Dear Mr. Cook;
My post was not a personal attack per se but a clarification of how new research is supposed to be conducted. There is very little to support the assertion that the "Chili Line" was used secretly after abandonment. A phone call from someone who was told that the line was operating is not first hand information and is not valid evidence for substantiating an extraordinary claim. As I said you should know the standards of research as you have professed several times to be an ardent researcher of all things narrow gauge in the southwest.
If you find VALID data that supports your claim I'd be glad to see it here. Otherwise you have only presented conjecture and third hand information to support your cause.
As for the Jicarilla Apaches and my encounter with them: I have nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of. In 2001 I had found the only remaining Rio Grande and Southwestern railroad trestle by air and careful scanning of photos. You were very keen on finding this and getting measurements of the trestle and asked me to get permission to examine the trestle. One afternoon I had time to go over to Dulce and ask for permission to hike to the trestle location. I arrived at the Jicarilla office just before closing time and met with the then current director who was unfortunately in a hurry to go home. He was not very cooperative to begin with and after mentioning your name he became even less so. The end result was that he denied me permission to enter their property (which they have the perfect right to do). I'm not sure how this qualifies as an "ass kicking" as I was later informed by locals that being denied permission was quite common and that I could just ask again and probably get a different answer on anther day.
When I informed you of this turn of events you immediately blamed me for screwing up relationships with the Apaches and were quite angry with me. My response to all of this is that I've got plenty of other rail lines to explore and don't need hassles from agencies or "personas" to have a good time.
Your true colors show through time and again and I had previously made the decision not to respond to your diatribes as I find your posts can be inflammatory. As you remain true to form I'll again avoid reading your posts...
