El glorioso ejército de la República del plátano de Nuevo Mexorado…

"A simple question" - Mile Post 283

Starting out with a pile of work on my desk which accumulated during my absence during the earlier trip to Chama, it progressively turned into an interesting week resulting in another quick decision to make the now seemingly weekly trip to Chama.  This 2,200 round trip taking four days is now becoming as familiar, but not as routine or inexpensive, as G’s nearly daily 36 mile round trip to Jerseyville.  If we could figure a way to get one of our Ford Fiesta’s out there I suspect it would become a lot more common.

A Simple Question…

Before we came home I understood the issues that came up in my training sessions had to be addressed.  There is a huge knowledge gap between what I need to know, what I think I know and what I really know.  It becomes evident when I was not capable of answering the question, “What are those yellow flowers?” posed during my fourth time as docent at mile post 283 outside Antonito.  Is this an important fact? no and yes.  In the overall story of the railroad it is inconsequential and for our passenger is may be of passing interest but, it reflects a lack of depth in my understanding of the land and environment which is important, at least to me.  I came home with that question and my casual “blow-off” dogging me.

Downsizing from A5 to memo sized

From observation I knew the little “flash cards” I had developed needed to be refined.  I also observed that one experienced docent kept a small journal tucked in one apron pocket.  He made quick references to it as folks posed questions.  So, this week, I made a small journal that I could carry in my apron pocket to supplement the flash cards.  In the process of transcribing my notes from an A5 format, which is a handy small notebook, to the yet smaller memo pad size journal I found the answer to the question posed at MP 283. 

Early in my study I reduced the foundational mile-by-mile guide, “Ticket to Toltec”, to outline form in the A5 size.  In the process I created a two-page summary of all the Flora and Fauna referenced in “Ticket to Toltec.”  This summary also included seasonality of the various flowers specifically noted.  By looking at the very document I had developed nearly a year ago I had the quick answer.  At that MP only one yellow flower blossomed in the summer – Sweet Clover – there was the answer.  I had it all along but had unlearned my earlier work.  Flora and Fauna are a problem for me as I am into history, operation and civil engineering, keeping this handy two page laminated guide at hand will help in the future.

Old Blue Redux… A "cliff-hanger" resolved...

On Tuesday I picked-up Old Blue from the repair work at Jerseyville Ford.  They found the new battery bought in Chama had failed.  The original dim check engine light, noted in the previous post, and was related to the throttle body.  Evidently frost which accumulated the first day we arrived in Chama, the temperature was in the 30’s that evening, impaired the function triggering the check engine light.  When it warmed up the frost melted and the unit worked properly but the light needed to be reset.  The angry check engine light encountered on the trip home marked the untimely passing of the new battery. 

Old Blue was delivered in running order and the dealer worked with me on the cost.  They have been really decent folks through all this.

Meetings in Hardin and Chama…

The same day I received an e-mail from The Friends noting a dinner/meeting of docents in Chama on the 24^th.  It must be an important affair as all the nabobs of both the Friends and the operating company, the ones who actually operate the trains, will be in attendance.  Unfortunately I have a meeting to attend in Hardin the same day and we were planning on leaving for Chama on the 25^th thus missing the dinner/meeting in Chama.

For the past ten years I have worked with truly extraordinary people and we live in a similarly extraordinary place.  In those years G and I have aged from senior citizens to elders; this transition has been gentle in this special place in which we live and I work.  Both my place of work and our church have been supportive in small crises and decisions we have made through the years.  I began the transition to my retirement two years ago.  I strongly believe it is important to pass my knowledge and philosophies to the younger generation following on at both work and in everyday life.  The folks I work with understood my dilemma at missing the Chama docent meeting and helped me arrange an early departure to make the docent meeting.  For the ten years I have worked at the Bank I have written a summary of the month’s activity to present at the monthly work meeting.  This practice allowed me to set up my reports and write a summary for the work meeting. 

So we are on the way to Chama late in the day on the 22^nd.  I advised the Chama meeting organizer of our attendance by e-mail on Wednesday of this week.  Shortly thereafter the main nabob of the Friends wrote back asking if I could docent while there – how do you think I responded?  YES!

