Great ideas Rod, one thing that I have to keep reminding myself is that not everyone who visits the railroad has the same interests and needs as I do. There is nothing I love better than walking the entire yard looking at EVERYTHING. I have about 30 books about the narrow gauge and know it's history fairly well. I have had the opportunity to even talk to several of the people who helped save the railroad from being scrapped in the late 60's. I hang out at boards like this to learn even more from people more knowledgeable than I.
The average visitor in Chama and Antonito may not have a clue about the story of the railroad. They are looking for a train ride, enjoyable day riding a steam train in beautiful country' reliving a memory of when they were young, being dragged on the train by mom and dad or grandma and gram pa, etc. The latter group is far and away the vast majority of the riders on the train. They just want to have FUN.
Our docents are always working to achieve the right 'balance' of answering questions of first timers,(most), pointing out what people are looking at because they don't even know enough about what they are looking at to ask a question. On the other end is people like the folks on this board who have studied the R/R for years and are VERY knowledgeable about it. They have ridden the train for many years and know about everything out there.
In my Auto Shop classes that I teach, I will have students who can overhaul a engine put in the same class with students who don't even know where and what a dip stick is. My job is to bring up the inexperienced kids up to speed without boring the experienced kids to tears. Finding that right balance is very hard, but necessary.
A visitors center not only is a great educational tool that will tell the story of the railroad to first time visitors, but tells the bigger story of what the railroads did then and still do today. It can be a great promotional tool showing the beauty of the country the train passes through. Give them a preview of what they will experience,(including Steve Flower's food!), and can excite people to stay an extra day and ride the train. Not only will the railroad benefit, but the town as well.
We have to remind ourselves that other group is the VAST MAJORITY of the riders and that their money and numbers is what makes the survival of the railroad possible. We all have our memories of what we experienced the first time we walked through the yard in Chama. Not all of our visitors can do, or even want to do the same as us, yet we still need them to help keep the place alive.
A good visitors center would do a lot of meeting the needs of ALL people who visit Chama. I cannot think of a better promotional tool for the railroad. Far better than a brochure ever could do. The BIG issue is where to place it. I am neutral myself on the placement other than I believe that for it to be of any use, it must be close by, and easy to get to if it is going to be visited. Remember that Chama is almost 8,000 feet (I am reminded of that fact at every work session), people cant/wont walk very far to see it. I am sure that wherever site is chosen (if it is built at all), there are some who will be unhappy about it. But the bottom line is that for the railroad to stay open and alive the ridership MUST increase. The states will not keep pouring money into the place to keep it afloat if they see no improvement year after year. If that ever happened, all of the bandwidth and hot air arguing about the pro and cons of location will be a moot point. Getting off my soapbox now. John
