule issued in August. From Chama they offered Cumbres Turns. From Antonito they ran Sublette Turns. They didn't run very many of these, perhaps 2-3 days from each end. I also recall a Chama- Los Pinos Turn.

In 1972 they settled into the 4-day a week schedule of "one-way-by-train - one-way-by-bus" format that continued through 1979. Scenic bought their own fleet of busses, sadly they "cheaped out" and bought gasoline-engined vehicles which ran well for a few years, then began to have mechanical issues - some of which were catastrophic engine failures. BTW, the above mention of the bus running out of gas, was not an isolated event. One legendary day, all 4 bus drivers forgot to gas up before departing the initial terminal.

I remember the 1971 fares being very high - $13.00 for adults. Kids were only $5 or so, which helped out, but still a lot of money when you could get a ticket on the Silverton for $6.95 ($3.95 for kids).