Day 1 - July, 11th
At 8:00am sharp, we met at the Docent
“Office” in the Chama yard. It is a 30' long boxcar built before
1924 and eventually taken out of the mineral red colors of freight
service and painted gray when placed in Maintenance of Way (“MOW”)
Service. The door is too low for a person taller than 5'9” and to
stand straight I had to put my head between the exposed interior
framing running across the 8' width of the car. There the eight
Docent candidates were introduced to the procedures to prepare for a
trip on a given train. Being a volunteer organization nearly all
funds are prioritized to the 
the p.a. equipment we use during the trips is over 15 years old and, though generously repaired at no cost by a member of the Friends, is in need of updating.
Scheduling was discussed at length and
after an orientation of an hour or so we moved the class to a
building at the Rio Chama RV Campground which is less than a half
mile walk from the Docent Car. This is where things rapidly turned
very grim.
We had a 50 question test to determine
general knowledge. Three of eight got a score over 70 percent and
yours truly wasn't one of them. What a shock – a 50 page workbook
was distributed and the drills commenced. People talk about
drinking from a fire hose or being water-boarded and that is exactly
how I felt emotionally - I was exhausted.
The “Cabin” is less than 60 feet
away from the building we used for training, the walk back seemed
like a mile. G and I talked into the night as I debated whether to
throw-in or dig-in.
“What was a guy my age thinking of?”
I saw all these old guys ten years or more younger in the campground
who sat around blabbing or watching TV. 9 months of work and I
flunked the test of basic knowledge. I was ready to go back to
Illinois to sit on the porch swing and and moulder away.
“Sleep on it.”
Day 2 – July 12th
I didn't sleep worth a crap. The polyester sheets and
pillow cases along with the light blanket slid of the bed and the
previous warm day cooled to a 38 degree sunrise. I dragged myself out of bed at 6:00am. The shower in the cabin isn't worth a rip and
I didn't then know that within 48 hours that point would be moot.
The youngest Docent candidate is 65 and
they came to the class in various states running from my “wait and
see” to being angry and prepared for trench warfare. Universally
we did not intend to be treated as school children.
The drills moved on from raw knowledge
of the Railroad to handling questions, and there seemed to hundreds,
from our passengers. We covered general geology, flora and fauna,
specific dates of historic events and seemingly insignificant
minutia.
We ate lunch together and talked of the
class. Our instructor joined us but normally just listened. After
the lunch, more drills.
I made the 60' to the Cabin in good shape that evening.
Day 3 – July 13th
We turned on the automatic thermostat
to heat the cabin during the night – very noisy but it worked.
The bedding situation didn't improve. I did some floor exercised for
my back and then on to the daily morning duties.
The Friends have never had a Docent
class of this size and everything associated with it from training
handbooks to testing practices was new. Unbeknownst to the
candidates, and I believe the trainers, it seems in reality we were
test subjects for a more formulaic approach to the Docent program.
Up to this point it appears a candidate was paired with a Docent for
OJT with a minimal amount of testing or class time.
More drills and a fair amount of
acrimony. The instructor finally lost it and chewed out the whole
crew – it was a delicate moment. Our class included an attorney, a
senior police officer, a captain in the Arizona penal system, a
successful business owner with 28 years experience with the Friends,
an IT genius working for AT&T, a retired business man of
substantial wealth, a college professor and a simple country banker.
There was dead silence - the training session was on the verge of
collapse.
“Inhale deeply and gather yourself.”
The moment passed and the day ended.
I walked back to the cabin determined
to somehow make this thing work.
Day 4 – July 14th
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| A long-time Docent has a "discussion" with CEO Bob Ross (on the step) of the Friends. |
It was a special trip as many
dignitaries were present and a legendary Docent and CEO of the Friends of the Cumbrec and Toltec volunteer group, would do the
interpretation. The trip went well, the interpretation was as
expected and, as with all things, the exposure to experience was of
great value.
Amidst the thong as we departed the
train I heard G whisper in my ear, “We had a plumbing leak and it
has flooded the cabin.”
It took 45 minutes to finish the work
after the trip and 20 minutes to walk to the cabin. The water was
off G had mopped out the cabin and now the work to fix the pluming
problem started to rise to the surface.
“Prioritize, why are you here? We
have lived with bottled water before and we can do it again.”
That evening I found out how nice the
restroom facility in the campground is. Seems even the folk with the
half million dollar RV's, such as the ones bracketing our tiny 21'
cabin, use the place instead of the ones in their mobile palaces.
Day 5 – July 15th
I slept surprisingly well in spite of
the polyester sheets and bedding.
A little talk and then the test.
Everything was as it should be within an hour or so. It took our
instructor a couple hours to grade and then at high noon he began the
evaluations. First the Professor, he passed. Then I went in – I
didn't do as well as I wanted but found out the outburst of a couple
days before along with the original test were ways in which they
found out if we had the fabric to handle the job – I passed. He
gave me my Docent apron and patches.
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| G gave me a big hug when she saw the second line. |
On Sunday I am scheduled to take a
train as, for the want of a better term, a Docent in Training. The
Docent I will will be working with is the same one who handled the
AOC we rode on July 10th, the day before this all started.
G will ride along in the coach section as I work. We have been
together on every trip since we first met over 50 years ago and with
this adventure that has not changed.
Now I can focus on how to fix the
plumbing in the cabin but, that is another story.
j
