Re: 55 years ago, the December 29, 1965

I made an adjustment to the December 29, 1965 train operations in the above post. The Alamosa - Chama double header was a heavy train of pipe and box cars of drill mud. Ernie Robart and Joe Hereford chased this train south of Alamosa. Ernie sent me a photo of this train on his home-made Christmas card the following year, but did not not include a date for the photo. A series of photos from December 29, 30, 31 and January 1 show up on Ernie's 1965 gallery on the FRIENDS site, providing the date. On these three days Ernie and Joe chased the freight out of Alamosa on December 29, and took photos around the Alamosa facilities and the surrounding area for the next two days. They did not attempt to get to Chama, which would have required driving there via Espanola on iffy roads, and of course they did not expect the delay associated with the derailment of 493 at Windy Point on December 30.

The photo from Ernie's Christmas card is one of my very favorites of his pictures. Some of you may feel the same way.