Some time in the “sweat shop”…  A look at a few days earlier.

Somewhat akin to a Circus?

During the week I spent a couple nights sewing patches on my docent shirts.  I set-up three shirts early this year and wrote a Facebook post about it.  Missing was a patch “DOCENT” which was to go under the C&TS Logo over the left pocket.  Unbeknownst to me when issued an apron at the end of formal training you are also issued sleeve patches indicating your job as docent. 

So I went all-in and put on the pocket docent patch and also the sleeve patch.  Now my shirts look like I am a right regular private in “The Glorious Army of the Plantain Republic of Nuevo Mexorado” or, “El glorioso ejército de la República del plátano de Nuevo Mexorado”, when in Chama.

Shoulder patch is a nice touch

The shirts may be a bit flashy for a simple country retiree. 

It was a good week and I still have a pile of work to clear from my desk....

And for my next post a return with a traditional Facebook Post: ... It was a dark and windy night but I found my way to the reading room.  The long journey down the staircase and through the dank rooms was pleasantly alight from the new purple phosphorescent toe nail polish I totally put on this evening.  It's awsome....."

Privado derecho regular en el glorioso ejército de la República del plátano de Nuevo Mexorado

 

All in all a wonderful trip until the battery in Old Blue died...

It  has been an interesting week to say the least to put it in context I have to go back two weeks and pick-up an earlier story that is untold, it begins this way, "All in all a wonderful trip until the battery in Big Blue died...:

After the plumbing failed in the cabin and we made a still temporary partial fix, we just knew everything would go swimmingly thereafter and then the truck wouldn't start.  A jumper cable and a run to the local Chevron station plus a new $160 battery and Old Blue was up for anything, we thought.  The Check-engine light came on with a faint glow around the same time and I figured it was an oxygen sensor due to the high altitude - everyone else seemed to have the same thing going on.

A week later we were limping along with the plumbing but everything else was working pretty much better than we expected.  Four trips as assistant docent were under my belt and the fifth was scheduled for two days before our planned departure on July 30th.  Thursday July 28th opened to a typically beautiful day in Chama and I was scheduled for the trip from Chama to Antonito.  As usual on such days I get up early and go to the Depot where I sweep the platforms - thus the picture which has nothing else to do with this story.  This is a "railroader's trip" in which the train pulls the 13 mile 4% grade to Cumbres.  I took the open car to the Osier turn and the Senior Docent handled the coaches and then took the open car on to Antonito.  On arriving in Antonito we took the motor coach back to Chama arriving after 6:00pm.

Sometime around mid day on the 27th I figured out that with a little maneuvering we could make the birthday party for our grandson on July 30th.  It would be tight and require an 800 mile drive on Friday the 29th and another 300 on the 30th but it was possible.  So it was that after arriving in Chama after 6:00pm the two of us immediately started packing for a trip back to Illinois on the morning.

Around ten we cleaned-up, showered and turned in.  The alarm at Six o'clock the next morning came much too soon.   With no breakfast we went through the checklist and then put the cabin in storage at the RV park.  At 9:30am we pulled out of the park - 15 minutes later we stopped and turned around - 5 minutes later we stopped and Georgia pulled out her handbag - 2 minutes later she found her billfold - 1 minute later I turned Old Blue around - thirty seconds later I planted the accelerator on the firewall and we took off up Cumbres Pass.  Things settled into a routine after that.

I drove the first 350 miles to Oakley Kansas we had to gas only once during that portion of the trip and other than a sluggish starter motor everything was running very well.  Oil, temperature, gas mileage (nearly 20), check engine still a faint glow, everything o.k. - no charge noted, as expected, but was there a very slight discharge on the voltage gauge?  No, it had been that way for several days with no impact noted in the electrical system   Next stop Salina - 200+ miles on I-70.

G was driving and I fell asleep.  On awakening an hour later I noticed she was driving at 80mph - what a shock; Salina showed up really fast.


We gassed up the starter labored and ground down to a stop - is it running? - nothing on the tachometer, no exhaust noise - the seconds seemed like minutes - but the motor was finally running.

My turn to drive into the night and St Joseph was less than four hours away as the sun set to the west.

