Earl, et al,
In addition to working as a car attendant, I served as the editor of the NGRRA newsletter, a little mimeographed sheet called the “Telltale”. Ernie Robart was my “assistant” during the times he was available. We simply reported on the goings-on on the railroad to our members. The principle conflict I remember was when we reported that one of the Chama warehouses had been taken down by the Scenic folks. We assumed that it was done through the proper channels, but as it turned out, apparently it was not. As I recall, a certain rail historian asked of Railroad Commission if he could arrange a dig in the location of the warehouse, saying it had been the location of the original Chama station. I guess the commissioners were not amused as they knew nothing of the warehouse removal and had not been consulted. Of course, Scenic blamed the NGRRA for “leaking” the information in the newsletter. Bob Keller, president of Scenic appeared at a meeting of the NGRRA in Albuquerque. He expressed his displeasure at our reporting the warehouse removal in the newsletter as it had caused problems for Scenic. He asked that we not report anything on the railroad unless approved by Scenic. We agreed to not report anything about Scenic, but said we would continue to report developments on the railroad. Mr. Keller wasn’t real happy with this and I think our relationship with Scenic suffered as a result.
However during the times I worked as a Car Attendant, I don’t recall any conflict with the Scenic employees or anyone else. I think our efforts were appreciated as someone had to handle those heavy steps and their supporting chains on each car. It took a certain “expertise” to raise and lower those steps so as not to injure someone and to not break the chain or steps. One could not expect Scenic to provide employees for each car, hence the need for the volunteer car attendants. For what it’s worth, those are my nearly fifty year old memories of any conflicts between the NGRRA and Scenic Railways...
Bill M.
