Hi,
As it was my first time on the line, I do not know where we were.
However, we started slipping on a section of track that had several small reverse curves. There were no sidings or spurs anywhere. The locomotive was down on its knees moving the train slowly. uphill. Having ridden several Southern Rwy steam excursions, when the 478 slipped, someone asked why the locomotive did not work that hard all the time. I was able to tell then that when the locomotive chuffed so fast, the wheels were slipping. Someone else then scoffed that the RR was too cheap to put enough power on the front of the train to keep it moving. He did not seem to understand that if the rain had not happened, the 478 could have handled it. The second fellow was of the type that wanted to complain and no amount of explanation would have sufficed, he wanted a reason to condemn the RR no matter what.
The same fellow got drunk and was yelling and shouting in our car on the way back to Durango. For the last part of the ride from about Rockwood I spend in the rain on the platform with my Dad. It was also why I left with a bad taste in my mouth for the trip. I did not ride again until Railfest 1999 (because of Goose 5 and Eureka) and am sorry I had not tried the Silverton again when I was in the area in 1973, 1974, 1975, 1984, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, and 1997. (I did pace the D&S several times in the 1990's).
The crew tried sanding the rails and starting again. No luck. They then backed up a short distance and sanded the rails. Once again no-luck. Finally they set the brakes on the rear four cars and left them on the main. They then took the front 5 cars up to Elk Park. Once they brought the rest of the train back up to Elk Park and we arrived at Silverton, the first train was on the Wye (I did not see it unfortunately) and high tailed it back to Durango. We were given an hour to eat and we returned also.
As an asside, I saw Chama in 1973, 1974, and 1984 but never could get it arranged properly to be there when they were running (it was the 4-trip per week one day east, the next day back scheme).
Also, I road the GTL in 1984, 1990, 1992, 1993, and 1999. I think I rode the loop in 1995 but after the new Denver airport went in with all the excessive taxes and surcharges on air fares and car rentals, I started flying into and out of Albuquerque.
My first trip on the C&TS in 1990 was like a dream come true. All the places I'd read about and I was actually there!
Doug
