Sunday morning came late for me. I slept in and was grateful for the opportunity to do so. About the time I awoke, Brian, Barry, and Blake were arriving in Durango. It would seem they didn’t get enough driving on the way up. I stayed behind to do some work on the network in Chama Yard for the Friends of the C&T. With an hour to kill before Team Leader John Engs drove over from Antonito, I got a warm, freshly-made cinnamon scone and coffee from the Chama Mall next door and sat on the balcony of The Hotel to enjoy the view and cool morning air. It was absolutely Heavenly, the most relaxing hour I can remember in recent years. The only thing missing was Michele for me to share the moment with.

View from the balcony

Before heading over to find John, Rich Murray met me in the lobby. Rich and I have worked together for a few years on the Friends Forum and The Dispatch, but we hadn’t managed to meet in person yet. It was great to put a face with the voice and emails. I spent most of the day with Rich and enjoyed his company. We got lunch at Sonny's, a really good new place on the south side of town.

I finally caught up with John later that morning and we got a few things done, not as much as I had anticipated though. The big project for the day was putting a Wi-Fi router in the Bunk House.  It still strikes as something of a juxtaposition to have wireless broadband internet in a log bunk house that was built in 1881 and is largely original. The coal stove with “D&RG” stamped on it is still out there! Not much else was done, but we did chat about some upcoming projects.

New Wi-Fi Router in the Bunk House

That evening there was a meeting at The Hotel for the crew that was filming the 463’s trip for a DVD that will be sold as a fundraiser for the Friends. Ian Rattray is producing the DVD. Dennis Tebo, Roger Hogan, Steve Forney, Fred Oster, and I were asked to do the filming. I have to admit to being a bit excited and very honored to be included in this group.

Before the meeting I had a few minutes to grab some chow at Foster's, my only opportunity on this trip. Out in front of Foster's was a who's-who of narrow gauge enthusiasts: Bill Gould, Fred Oster, George Lawrence, Steve Forney, Roger Hogan, Al Blount, Nathan Zachman, and Nathan Holmes.