C&TS "history" and such stuff

The whole issue of the C&TS name/logo does indeed invoke some strong feelings, doesn’t it John West? Several comments have been made in this thread and in past threads about the museum aspect of the C&TS. CJ would recount this better as he was there in the beginning, but reading the literature and reading first hand accounts from the 70's one could easily draw the conclusion that initially the "museum" concept was but a dim hope in the future. There was a mad scramble to save what could be saved from the scrappers torch and the funeral pyres south of Alamosa. The D&RGW was determined to rid itself of the NG. The folks who wanted to save the railroad wanted to have a train that ran from here to there with NG steam locomotives. The folks knew that rail fans alone could not support such an operation long term. Much of the early work was done by volunteers and most of the efforts were aimed at saving enough equipment to carry people from Chama to Antonito and back. I.e. tourists.

In marketing one has to target the largest group possible to attract enough income to survive. While it was railfans that helped save what was to become the C&TS, the general public was this target, not rail fans in particular. The name was chosen as others have said here because the Rio Grande still had the Silverton train in those days and there was concern over confusing the two operations. Remember in those days there was much less cooperation, in fact a bit of jealously and rivalry may have even been prevalent, between tourist operations (of all kinds for that matter, everyone competing for the same tourist dollars). The C&TS was named for the two major scenic features on the line and it was also tied into a slogan "The Track Of the CATS". Corny in today’s more historic conscious society, but never the less, in the seventy's and early eighties it played to an audience, arguably put paying butts in the seats and started a new history for the line.

Now here we are 37 years later debating what a bunch of "crazed rail fans and narrow gauge railroaders" tried to create under much different circumstances. Like it or not, there is now 37 years of "history" on the ex-D&RGW ng that is now known as the C&TS. The engines remain lettered for the C&TS except for special excursions because name recognition is everything in the marketing world. This has been debated many times, I doubt that it will change much.

One thing that has slowly taken place in recent years is, except for the locomotives, all of the historic equipment that had been lettered for the C&TS (flangers, bunk cars, DBG’s, flat cars, etc) is being returned to the D&RGW lettering. Only the non-historic cars (and the two non-historic cabeese) are, and still will be, lettered for the C&TS which is as it should be. As far as the water tank in Chama, perhaps when the RVC is built in a prominent location on Terrace Avenue with a nice big sign saying "Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad Visitor Center" for everyone to see as they enter Chama, (Ooh, do I smell Napalm? )
then the water tank can be relettered to the D&RGW. Otherwise the C&TS on the water tank prominently tells the great unwashed non-railfan public that this is the place they are looking for to take a train ride.

Oh, BTW, I DO personally prefer the Rio Grande lettering on the engines and ALL of the historic equipment and buildings, but I also can accept the compromises as long as occasionally the specials are relettered D&RGW. It makes them, well you know, special!