Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec - FriendsOfCumbresToltec.org

Please find attached the first version of a summary of railroad communications on the narrow gauge and the Friend's significant efforts at preserving this important aspect of railroad operations.

A big acknowlegement to L.E. Trump and the late John B. Norwood who provided a wealth of knowledge from their first-hand experience as employees of the D&RGW.
Without their input, a significant piece of the narrow gauge industrial history would have been lost.
And of course to all of those hardworking Friends who made preservation of the C&TSRR communications facilities possible!

73 Greg Raven

Greg,
Thanks for posting the article on the communications facilities. I worked on the pole crew in 2008 and reading the article helped put that work in perspective. I hoped that in the future we can also put up poles at Cumbres (though I suppose the highway crossing could be a complication if we string wire) as has been done in Chama and at Osier. I agree that the communication gear is an important part of depicting of how the working railroad worked.
Paul

Hi Paul-

You're welcome. I would like to get something done on train orders and clearance cards in the future. Along with that, the train order board/semaphore at Osier needs recognition.

Regarding wires across the highway at Cumbres, I can picture a big truck with a tall load taking them out!
I think at least replacement poles with insulators (coated with anthrax to deter the insulator thieves) would look really great at Cumbres.

73 Greg

For right now, we are going to put about a half dozen poles around each of the telephone booths so they don't look like outhouses like they do now. Hopefully later we can start working on the line again. I have enough wire in Antonito right now to go a couple of miles. This summer we are planning to use the lifting derrick to help us replace one of the headers in the Cumbres Pass snow shed. 800 to 900 lb, 8"X12" beam 18 feet long, that ought to work the cobwebs out of the thing!

Hmmm, don't think a hardhat would do much good if that thing gets loose. I hope we get some good pictures of that operation (from a distance).

Greg

I'm having a HARD time trying to decide what I want to sign up for next summer. The Mile Marker and Whistlepost gang is my first choice. But, putting up telegraph poles or working on the snowshed also sound like a lot of fun.

How does this work anyway? Does one get to chose what team they work with or do the rookies go where they're needed?

Thats the problem, I am usually the picture taker and during the lifts, I am a little bit busy. Have to take something after the fact in most cases.

John Cole wrote:Thats the problem, I am usually the picture taker and during the lifts, I am a little bit busy. Have to take something after the fact in most cases.

Sounds like a good place and time for a chronicler to be on hand.

With a zoom lens of course!

Is that why when we were putting poles up in the yard down to the wye, you and Marshal were working in the telegraph office? :-)

It's because pole rigging is hard work! Setting up the telegraph office, very laid back by comparison. Marshall kept me on schedule though. A man's gotta use his vacation time wisely!

Greg

Jason Rose wrote:I'm having a HARD time trying to decide what I want to sign up for next summer. The Mile Marker and Whistlepost gang is my first choice. But, putting up telegraph poles or working on the snowshed also sound like a lot of fun.

How does this work anyway? Does one get to chose what team they work with or do the rookies go where they're needed?

When the R-7 form is posted the first of the year, there will be a listing of work session projects with a short descriptions of what work will be done to accomplish that project. Also included in the work session information is a question sheet asking you questions about what skills you have that could be of use. You would be surprised how many people have more in the way of office skills are VERY HELPFUL to the Friends, if you are unsure, just put out the information, and the projects committee will decide if they can use that skill or not. Remember that almost NONE of us do what we do out there for a living, we just all share a willingness to work and help out.

You will be given a choice of 2 or more jobs you are interested in working on in the sign up sheet, and the projects committee will do their best to put the right people in the right job that suits the volunteer.

When I am a team leader, I give my volunteers a phone call to introduce myself, and to give the volunteer a heads up to the best of my ability of what kind of work we will probably be doing on that project. That way the volunteer has a better idea of what to expect, and has the option of choosing another project if they wish. There was one year when one of the guys in my team decided he would really rather work on another project, and thats OK as long as there are still enough people left on that team to accomplish their project so you are not locked in for the entire week.

I have been coming out for over a decade, and having been a volunteer at many groups, I believe the Friends win hands down as having the greatest group of volunteers to work with. Great people to work with, working on preserving our narrow gauge history, now how can you beat that?

How does this work anyway? Does one get to chose what team they work with or do the rookies go where they're needed?

Both, sort of, from my limited experience. You get to identify several preferences for work assignments when you sign up for a work session after the available work assignments are posted. And team leaders get to identify their preferences for crew members. I think that last part happens at least sometimes before the signup material gets generally distributed.

I was chatting with Ed Lowrance who is the Co-chair of the projects committee yesterday, and they are shooting for publishing the R-7 form on the Friends website the first part of next week, so stay tuned!