Re: Chama RR Visitors Center: Yea or Nay

I would vote yes for a museum but not sure on the visitor center. Most visitor centers are for the purpose of handing out brochures on what you can do in the area. That can be done by a small building on its own or attached to the museum and run by the local chamber of commerce (many areas that are associated with railroads have a caboose that they use for their visitor center). We do need something like a museum at Chama that will help people that are not railfans understand what they are seeing or going to see. How many that visit Chama, understand the function of a yard, what is switching for or the reason the narrow gauge is there in the first place, few. Please remember that a museums today needs to be both educational and entertaining to capture the public attention (sad, but true). Also remember, one of the complaints that people have about Chama is that there is nothing there to do but the railroad; a museum could be something else to do in Chama. You want something that will get the people that are going to Pagosa Springs or to the casino to know that there is something here to stop and look at (and look at the stores, the train itself and so on).

Phil