The discussions that Keith Hayes and John West have started beg to be expanded upon as to what the C&TS should be and how it maintains the historic fabric. The Friends are by contract and as their mission charged with preserving and interpreting the history of the RR. Obviously this is done with cooperation and concurrence of the Commission and the operator. The devil is in the details though and sometimes I am not sure all 3 are on the same page. The Friends have done an admirable job of stabilizing/maintaining structures and restoring equipment, but the RR is more than just a collection of cars and buildings. The recent discussion of the proposed Visitors Center in Chama has brought this conflict of history vs. current and new construction into focus once again. As I look at John West’s photos and compare to what exists now, it is the details that any modeler will tell you is what makes the model. In most respects the C&TS is preserved to be a 1:1 representation of what the D&RGW was like back before abandonment in 1968.
As I look at the yard in Chama it is the little things that cumulatively impact the historical experience of what I believe we should be trying to preserve and reinforce to visitors. If you think of Chama as a great big movie set everything in view is part of the “show”.
Examples:
Why does the operator have to park the white (RGRPC) semi trailers in the engine house ready track area?
The Chama yard has always been ballasted with cinders and now we see brown gravel being used on the main track in the yard and road crossing to the oil house. Why?
The Friends projects, cars and various materials (scrap and new materials) are left in various piles in the yard. Storage box cars remain parked in front of the engine house even when no work session activity may be going on. Obviously most of this clutter is necessary to do the preservation work/ daily maintenance of equipment and without a CRF in Chama it is done in the middle of the “set” so this is understandable in this regard.
I am sure others can add more to these examples that IMHO may detract from the “experience” of reliving the railroad as it was. Over time if preserving the historic details/ scene are not part and parcel of everyones mindset of preserving and operating the RR it will simply become just another tourist RR and then we will have lost something truly unique.
Rod
