Rails, Robbers, and Wraiths: A Fictional Travel Journal

A fictional travel journal based on a vacation trip to Northern New Mexico for a ride on the Chama and Toltec Scenic Railroad involves readers in mysterious and ghostly events. In real life, the authors would have loved to have taken the special excursion train that included a mock train robbery, but because it wasn’t available at that time, they began to imagine what experiencing a train robbery might be like. How was a fake train robbery planned? Where on the route did it occur? How did the robbers treat the passengers? Did they actually steal money and jewelry from passengers? As the authors debated these questions, a fictional version began to emerge. This fictional account, which includes a train robbery, is the result of those imaginings. And although the true journey was enjoyable and calming, the fictional version is much more exciting. Two brothers and their wives meet up in Chama, New Mexico to take a ride on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. The brothers are train buffs. They meet Joe Bob, a passionate volunteer train docent. He and other docents are making extraordinary efforts to provide good service to railfans in spite of limited funds to operate the railroad. More funding is crucial. When the travelers ask Joe Bob details about the upcoming train robbery, he gruffly deflects their questions.The scenic rail trip gets underway. After several hours of anxious anticipation, the train robbers are sighted, arriving on horseback and brandishing six-shooters. But the action-packed robbery leaves the travelers with more questions than answers. As they continue their New Mexico travels to Taos and Las Vegas, the mystery of the train robbery deepens. One of the train robbers is sighted in the Plaza in Taos. Or was it really him in the jewelry store admiring at a White Buffalo ring? Why was Joe Bob so uncommunicative during a chance meeting at a Taos gas station?At the historic Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas, a puff of cigar smoke and a whiff of lilac perfume help to unravel the mystery of the train robbery. (Or was there a supernatural element at work here?) It isn’t until many years later that a newspaper article reveals to the travelers the true mastermind of the robbery on the Cumbres and Toltec.

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