These are fantastic, Russ! Thank you so much for sharing them. I'd come across some of them before on the Friends' site, and that is most definitely a young Dick Gruber standing next to his dad in Chama on the morning of August 29, 1967. Incidentally, Dick was not terribly impressed by the narrow gauge when he was six years old. He told me recently that his feeling then was that they weren't real trains if he could stand with a foot on each rail! (He's seen the light since then.) They drove to Colorado from Wisconsin along with Bonnie, John's wife and Dick's mom, in their Rambler. Dick, who started kindergarten right after they got back from that trip, remembers that he kept his wax crayons in the seatback pocket, and at some point they melted and all he had left was a gooey glob of colorful wax.
On August 28, 1967, John & family chased the westbound train in their car from Alamosa to La Jara, where the train stopped to deal with a hotbox and water the two engines. He then rode in the cabooses to Antonito, and then in the cab of the 493 along with trainmaster Hubert Meek (there to babysit John, no doubt), engineer Bob Morgan (Eldon's brother), and fireman Gayle Cunningham. It looked crowded in there! John stayed in the 493's cab through the water stop at Lava to Sublette, where they stopped again for water and to rebrass the journal of the offending pipe car. John then moved back to the cabooses where he rode the rest of the way to Chama. Bonnie drove Dick over La Manga Pass in the Rambler and met them that evening in Chama. The next morning, they all chased the train up to Cumbres by car, and then John rode in the cabooses all the way back to Alamosa while Bonnie drove with Dick. The family then drove all the way to Durango and chased the next day's Farmington Turn.
In reading about those same days in other posts on this site, I've heard mention of the second caboose being add for a "group" from
Trains magazine, but as far as I can tell, it was just John. I don't think editor David P. Morgan was there, nor anyone else, as John would almost certainly have photographed them at least once or twice, and we haven't come across any such images. If anyone here can confirm or contradict that, I'd appreciate it!
Russ, I'm pretty sure your Triumph shows up in a Gruber photo from Antonito. I'll try to dig that one up, as well as a couple from around Cumbres that might show you and a few others. Thanks again, and stay tuned!
Scott
