Re: Official Railroad Visitor Center information
| July 25, 2007 11:00AM |
Rick -- For a minute I thought you were talking about the two-story B&B that now looms high up behind the Chama Depot and can screw up the background for westward facing photos of trains adjacent to the Depot.
As for the size and positioning of the proposed Railroad Visitors Center perhaps some comparisons might help. The Friends report describes the RVC as having a "footprint" comparable to the Chama Depot. The Depot is 2,900 square feet. (By contrast the Cumbres Section House is 1,600 square feet -- I've got the plans for these structures).
If one goes to the "Scan #2" that Roger Hogan was kind enough to post one can see the 2,900 sq. ft. footprint of the Depot in scale. So one can simply transfer that rectangle to the area north of the log bunkhouse, but hugging Terrace Ave. As one can tell from the grade shown on the South Elevation drawing of the proposed RVC (see the Friends' report) the building would be built into the hillside. Yes, I'd like to see a layout that showed the building's footprint, but one can improvise in this manner.
I've walked the proposed area several times and, in my opinion, the RVC working group has carefully fashioned an interpretive center that is unobtrusive and in scale and character with the surrounding facilities, yet provides visitors with a excellent perspective on the real living museum which is the yard itself. Interesting to note that at the Commission meeting there was some concern on the part of the Commissioners that the RVC would not be big enough.
As for the size and positioning of the proposed Railroad Visitors Center perhaps some comparisons might help. The Friends report describes the RVC as having a "footprint" comparable to the Chama Depot. The Depot is 2,900 square feet. (By contrast the Cumbres Section House is 1,600 square feet -- I've got the plans for these structures).
If one goes to the "Scan #2" that Roger Hogan was kind enough to post one can see the 2,900 sq. ft. footprint of the Depot in scale. So one can simply transfer that rectangle to the area north of the log bunkhouse, but hugging Terrace Ave. As one can tell from the grade shown on the South Elevation drawing of the proposed RVC (see the Friends' report) the building would be built into the hillside. Yes, I'd like to see a layout that showed the building's footprint, but one can improvise in this manner.
I've walked the proposed area several times and, in my opinion, the RVC working group has carefully fashioned an interpretive center that is unobtrusive and in scale and character with the surrounding facilities, yet provides visitors with a excellent perspective on the real living museum which is the yard itself. Interesting to note that at the Commission meeting there was some concern on the part of the Commissioners that the RVC would not be big enough.
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488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
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