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Cumbres and Toltec Train on Curve

We took a great excursion trip on the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad, from Antonito, Colorado, to Chama, New Mexico.

This is a real steam line, burning coal.

The line climbs up to a 10,000 foot pass, and we really enjoyed the autumn colors.

The next day, we drove to some trackside areas, and took photos of the train heading uphill from Chama.

See:

swansonphotos.com/cumbres

Some history: this line was originally part of the extensive network of the Denver and Rio Grande Western, one of the few narrow-gauge railroads to survive from the 19th century. When that line was seriously curtailed, and would have disappeared, two states took these parts over as tourist (scenic) railroads. In this case, the operation is run by the states of Colorado and New Mexico. The other section run currently is the Durango and Silverton, entirely within Colorado.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_and_Rio_Grande_Western_Railroad
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3 comments

Léopold said:

As if you were in the good old years when train was the ony way of transportation along with horses.
5 years ago

slgwv said:

We'll hafta ride this one someday. We did the Silverton in 2016--I posted a few photos. I rode the Silverton as a child, ca. 1966, and at that time the narrow-gage was still operating as a functioning freight line. I remember wandering around the yard in Durango with my dad looking at the freight cars, none of which (IIRC) has a date later than the 20s. The line was finally shut down a couple of years later, with the Silverton resurrected as a tourist-only run..
5 years ago

Maurice 2020 said:

belle image d'un temps que les jeunes ne connaitront jamaisbravo
5 years ago ( translate )