Dead stop on I70 - a major accident - we turned around and found an alternative route - Backtrack 15 miles - 20 miles north - turn east (charge must be o.k. as the lights were not dimming) and drive 45 miles to Junction City - Slight right then a left and onto I-70.

Why has the check engine light gotten such an angry color and why did the mileage collapse to less than 10mpg?

Two more hours driving and we are close to empty - have to stop but will it start?

Forced to stop for gas - left it running as we filled - scary.

Found the Candlewood Suites and stopped - left the motor running as I checked in.

Pulled around back parked facing downhill and turned off Old Blue - I hope it starts in the morning.    
It started, with difficulty, the next morning but we let it run when we gassed up on the way home.  We made the party and it was fun.

Old Blue went into the shop last Thursday for a scheduled oil change and later in the day I got the call.  The intake manifold had to be pulled off to repair something to do with the emission system.  A big bill coming but they were going to work with me because of the new engine they installed.  The folks at Jerseyville Ford are terrific! 

By the way, the starting problems were related to the the battery I bought at the Chevron Station in Chama - it failed to hold a charge, wrong specs it seems.  We have a new Motorcraft battery now and the old one, an Interstate, is going back to Chama for a refund.

Old Blue is running again and we are headed back to Chama on the evening of August 22nd.  How about the "Interesting Week?"  Why are we leaving early and why was the week interesting?  That's  the next story.....

A Personal Journey – Things past their time….

Rio De Los Pinos - at Lava Pump House

On the barren horizon 5 miles distant a tiny geometric shadow in the midst of the gently curvature of nature marked a solitary structure.

 “Keep your eye on the horizon; we will soon come around to our next historic site.” I said.

I have been drawn to this isolated and strangely beautiful place since our first visit presumably because of that very isolation.  The thought of what it would have been like during a blustering winter storm as a “snow train” reversed direction and took on water to continue the fight against the relentless winter storms is spellbinding.

On a barren, sage filled mesa stands a water tank.  The tank was found in an advanced state of disrepair when the States of Colorado and New Mexico purchased the 64 miles of the D&RG San Juan Extension National Historic Landmark – now known as the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad.  Surrounded by a closed reverse curve it is situated at the top of a dry watershed on the extension of a long sloping plateau.  The land visually appears level, though it is actually inclined upward toward a rising plateau some 5 miles distant.  The track makes a long detour from the most efficient route to intentionally include this isolated place.

Lava tank is a non-working composite structure of parts gathered from other places from both the active railroad and remains from a wider area encompassing extensive abandoned areas of the original 1,300 mile D&RG narrow gauge system; of that original system only two small pieces remain the largest of which is the Cumbres and Toltec at 64 miles – the history of which is another of many stories.

Lava Pump House - 1888

Because of its construction, which is all original material but from various places, Lava Tank is a point of historic interest but not a Historic Landmark.  However, Lava is also landmark due to a structure which lies 3/10^th of a mile south and 500’ below Lava Tank.  That remote structure located on the bank of Rio De Los Pinos – “The River of Pines” – was constructed in 1888 to house a coal fired steam pump lifting water from the river to the distant Lava tank through a 3” line.  In the 1920’s the steam pump was replaced by a diesel pump and then later the equipment was removed and the building was abandoned to the elements. 

Over the ensuing years fine volcanic dust blown by the constant winds of the San Luis Valley slowly piled against the building until nearly six feet of accumulation reached the window frames and spilled into the interior of the structure.  The original intent and capabilities of this structure and its affiliated equipment, including Lava Tank, was on the verge of being lost to the ages.  A year ago the volunteers – The Friends of the Cumbres and Toltec – made the restoration of the pump house and all of its equipment a priority. 

G and I set this building as the destination for a day trip and after a brief drive on a gravel national forest road, the surface of which is a washboard, we arrived.   When we arrived at this bucolic spot we found the Volunteers had excavated around the building and foundation clearing away many feet of soil to expose a near pristine structure.  Though the windows are out and the roof is in poor repair all the structural components are in excellent condition.  The third week of our stay a pump was connected to the iron 3” water line serving Lava Tank and to everyone’s amazement it held and carried water after all these years of abandonment. 

