Hi, Scott -
So, you are a semi-geezer! Hopefully you will celebrate your 60th by riding a train over Cumbres - and John, Roger, Tom and I can be there to welcome you aboard the Fossil Foamers club!
A few pics from '76 on - and ESPECIALLY the rotary run in '78 - would be FANTASTIC!! Do you have a website like John West's where some of your shots are posted? I'd REALLY appreciate seeing about two dozen shots from that era, showing as wide a variety as possible of different operations, the crew switching in the yard (like the one you posted here a few days ago, but from '76-'79 if possible) etc., etc.
I didn't know exactly when #483 was finally used up; I last saw her running in '75. Just because our project is for her benefit doesn't at all mean she is the exclusive subject of our photos. We will be using about a dozen of my shots, for example, showing the very last D&RGW freight over Cumbres - #498 was the road engine, and #484 the helper. #483, meanwhile, was pulling the last westbound from Chama to Durango. Two days later - August 31, 1968 - she pulled the very last revenue freight on the San Juan Extension when she delivered a few carloads of oilfield supplies to Farmington.
THANKS IN ADVANCE for any help you can provide!
- Russo de los Locos
p.s. I'll be adding some fall-colors stuff from '75 - including a couple shots of Extra 19 (the Los PINappleOS pedder?) - to our preliminary selection slide show this evening ...