Help us progress dialogue, restore no.1129, and more!!!

-About me-

My name is Brooks Potts. I'm a Federally licensed Class 6/8 Conductor for Union Pacific. I also formed the Rough Riders Rail Rehab Organization after I learned of the deep rooted history and ties Las Vegas, New Mexico had to the Santa Fe Railroad. After seeing no.1129 in its current state, I knew I had to take action as someone with deep family roots to the railroad. I'm also part of the Las Vegas Rotary International Club, Local 202 Union of Denver Colorado, and other community involvement. I see preservation as vital to local growth and communities. You don't have to look very far to know that sharing in these responsibilities advances the cities interests in solidifying its national presence and access to more opportunity. In my experience, the biggest impact we can make on our youth, and to increase our chances of stable economic growth, and strong workforce is showing that we can take on challenges such as this. It is as simple as turning a wrench and building strong relationships with the person next to you. There is nothing more rewarding than completing a task that scores of individuals take part in together and build skills that are relevant for their future as well. You can see similar community building in Las Vegas through organizations like The Hermits Peak Watershed Alliance, Friends of the Hot Springs, Friends of the Museum, and Las Vegas Citizens Committee of Historic Preservation just to name a few. I am seeking to do the same in service to my community. I know that what I am requesting here can be accomplished and open up more chapters for our future generations.

-Mission-

To preserve and restore our Santa Fe railroad history by unifying local organizations, businesses, citizens, and trades people.

-The Big Picture-

When the Santa Fe arrived in Las Vegas in 1879, there was a massive effort to make Las Vegas the division point for the Santa Fe railroad. While doing so, there was a vision in place to add to Las Vegas as a destination spot for the thrill-seeker and the afflicted looking for a retreat to cure their illnesses in the natural hot springs. The Gallinas river was the perfect roadmap for the railroad to follow into the cut of the Sangre De Cristo mountains forming the illustrious Montezuma Hotel and its tangential facilities. For two decades, said retreat operated with unmatched service and excitement to many who stayed. Although the Hot Springs Branch has long-since been abandoned, the splendor of Hotel Montezuma continues to inspire young minds as it still stands and became a United World College property. We want to reconnect that relationship and regrow what once was to the benefit of the community starting with engine no.1129 as the rallying point for significant historical preservation, and a chance to build that experience one spike at a time. Tourism and other tangential businesses spring from actions such as this, and with the abundant railroad history Las Vegas has to offer the rest of the country, it's a very tangible goal to meet.

-Regarding the Engine and its connection to the Community-

You can ask every local in the city a memory they have with "the black train at the end of town". Many people have a deep foundational connection to it as a meeting place for many different reasons. With that in mind, it is our intention to protect this piece of history so that those stories can continue to thrive, and perhaps solutions can be developed for the current location that solves other issues as well. One remarkable fact is not a single engine of this class has been fully restored to operation, and most rarely see anything beyond updated paint and non-functional conservation work. We want to change that trend, and for good reason. The city of Las Vegas contains some of the most talented trades people in the state, and they deserve an opportunity to teach market-relevant jobs to young prospective journeymen and journeywomen. In turn, we believe restoring this iconic piece of Santa Fe history, and creating a future experience revolving around Las Vegas and it's incredible story will reconnect the business potential and tourism for locals to benefit from. We feel this aligns not only with the City and its goals to protect what it has, but does so in a way that rebuilds a missing part of the historic lifestyle and brings forward an experience that everyone can share in. Las Vegas might be a small town, but it is far from average.

-History of no.1129 before retirement-

Engine no.1129 is a 2-6-2 Prairie Locomotive built in 1902 by Baldwin Locomotive Works who's famous earlier sister no.1010 completed a record breaking run through Needles during the Death Valley special. It, like all of the 1050 class were the "jacks of all trades" for the Santa Fe until the mid 50's. She worked her early years between Dodge City and Newton, Kansas. These assignments were most attributed to the delivery of live stock and agricultural freight between the two. In her later years she would finish her career doing short line passenger service in the New Mexico Division as confirmed from an article in the Albuquerque Journal. Her last operating engineer, Joe Owings remarks about her final assignments and the inspiration the prairie engines had on young men at the beginning of the 20th century.

-History of engine no.1129 after retirement-

In 1956, the Santa Fe railroad chose the town of Las Vegas as a place to donate an engine from their aging steam fleet. The Special Railroad Committee of the Chamber of Commerce were immediately tasked with finding locations viable to support the size of the engine with convenience of access, as well as a fence to surround the engine. They intended for the chosen lot to be a general park and access for visitors. Moving the engine was a tall order, to some considering it an impossible feat due to the minimal resources Las Vegas had at the time. Owen Shillinglaw and Milton Callon headed a campaign to fundraise for the engines placement. The ingenious decision was made to sell voting blanks in an attempt to allow locals to name the track beneath the engine while funding for the entire endeavor. This made for a rather exciting point in history for Las Vegans, as they became owners of their own railroad. Several names were designated for the short line railroad including engineer Fred O. McQuiddy who dedicated his entire professional career to the Santa Fe railroad, and retiring after 50 years of continuous service. It would only be 6 years after his passing for his name to be enshrined in Las Vegas history as "The Fred O. Mcquiddy Railroad, the shortest railroad in the world"

