Re: First C&TS train to Chama, Highway 17 pt. 2 (1970)

Tank Smith Wrote:
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> A few more images of the highway crossing, here
> the bad rail has been removed and everyone is
> waiting for the replacement to arrive after being
> dragged through town from the back of a pickup
> truck (I’ve never seen any photos of this event).


I vaguely remember seeing one or two photos, Tank -

Which might have been among Ernie's slides being shown on the wall when a few of us old-timers gathered in his motel room in Chama several years ago.  I was part of the gang of four or five who rode in the back of the pickup out beyond the wye to where the Grande had pulled the spikes but not yet picked up the rail from their former "main line" to Durango.  As I recall we dragged a double-length of rail through town one block back from Terrace Avenue.  The street wasn't paved and we were in a hurry, so the rail whipping back-and-forth raised quite a cloud of dust . . .

- Roosso

p.s.  IIRC, it was a white truck, driven by a Chama resident who lived a mile or so south on Highway 84.  He took care of my dog Nikki that evening, and in the morning drove me up to the top of the pass to retrieve my old orange Ford pickup.