Olaf Rasmussen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The January 28 - February 1, 1964 narrow gauge
> chase was one of my most desperate as well as one
> of my most memorable trips to the narrow gauge.
> Before 1963 my only contact with the narrow gauge
> had been the Silverton branch, but in the summer
> of 1963 I was finally able to start exploring the
> Alamosa - Durango main line. In May/June I rode
> the RMRRC excursion from Chama to Alamosa, rode
> the cab of 498 from Antonito to Alamosa on a
> freight, and rode the Illini special from Alamosa
> to Durango. On the return trip from the Denver
> NRHS convention in September I had a fairly
> desperate side trip to Durango and a freight out
> of Chama that I survived well enough by pure luck,
> rather than by any good planning on my part (as
> posted earlier).
>
> [attachment 71309 scan00392.jpg]
>
> These adventures only heightened my interest in
> the narrow gauge. In the fall of 1963 I was an
> engineering student at New Mexico State University
> in Las Cruces. I spent much of my limited free
> time rock climbing in the Organ Mountains, just a
> few miles east of the campus. Climbing was really
> great, but what I really wanted was to find a way
> to get back to the narrow gauge - the problem
> being that the closest narrow gauge point, Chama,
> was almost 400 miles away.
>
> [attachment 71310 organ-mountains.jpg-2.jpg]
>
> Getting to the narrow gauge was a really daunting
> challenge. Not only was the the narrow gauge a
> long way away, I didn't have a car, my
> discretionary allowance was very small, and the
> University took up most of my time. Nevertheless,
> at semester break from Wednesday afternoon,
> January 29 to Sunday, February 2, 1964, there
> seemed to be an opportunity. On Wednesday morning
> I called agent Trotter in Chama, and got the usual
> reply - a train was just leaving Chama for
> Alamosa, but this time I got better news - another
> 3-day freight cycle would start the next day,
> Thursday. I should mention that a pay phone call
> to Chama cost $ 1.25, which is nothing today, but
> a substantial hit in my very limited finances back
> then. I went out and bought several rolls of 120
> B&W film for the totally obsolete Agfa box camera
> that I had inherited when my dad bought a new 35
> mm SLR ( I still have the camera as souvenir, but
> I took it my last photos with it in June 1964,
> pacing 488 from Antonito to Alamosa)
>
> [attachment 71311 agfa2.jpg]
>
> After verifying that there were to be narrow gauge
> trains for three days, I quickly made up a plan. A
> couple of friends were driving to Los Alamos after
> classes, and could give me a ride to Santa Fe,
> from where I could catch the Chama Valley Bus
> Lines bus to Chama. There was one more problem.
> After buying the rolls of film, my cash balance
> was down to only 8 dollars. Borrowing money from
> several friends, I managed to bump this up to 18
> dollars. Without doing a detailed financial
> assessment, I packed up some winter gear and the
> camera, and headed off with my friends for Santa
> Fe. Our drive took us thru my home town of
> Alamogordo, but I knew that if I went home for
> more finances, I would almost assuredly end up
> spending spring break at home rather than in
> winter-time narrow gauge country. About 10 pm my
> friends dropped me off at the La Fonda hotel in
> Santa Fe, from where the bus would depart for
> Chama at 7 am the next morning. I was thinking
> that I could just sit in a comfy chair in the
> hotel lobby until the next morning. That was OK
> for a couple of hours, but about midnight the
> manager stopped by. I told him that I was waiting
> for the bus, and that I could not afford to rent
> a room. He was very nice, and told me that while I
> could not spend the night in the lobby, that he
> had a broom closet with a bed in it that he would
> let me have for $ 1.50. After some good sleep in
> the broom closet, I boarded the bus in front of
> the hotel. It was a cut off shorty bus with a mail
> compartment in the back and 3 or 4 rows of seats
> behind the driver. People got on and off at
> various stops, but I was the only passenger going
> all the way to Chama.
>
> [attachment 71312 La_Fonda_Hotel-32.jpg]
>
> We arrived in Chama sometime before noon. I
> checked into the Shamrock hotel ($ 3 per night,
> ouch !) and had the afternoon free to explore the
> Chama facilities, since the trains from Alamosa
> and Durango wouldn't arrive until well after dark.
> I checked out the railroad facilities and the
> Skyline Lumber saw mill that was preparing to ship
> out lumber loads on this freight cycle.
>
> [attachment 71313 scan00044.jpg]
>
> In the later part of the afternoon I hiked a
> couple of miles toward Cumbres, and was lucky when
> two section men on a speeder picked me up and gave
> me a ride back to Chama.
>
> (to be continued)
That photo of 492 is shortly after it got repaired from its encounter with the big rock! Cool stuff Olaf.
William
aka drgwk37
