Wow, Greg! Thanks for rekindling some memories -
On the last Kiwanis Kolor Karavan, in late September, 1966, the slowly deteriorating track slowed the trip and we were not too far past the new bridge over the reservoir when the sun started going down. There was a lady with a guitar in the open gon, and the moon came up through the clouds before we got to Durango ...
In 1972, the C&TS put on three Moonlight dinner trains that left Chama around 4:00 or 5:00 pm, destination Osier and a steak dinner during moonrise. Afterward, the 483 pulled around the train and ran backwards - slowly - all the way from Osier to the wye at Cumbres. The first time they did it - late August, if I remember right - the train didn't get back to Chama 'til after midnight, so the next two runs started an hour or two earlier. For the third trip, I hauled along a projector, screen and loooooong extension chord - several of the photos on the 483 screen saver had their first public viewing while we waited for dinner that evening.
Most of our Freedom Train moves were at night, too - they'd close down the exhibit at 9:00 or 10:00, and by the time everything was ready to move, it was usually after midnight. It was my turn for a cab ride when we left Austin, the first night the 610 was on the train. Andy had been up most of the day doing maintenance on the engine, and fell asleep around 3:00 am or so. I got to / had to fire - without supervision for the first time, other than Doyle using sign language from the other side of the cab - for about three hours ... Thank God she was a free-steaming oil-burner, with that huge Will Woodard firebox!
- Russo de los Locos
