Showing posts with label Cumbres and Toltec Scenic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cumbres and Toltec Scenic. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Cumbres & Toltec Buses Passengers Between Chama & Cumbres
Tags:
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic,
Denver and Rio Grande Western,
general transportation,
heritage railroad,
history,
narrow gauge,
Opinion,
passenger,
Preservation,
steam
Location:
Cumbres, CO, USA
Sunday, July 4, 2010
As Lobato's Replacement Is Decided, Antonito Gains An Engine The Hard Way
Whatever they do in Chama (see previous post at 11:00 PM), they'll be doing it without C&TS engine 484. The Mikado and her tender were loaded on lowboy trailers,
Lobato Trestle Possibly A Total Loss, C&TS Looks For Alternatives
The news out of Chama is not good.
On Thursday, June 24th, the Lobato Trestle on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad burned, raining flaming timbers from its steel frame onto the underbrush and evergreens below, charring 2 acres before being extinguished. That Saturday, structural engineers from HNTB in St. Louis did an emergency assessment of the trestle, and produced a preliminary report by July 1st.
Location:
Lobato, NM, USA
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Opportunity To Assist With The Lobato Trestle Restoration
Following up on the previous post on Lobato Trestle. I received the following message from Tim Tennant, President and CEO of the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, a non-profit dedicated toward preserving the history of the C&TS equipment. He states,
Location:
Chama, NM, USA
Monday, June 28, 2010
Lobato Trestle Burns, Is Chama's Season Over?
UPDATE 6/21/11: Lobato Trestle is rebuilt and in use!
What happens when you mix creosote-soaked, wooden ties, the right amount of heat and air, lots and lots of air? A very bad day for the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad.
What happens when you mix creosote-soaked, wooden ties, the right amount of heat and air, lots and lots of air? A very bad day for the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad.
Tags:
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic,
Fire,
heritage railroad,
MOW,
narrow gauge,
passenger,
steam,
web videos
Location:
Lobato, NM, USA
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Fires Cripple Two of Colorado's Scenic Railroads
Fires in two separate locations are causing major disruptions during the summer. The Royal Gorge Route has canceled trains due to a wildfire in Parkdale. More significant is the disruption caused by a fire at Lobato for the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic.
Tags:
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic,
Fire,
heritage railroad,
MOW,
narrow gauge,
Original Artwork,
passenger,
Royal Gorge,
steam,
wildfire
Location:
Parkdale, CO 81212, USA
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Chama's Morning Show & Steam School
It's no secret that during the summer, Chama, New Mexico, has the best morning show around, especially when they have a K-36 Mikado like C&TS #484 lined for Cumbres Pass and Colorado. This video pretty much proves it. Doesn't she look great with the flying Grande on her tender?
Tags:
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic,
Denver and Rio Grande Western,
Featured Tips,
narrow gauge,
Opinion,
Preservation,
steam,
web videos
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Hits 40, Offers Discounts
This Memorial Day weekend typically signals the opening day for a lot of tourist and scenic railroads. The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad has been settling in for a week already and has a number of events scheduled for this year. Along with the kids' Cinder Bear Express and the Wild West Trains, the C&TS is also planning celebrations of its 40th Anniversary of operations between their main facilities in Chama, New Mexico and their station at Antonito, Colorado. It looks like they are ready for this summer!
Location:
500 Terrace Ave, Chama, NM 87520, USA
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Video: C&TS Photo Freight
While every summer, the tourist railroads haul thousands of visitors, this is different from their original purpose of hauling goods, passengers, supplies, ore, pipe and even oil. For the railfan born too late, there is nothing more true to that expeience than watching a photo freight, a train constructed by the railroad explicitly for the benefit of photographing it.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Mudhen 463 Still Under Restoration
It's been a while since we've checked on Engine 463. In fact, we've not seen much on 463 since the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad won the grant to begin work on restoration. Now, according to the Friends, we hear that restoration continues on D&RGW Locomotive 463, also known as Gene Autry's Mudhen. It is one of two surviving K-27 class locomotives originally 15 strong in the D&RGW roster, numbered 450 to 464.