-Current Status of Engine-

The engine is beginning to show serious signs of deterioration from the sand dome, external features, as well as a boiler jacket that is paper thin and in certain areas has given way. The smoke box drain plug has never been removed, and the smoke stack is uncovered allowing debris and water to enter. Attached to the pilot of 1129 is its historic marker. Unfortunately it now shows faded characters barely legible from the sidewalk. Additionally, the engine has been subjected to consistent vandalism and theft due to its location and open access. The fence (shorter than its original) has created an unhealthy environment for break-ins and issues with community safety. An initial inspection of different areas of opportunity will help find where the problems are, the costs to repair those areas, and scenarios that will further the project to its goals. We care immensely about the future of this engine and right now it's in dire need of help.

-Ongoing City discussion-

Our very first meeting with Council started in October of 2023 with clarifications on ownership of the engine, what plans the city had for the equipment, and what options could cascade into beautification. During this meeting we had a chance to learn the history of the council members relationship with the engine, including the opinions of local players such as the University's past president Sam Miner. At that time it was suggested by council member Romero (now acting mayor) that these discussions be done further and to understand the legalities. We maintained the position that the city having ownership provides the necessary levers to approach the community about our interests in preservation and creating a platform that cares for the engine for the rest of its existence. Since then we continued community discussion and outreach to better educate the community about the equipments current condition, and possible steps to save the engine from a costly cycle of deterioration. We have requested further communication from the city to give us permission to step in to prevent further decay but have not been awarded an audience since our last city council meeting in October of 2023. We were recently contacted by the City Manager on October 4th, 2024 via certified letter with a positive tone, the city has left the date of this discussion as "the future". On October 10th, 2024 we replied with a certified letter and email to our city manager with questions concerning a date for these discussions to take place. We did this in good faith, and have answered all concerns and questions the city had regarding our efforts to fundraise and bring awareness to this issue.

-Opinion on the current preservation-

To us, there is no excuse for a historic railroad town to lose any of its railroad history and fall victim to neglect and vandalism, especially with access to so many willing businesses and citizens who want to see preservation a reality. We've continued our effort to discuss this with the community over the past year and we feel that we can take on this task to help the community retrieve that history, and make it work for them in a meaningful way. Generations that live here have watched their town change in many different ways, and sometimes that change wasn't always to help the community. This is why we are such big advocates of buying, supporting, and building local.

-Why us?-

Behind every historic display, operational steam engine, and experience you will see passionate volunteers and employees from all walks of life and from all different backgrounds. They all started with the same belief "something ought to be done here and who could help us do it"? In fact, what we are doing is no different than what happens day to day in this country to protect the railroad history. Many conservation groups are headed by knowledgeable individuals who in part ( or whole) were working for the railroad and who also see the value in preserving what we have. We feel we have gathered enough resources and individuals to begin laying the ground work for a successful preservation that could unlock hidden tourism necessary for the City of Las Vegas to benefit from. We don't have all the answers, but it is an undeniable fact, that people love the power of the journey of preservation and they love trains!

How can you help outside of donation?

While we await a response from the city, we encourage those who feel this is a worth-while endeavor to take action in respectful and meaningful ways to let the City of Las Vegas know you care.

• Write a letter to our local government (and state) expressing your interest to see us (Rough Riders Rail Rehab) to move forward with heading the efforts of preserving this iconic engine. Remember its Las Vegas, New Mexico!

Engage with us and have open dialogue with friends and family in (or out) of the rail preservation world. Awareness starts with you.

-Affiliates in conservation-

Below are some of our affiliates who share in our desire to protect, and teach railroad history.

• NMRHS (New Mexico Rail Heritage Society) no.2926
• Durango & Silverton Railroad
• Redwood Empire group
• Texas Railway Preservation Association
• NARCOA (North American Rail Car Operators Association)

You can also see our website here at: www.lasvegas4ro.com

-Fundraising-

While we do not have any permissions to said equipment, we are doing limited fundraising to help us move this conversation forward and are used expressly for the stated items below and nothing more.

1. State of New Mexico filing fees for 501c3's including specific legal language.

2. Licensing Fees with the use of Filmora, and the removal of their watermarks for content creation. This will allow us on Youtube to document the non-profit and project every step of the way so you don't miss a single thing.

3. Assists with public outreach and offers a buffer when hosting events to further drive charitable donations.

4. Fees associated with Domain, Webpage maintenance, Social Media presence, and SEO work to ensure we grow the name and get more people onboard with this exciting adventure. We use Wix as our website platform and typically it costs $35 a month to assure the website remains active with a valid domain name (excluding domain retention cost each year)

5. PPE (personal protective equipment) for when the need arises to visit sites associated with potential dangers and to ensure we are acting with safety in mind being near rail equipment and hazards. We would be purchasing hi-viz vests, gloves, protective eye wear, ear protection, lighting (head lamps)

6. Materials to print/document such as graphing paper, pencils, pens, markers, and other writing material. These will be necessary in the field to advance our ability to communicate conditions, changes, measurements, and organization

Thank you for your help, anything you donate is truly a blessing and if you have more questions just ask us!

Will you turn the wrench with us?