Rio Grande Explorations

Work Trip to Farmington & Chama

July 29 - August 3, 2019

The Vice President of IT walked in one day and asked me if I wanted to make a quick trip to the Farmington office. My response was emphatically positive... the exact wording isn't suitable for this site.

Since early spring, the network gear that supports the web cameras in Chama had been suffering failures. The failures got progressively worse until the week prior to the trip when I lost all ability to re-establish the link between the Depot and Tipple. I was struggling to figure out a way to get up there to make repairs when the VP dropped the news on me about the trip. So, I was pretty excited. He approved my request for a few vacation days after the work was done in Farmington so I could swing over to Chama and fix the network.

This was my final trip to Farmington for work. My company has sold that office and oil field. Fortunately everyone got to keep their jobs with the new owner. I'll miss these trips, not only for the excuse to visit Narrow Gauge Country, but also the people in the office. They're a good bunch and a lot of fun to hang out with.

Trip prep went fast and in 5 days, I was on the road to Farmington.

Osprey in Amarillo.

These were being phased in during my last year in the Corps and I saw them frequently. Today though, it's a pretty rare sight.

Arriving in the Land of Enchantment

The final leg between Albuquerque and Farmington

Sure is pretty country

I arrived in Farmington Monday evening. The team worked for 14 hours Tuesday and and 12 hours Wednesday.

Those were long days, but we finished the project on time and I was free to head to Chama Thursday morning.

The drive from Farmington to Chama

After arriving in Chama, I checked in the with the railroad and then began troubleshooting the gear.

After exhausting all of the easy options, I made plans to start working on hard options.

I met up with Craig McMullen and got a safety harness and ladder to climb the Bunk House and Tipple.

By 1400, the cameras were back online. So, I climbed the Tipple to replace the sound/cooling board in the South Camera.

The back of the Tipple from the camera deck

Here's a rare selfie: me and the South Cam

Special thanks to Bob Reib and Michael Mee for their assistance. I'm pretty sure Michael saved my life and Bob definitely saved my back.

That evening I had dinner with Joe Kanocz at the Boxcar Cafe. Joe is an old friend and the new owner of The Hotel.

He has put of ton of time and effort into upgrading the Hotel and it looks great. It's still my go-to place in town.

The next morning (Friday), with nothing else to do, I did what railfans do in Chama: I chased the choo choo up the hill.

Waiting...

Reflecting on the past, while waiting...

Where there's smoke...

488 rounds the bend near the famous Fred Jukes Tree.

Attempt at Art

C&T President John Bush

Notice the new light bars on the speeders. These photos don't do justice to how bright they are.

Even on a sunny day they were hard to look at.

The railroad installed these to help inattentive motorists better see the motor cars.

That's kind of artsy.

Tools of the trade.

Looking up the hill from the Narrows

My new ride: RGX III

Here's a neat angle that I haven't shot before.

A butterfly photo for my lovely bride.

The ubiquitous shot at Lake Lobato

There's no lake this time of year.

Looking down into the Chama Valley from Dalton.

She's a darn good truck and I plan to make MANY trips to God's Country with her.

Cresco, Colorado

This is a bit of an inside joke for my brother and an obscure 80's movie reference.

That's a comb sitting on a trestle.

Y'all get it?

After 15 years of chasing trains on the C&T, this is the first time I've crossed Cresco Trestle.

Man... look at that sky!

Peace!

Attempt at Art

Cresco Siding

Just before I left Cresco, I got a call from Joe that Chris James was at The Hotel and wanted to meet. So, I gave up the chase and highballed back to town. The 3 of us chatted for a good bit and it was great to finally meet Chris. After the meeting I spent some time gift shopping for the family... and me. My railroad-themed dining room at home now has several new sketches by Scotty that came from The Hotel.

After a quick nap I went up to Cumbres to catch Train 215.

RGX III on Cumbres for the first time

The Car Inspectors House SHOULD BE standing right here...

It's been disassembled so that a proper slab can be installed. It'll be rebuilt just as it was and I hear rumors that it'll be livable.

I know that this will end well... but for now it's quite disconcerting...

What are these plates? I assume it's a method to arrest errant cinders and prevent a fire. But if so, why aren't they contiguous?

Old Highway 17

This is a pretty good perch.

Another rare selfie. You can see why I don't do this too often. I ain't much to look at it.

OK, I'll admit the beard is a bit much. But, I trimmed it by half 2 days after this photo and it looked a lot more respectable.

Train 215 with K36 #484

I hiked out to Windy Point for a few shots... and some peace and quiet.

Hiking while smoking a pipe at 10,000' wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Quite easy actually.

Passing Perry Pond

Notice the rain falling in Chama. I could hear the thunder coming up from the valley.

After the train cleared Coxo, it got very quiet... except for some thunder coming up from the valley and on the other side of the pass.

I stayed up there for a good bit and enjoyed it. It's nearly impossible to find quiet like this back home.

My camera bag and hat.

I don't recall noticing these hoodoos on Cumbres before.

Hiking back

It was a good day.

Cumbres is a very special place and I always cherish my time up there.

The day before (Thursday), I got a low tire alarm in the truck. I checked the tire but couldn't find anything. So, I filled it up and decided to watch it. When I got down from Cumbres this evening, I checked it again and it was down 20lbs. No bueno for the 1000 mile trip home! So, I ran over to the Chevron station (my go-to place in town) and they pulled the tire, found the nail, and fixed it. Those guys are FANTASTIC!

They only charged me $20. So, I tipped them another $20 for the quick service.

The next morning (Saturday) I began the long trek home at 0400.

In Santa Fe I stopped for some chow at Chic-fil-a and saw Hatch Green Chilis on the menu.

Sure wish we had this on the menu at home!

Returning to Texas, but still 11 HOURS from the house.

A few days after I returned, the camera network died again. John Engs worked with me over the phone, but we were unable to restore it.

So, I'm heading back to Chama before long to replace the entire network with new gear.