Brother Sammy King is getting off the internet and has asked me to share this with everyone.



MERRY CHRISTMAS Feliz Navidad

Here is a recycled Christmas greeting, which I recieved this time last year. I hope this story will put a smile on your face.

The foto shows NdeM Niagara 3040, which had lost many vital parts, and decayed for years in the notorius Huehuetoca scrapyard north of Mexico City. As many of you know, she is special to me because she was the first locomotive I ever drove, when I was 14. After privatization of the NdeM, an attempt was made to move the 3040 to Vera Cruz, but she only got as far as the little town of Oriental, Puebla. She was abandoned more or less, on the tail of the wye, in the middle of the street, in a less affluent section, of a not real prosperous town. She had never worked in that part of the republic, either.

For several years she got nastier and nastier, but was not vandalized, and then the townsfolk decided to fix her up. With the help of local employer Gonsen, S.A. they cleaned her up and put a nice coat of paint on her, and they attempted to duplicate some of the missing goodies. A wrought iron fence was put up around her, then the neighborhood women cleaned up the immediate area, and landscaped it, turning a dusty alleyway into a nice little park.

All of this had happened without a word in the news anywhere. I had not seen the complete restoration until an anonymous friend sent me this image of 3040 all lit up for Christmas last year !!! This is the best way I can think of to wish all of you a Merry Christmas, may each and every one of you recieve such a wonderful surprise at least once in your life !!!

FELIZ NAVIDAD
VIVA NdeM 3040 !!!