Tags:
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic,
Denver and Rio Grande Western,
history,
narrow gauge,
Opinion,
Preservation,
Restoration,
steam
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Richard L Dorman, 1922 - 2010
Anyone who has spent much time studying the narrow gauge railroads of southern Colorado has likely come across library books by Richard L. Dorman. His books were often tied to the lines and cities and towns that were born of the railroads of the Rio Grande and the Rio Grande Southern. Dorman became enamored with the narrow gauge after a 1973 trip aboard the Denver & Rio Grande Western's fabled Silverton train. He began to collect photographs, especially of the Rio Grande Southern, only 20 years gone at the time. As a result, he met a lot of the RGS engineers and wives who had photograph collections.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Rio Grande Scenic Railroad Makes Some Changes for 2010 Season
The San Luis Valley has been a world unto itself for centuries. Cut off from the rest of Colorado by mountains on three sides, it has a rugged beauty and a feel that's different from the rest of the state. Once breached by the rails of the infant Denver & Rio Grande over Veta Pass on its way to Durango, the valley's riches were easily carried to Pueblo, Denver and beyond. Today, the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad based in Alamosa, Colorado functions as a short line feeding the Union Pacific connection at Walsenberg.
Tags:
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic,
Events,
extras,
passenger,
Rio Grande Scenic Railroad,
San Luis and Rio Grande,
steam,
Union Pacific
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Coming in May: Springtime in the Rockies Photographer Special
In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club charter on May 21, 1950, the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic is running a photographers' special on May 25th, 2010. The train will operate on the Cumbres & Toltec from Antonito to Osier and return. Motive power will feature green-jacketed K-36 Mikado Locomotive 489.
Tags:
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic,
Events,
extras,
narrow gauge,
steam
Monday, February 8, 2010
GM Soni Honegger Resigns From Cumbres & Toltec Scenic RR
Soni Honegger, a talented and resourceful man of steam, has resigned from his position as General Manager of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. Honegger came to the position November 1, 2008, amid praise for his skillful resourcefulness. At that point, he had worked with the C&TS for nearly 9 years after serving with Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railroad and the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Building Photo Essays For Your Railroad Pictures
Have a collection of railroad photos based on a location, interest or theme? Is using Flickr or Panoramio just not letting you show your abilities? Build a photo essay, or simply take a look at what one site can do.
Tags:
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic,
Denver and Rio Grande Western,
Flickr,
history,
narrow gauge,
steam
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Pile Driver OB Demonstration At CRRM
According to C&TS, we will have the opportunity to see Pile Driver OB in action the next two weekends at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden. On Saturday October 10 & 11 and again October 17 & 18, there will be demonstrations on the museum grounds. The Colorado Railroad Museum opens at 9:00am and the demonstrations will be held at 10:00am, 12:30pm and 3:00pm all four days.
Friday, August 28, 2009
October 2009 Trains Magazine Special Issue
If you did not receive your October issue of Trains magazine in the mail today, beg, borrow, or steal an issue! "NARROW GAUGE FEVER" headlines the issue and it delivers! Forty years to the month after the magazine's last major look at Colorado's narrow gauge, they come through again.
Map of the Month alone will pay for the issue. Had anyone figured how extensively narrow gauge was used? I would caution you that it's not to scale. Chama is not nearly as close to Durango as it appears on the map. Also, bear in mind that the Narrow Gauge Circle does not appear very well because much of it was abandoned and not converted to standard gauge.
The foldout for Midnight in Durango is beautiful! Summer nights in Durango are laden with coal smoke and the vivid dreams of 4- and 5 year-old boys whose love of trains have just begun.
Don't miss the photo essay, Return to the Land of the Narrow Gauge by John Gruber. Here's the link to the PDF offer of the 1969 photo essay. Back Issue articles also included in the PDF (Colorado narrow gauge articles in bold):
Map of the Month alone will pay for the issue. Had anyone figured how extensively narrow gauge was used? I would caution you that it's not to scale. Chama is not nearly as close to Durango as it appears on the map. Also, bear in mind that the Narrow Gauge Circle does not appear very well because much of it was abandoned and not converted to standard gauge.
The foldout for Midnight in Durango is beautiful! Summer nights in Durango are laden with coal smoke and the vivid dreams of 4- and 5 year-old boys whose love of trains have just begun.
Don't miss the photo essay, Return to the Land of the Narrow Gauge by John Gruber. Here's the link to the PDF offer of the 1969 photo essay. Back Issue articles also included in the PDF (Colorado narrow gauge articles in bold):
- “East Broad Top” By William Moedinger Jr., Pages 4-16, August 1941
- “Narrow Gauge to Santa Fe” By Forest Crossen, Pages 4-13, September 1941, a long, lingering look (for a magazine) at the Chili Line.
- “Florence & Cripple Creek” By L.C. McClure, Pages 4-5, December 1941, about the already abandoned Phantom Canyon line.
