Re: Alamosa Shops

I just happened to be in Alamosa with Terry Barnes the day 497 made its first run after the shopping discussed in Earl's post. The 497 ran light to Antonito with one of the mechanics on board. They stopped for water at LaJara and the mechanic checked the running gear. At Antonito, he again checked the engine, it was then coupled into a waiting train, and off it went. The mechanic returned to Alamosa in a company pick up truck.
There was considerable grousing from the several shop crew who were at the roundhouse that morning that the engine was not being allowed to be properly worked in before a road assignment. The normal procedure was to run an engine light to Antonito and return to the shop where they would check everything out. I remember the fireman complaining that the fire box door was not opening properly and the shop foreman shot back that "the bell works, what the hell else do you want?" They were sad, unhappy, and may well have known that was to be their last engine to do a rebuild. I was unaware that this was such a significant event. Among others, Al Stevenson was the conductor. I'll have to dig out my pictures and see who else was on that crew that I recognize.
We shot some 16mm movies of this train and several of my slides ended up on Sundance calendars or in the Columbine series of Sundance books. I have one of those pictures framed here in my office. The 498 was the lead engine and the 497 was the mid-train helper.