In time this living artifact will regain its original purpose and serve another generation of guests and volunteers on the Cumbres and Toltec.

Life is somewhat like that.  We age and our hard won experience the skills and capabilities of a lifetime are moved aside in pursuit of the “newer” or “better.”   Through this process the experience of the older generation which could have contributed to the resolution of newly found issues are lost and once lost they must be relearned often imperfectly and always with great difficulty.    

The older generation ultimately has to make a choice either lose purpose and effectively wither and die, or choose to be remade using the same proven components to achieve another task. We are living artifacts who may regain our value to pass our heritage to another generation, if we choose so.

This brings me to a personal note, G and I are returning to Chama on August 25^th for a two week stay.  We will enjoy the company of our son Neight and daughter Sarah for a day and a week later a visit by long-time friends from Denver, Jerry and Sally.  We will ride the train, have supper and talk into the evening.  The next morning I will again don my Docent shirt and go to work as both family and friends continue on their respective journeys’.

G and I will be spending a large portion of each year in Chama commencing in 2018.  We do not know whether we will continue to rent living space, in a RV campground, or purchase a lot and build a year round storage facility for the trailer.  With the known end of my full-time employment in December, 2017 any future thereafter is by no means certain.  Though some comments have been made indicating some sort of part-time arrangement, that is unresolved and at this point thus, I assume, unlikely.  Our spending nearly one-half the year in Chama means a re-arrangement of our financial affairs in Calhoun which will impact the family.  Such a moment was inevitable and must be faced in some way by every family with an aging senior generation - the younger generation takes full responsibility for their future. 

G and I are faced with a stark choice.  We can do as so many elders and simply cocoon and molder away with our eyes affixed to a TV.  Many of our age and with greater affluence choose travel or some find a hobby or other avocation.  Some become avid readers and some won’t let the younger generation assume control.  Another group engages in volunteer work such as Habitat for Humanity or the like.  I guess working with the Friends is like that last group except we restore the past to pass on our heritage instead of building anew for the future.

I have been blessed with a particular gift, the ability to speak to people in a public setting.  I understand the importance of that gift and have found a place in which I can bring happiness to those around me by using that gift to bring an understanding of our heritage.  I now tell the story of some of our ancestors through interpretation on a journey lasting six hours.  I am honored to pass the understanding of who we are and how we became what we are.  

In my interpretations I avoid the use of the word, “Museum”, as most think of that as a place of dead things.  My job is to interpret this Living Monument to our ancestors who dreamed, planned, engineered, built and operated the very special place named  “The D&RG San Juan Extension National Historic Landmark.”

On a journey two weeks ago A gracious lady with a gentle southern lilt in her voice asked me if a memorial was built to honor those who came before us to build the San Juan Extension.  I answered this way, “You are riding on the living monument to our ancestors.” 

A visit to Lamy, NM

This is work?

"Keep it simple" Instructions to a guy who loves to talk.

G and I have moment... and someone takes our picture.

 Over the three weeks in Chama I rode the train 7 times, twice in training and five times for OJT.  After one of the OJT trips G and I decided to take care of some future business so we took a trip in Old Blue.

Amtrak Chief somewhere in the Southwest - It isn't the C&TS.

G visits her sister in Las Vegas – What plays here stays here – where she has retired from teaching.  Annually G takes the trek by Amtrak to spend several weeks in March or April to visit before the temperature in Las Vegas becomes intolerable.  In transportation expense alone the rail journey costs well in excess of $1,400 for the round trip from Alton,IL to Chicago and on to Kingman, AZ where she picks up a van to either the airport in Las Vegas or Flagstaff, AZ where her sister picks her up.  The trip takes a couple days and involves three layovers from several to many hours depending on whether the train is on time – it is regularly side tracked for BNSF freight traffic thus, it is rarely on-time.

Next year G will again travel by Amtrak on the Southwest Chief but this time she will depart from Lamy, NM for an 8 hour trip to Kingman – this trip will cost around $200.    However, a four hour round-trip journey from Chama to Lamy is required to meet the train in Lamy and then return.  Two weeks ago we drove the round trip to check it out for next year.

