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| Cumbres & Toltec Railroad, NM | |
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| | Cumbres & Toltec Railroad, NM | | | |
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Cumbres & Toltec Railroad, NM
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| Scenic Drive | |
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| | Scenic Drive | | | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| partners | | Roadtrip Randy (rwstorm) and I traveled to Chama, NM for a day's worth of riding the rails and taking in the scenic views of northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado. I left in the weee hours of Monday so that I might have enough time to chase the old coal burner through the mountains while Randy, whose done this several times before, slept in and showed up later.
I got into Chama around noon and checked into the RR depot to find out where the train was, I was told that if I hurried I could catch it as it was crossing the 10,022 foot Cumbres Pass. I wanted to get photos of the train really working hard on the uphill stretch and blowing black smoke so I kicked the little red truck into low range and beat the train to the pass. I hustled down the tracks and caught the Westbound train as it was giving it's boiler a good workout. Clouds of black smoke mixed with more clouds of white steam trailed behind the chuffing monster as it pulled several cars full of riders up the four percent grade on its way up to the pass.
The next day, Randy and I were roaming around the depot area taking pictures of the trains as we awaited the 10:00 am boarding call. Then after boarding the coaches and finding our seats, we were heading east out of the rail yard and up into the mountains. An open Gondola car was provided for those who wanted to be out in the fresh air (cough, cough) taking pictures of the awesome scenery. We were about a week to ten days ahead of peak color but there were a lot of Aspen groves dotting the canyons that were dressed in their autumn season's best color, something I hadn't expected.
After two scenic hours of weaving our way back and forth across the CO/NM boarder, the train pulled into Osier, Colorado which is the half-way point where a suburb lunch was waiting for us. As we were being served, the westbound train out of Antonito, CO pulled in on a siding beside our train and everybody headed in before we cleaned out the lunch lines. After lunch the Engineer and Boiler Feed Man fired up the boiler, and soon we were back listening to the car's iron wheels clicking and clacking rhythmically as we proceeded down the line.
The next couple of hours were as scenic as the first part of the trip as we crossed high trestles and looked straight down into deep rocky gorges, rounded sharp bends and admired the color of the encroaching seasonal changes. We pulled into Antonito, CO a bit after four pm where we quickly boarded tour buses for the return to Chama and the end of an exciting day of riding the rails. Once back at our lodging, Randy and I said our farewells as I would be up before sunrise and on the road as, once again, Roadtrip Randy slept in.
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Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate
Several patches of very colorful Aspen dotted the hillsides. |
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| On every trip into the Superstitions, I find another Gold Mine. Today the mine was filled with Memories. I can not wait for the next trip. |
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