FCTS Work Trip to Chama

September 13-17, 2019

463 shufflin' around the Yard

My insanely good breakfast burrito from the Boxcar Cafe. It paired beautifully with coal smoke.

489 gettin' ready for her trip up the hill

Hostler Mike Thode

Washing the coal...

...and cleaning the cab floor.

463 moving cars around

Painting the radio and mounting pipe

While I was painting, this little guy landed to inspect my work. He kept me company for several minutes.

John decomm's the old radio gear on the Bunk House.

Me, installing the new radio on the Bunk House.

This Log Bunk House was built in December 1880, just after the construction crew that was building the railroad arrived in town. It is the oldest structure in town and serves as an office for the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec. I'm installing this state-of-the-art radio in about the same location as the original telegraph line would've been. I love this technological juxtaposition that is only possible in Chama.

The view from the top of the Bunk House. Might be a good spot for a camera...

The new radio

We need to do some clean-up of the old cables.

It's got a much smaller footprint than the old gear.

Train 216 embarking passengers

Who the heck is Tim?

While it may look like Steve can't climb a ladder, he's just holding it for John and me to ascend.

Adjusting the viewing angle on the North Cam

Troubleshooting the audio issues.

We determined it's a hardware failure and can't be fixed. We'll replace the gear on the next trip.

More tasty views from the Tipple.

It was overcast and raining most of the day. But despite this, we got done all that could be done.

We re-checked the Depot Cam, but couldn't get it working. So we pulled it down and I took it home for troubleshooting.

With another long day of work done, we retired to Fosters again. This time Mike Thode joined us.

That evening the rain really came down and the temps dropped. It sure felt great after 5 months of oppressive heat in Houston.