Rio Grande Bridge

It turned out to be a fascinating trip as we went out of our way to visit the “Rio Grande Bridge” just outside Taos, NM.  This bridge crosses the River which flows in the Rio Grande Rift which I discussed in a blog post some months ago.  The rift is where the land was torn apart by the continuing geological uplift resulting from tectonic plate subduction.  It was a wild and oddly beautiful sight.

We then journeyed on through the outskirts of Santa Fe and on south to Lamy.

Lamy Junction in better days

There is not much to lamy, a few rundown buildings, some aging railroad cars and a small badly worn depot that was once beautiful but is now a near ruin.  Still in use the years have taken a tough toll.

Then it was on back to Santa Fe.  This city was originally occupied in 1598 on the site of a yet older Puebloan villages dating from before 900CE.  Santa Fe has been continually occupied by European “settlers” since 1610. 

"Thomas the Train Wannabe" hiding in the Narthex

We took many pictures there and to add to them I checked the Internet and found, as expected, virtually no difference in the much older Internet photos and those we took – The city is timeless.  We toured the Cathedral and stopped by the five star LaFonda Hotel – dating from the 1600’s – for personal relief.  Then we stopped at a little restaurant on Governor’s Square for lunch.  

 

After picking up some t-shirts and caps we again travelled north to Chama.  What beautiful country, so different than the high Rockies to the north in Colorado.  G and I kept the t-shirts and I gave my Santa Fe ball cap to Curt when we came home.

All in all a wonderful trip until the battery in Big Blue died.  But, that is another story.

"..you will wish you were dead..."

On Whiplash Curve - Corn Lillies in foreground

“Oh, we are doing that again”, so you say.  Yup I am getting through the doldrums and starting to write again – if you read this stuff I can only say, “Why?”

So here we go. 

The reason I quit writing for three weeks or so was directly related to the Internet situation in Chama.  The community has an open Internet, which is common in many small villages – Why doesn’t Calhoun have that? – which is a good thing but, it locks up from all the traffic when mom and pop and all the kiddies decide to look at recipes, play games, look at Netflix or view naughty things.  So posting was problematic at best. 

Now I could have written the daily posts and saved them to a file to be posted when we came home but it was far more fun talking with folks or eating at the Boxcar, or High Country, than typing at a computer – so, I didn’t do that.  But, a promise is a solemn thing and I really felt bad that I was breaking a promise to keep a “journal” of our journey – likely excuse – to put people to sleep.  Thus, for starters, I am giving you a brief post about a plant – no not a stooge in a bad film about the CIA – this is about a bit of flora in the Southern Rocky Mountains. 

This is really going to be thrilling.

Docent training involves remembering a lot of things such as civil engineering, railroad operations, history, geology and also flora and fauna indigenous – this is a really impressive word to throw around – to the area and super important things such as, “How many telegraphone booths are there and when was the last fire in Chama?”  I am really into the engineering, operations and history but plants and animals, not so much – “What is the yellow flower we passed ten minutes ago?”   But, all such things are asked and you need to be prepared to answer.

Skunk Cabbage - "False Hellebore" - in bloom

Thus it was as we traversed Whiplash Curve at the throat of the Cumbres Yard when this question typically arose, “What is the plant with the broad leaves?”  I quickly learned the name of that plant it is False Hellebore “Veratrum.”  In genteel company they are also known as “Corn Lilies” and in the wilds of New Mexico as “Skunk Cabbage.”  Growing by rhizomes, False Hellebore is rampant plant in moist areas such as the slopes of Chama Pass.  They have white flowers and after blooming rapidly fade away.  Skunk Cabbage smells bad and is highly toxic thus no cattle or other critters eat them they are purely a place in which moth and butterfly larvae – especially Monarch Butterflies – thrive.  It is of note the migration pattern of Monarch Butterflies passes directly through this area of New Mexico.

One guest on a journey with us said, “If you eat the stuff you get such a bad case of diarrhea you wish you were dead.”  I am not sure why anyone would eat the stuff but I guess some people are up for anything.   On our journey I make it a point to tell everyone about the Skunk Cabbage and then fall silent when they ask about the yellow flower we passed ten minutes ago.