- “Down in Maine — Two-Footers” By Linwood W. Moody, Pages 28-29, February 1943
- “Main Line of the Narrow Gauge” By Harold M. Mayer, Pages 18-25, September 1944, details the Alamosa to Durango portion of the San Juan Extension, with a fine-toothed comb aimed at the passenger train named simply San Juan.
- “Southern Pacific Narrow Gauge” By Lucius Beebe, Pages 14-21, March 1947
- “Tweetsie’s Last Trip” By Jack Alexander, Pages 24-26, January 1951
- “Gateway to the Yukon” By F. L. Jaques, Pages 36-43, January 1951
- “What’s Right in Colorado” By Cornelius Hauck, Page 59, March 1955, a letter from Hauck on Richardson and Helfin's Alamosa efforts at the Narrow Gauge Motel, which would eventually become the Colorado Railroad Museum out in Golden
- “White Pass Meets Its Match” By Rosemary Entringer, Pages 36-37, February 1956
- “Into the Freezing Darkness” By Philip R. Hastings, Pages 48-56, April 1956, Hastings sleeps at the Narrow Gauge Motel before bucking the winter snows with now-cold D&RGW engine 499 on Cumbres Pass in 1955.
- “The Wide, Wide World of Narrow Gauge” By David P. Morgan, Cover, Pages 18-19, October 1969, a single-photo essay of the narrow gauge published on the eve of the abandonment of the narrow gauge from Antonito to Durango
- “God Made Snow for Farmers and Artists” By John Norwood, Pages 20-28, October 1969, long-time resident of the area, Norwood looks at the Chama turn over Cumbres clearing snow via rotary plow
- “Extra 498 and 493 West” By John Gruber, Pages 29-37, October 1969 (referenced offer), an effort to look at the Rio Grande's narrow gauge operation from the crew's vantage point
- “When All Roads Led to Durango” By William Moedinger, Pages 38-47, October 1969,
- “Out of a Misbegotten Idea, a Not Coincidental Charm” By David P. Morgan, Pages 48-49, October 1969, a single-photo essay on the RGS
- “The Nation’s Newest Narrow Gauge” By William H. McKenzie, Pages 22-25, April 1971, on the humble birth of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic
At a mere 104 pages, 13.8 MB, it seems a bit skimpy for those whose love of Colorado Narrow Gauge knows no bounds, but at $5.95, can anyone complain? I had practically no money and I still bought this! The profile of the Rio Grande narrow gauge grades from Alamosa to Pagosa Springs on page 33 is amazing! My only complaint is the ink is too light and requires some contrast work.
Forty years is a long time to wait, but it's beautiful, nonetheless.
Forty years is a long time to wait, but it's beautiful, nonetheless.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Looking Back 40 Years At the San Juan Extension
Forty years ago, it was still possible to travel from Alamosa to Silverton via narrow gauge rail. Today, it's all a distant memory. Yet, looking back, Durango was a town that stood to lose much if the Denver & Rio Grande Western abandoned southwest Colorado's San Juan Extension. As it turned out, not all of the rail was pulled up, but the narrow gauge circle, which was already broken, quickly vanished after August 1969.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Media Relations On Cumbres Pass
A man believed to be an employee of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is a suspect in an assault on a Valley Courier reporter Wednesday. What could have precipitated this?
Apparently, it's a traffic accident. A truck and trailer tried to sneak past the C&TS train bound for Chama, New Mexico on a foggy afternoon, and the trailer of the truck was clipped. Engine 484 had minor damage, and the passengers were bused back to Chama. When a reporter from the Valley Courier started poking around and taking pictures, the last thing he might have expected to see was fireworks.
Draw your own conclusions from the article, but I'm wondering why would someone from the railroad deny that any accident happened twice and then take a cheap shot at a photographer? Business may be down, but that's not how you handle media relations, unless you're Sean Penn.
Let's see what develops.
Update 6/17/09
It seems like whatever did happen, the reporter blew things out of proportion when he wrote the story (linked above). According to Westword,
Apparently, it's a traffic accident. A truck and trailer tried to sneak past the C&TS train bound for Chama, New Mexico on a foggy afternoon, and the trailer of the truck was clipped. Engine 484 had minor damage, and the passengers were bused back to Chama. When a reporter from the Valley Courier started poking around and taking pictures, the last thing he might have expected to see was fireworks.
Draw your own conclusions from the article, but I'm wondering why would someone from the railroad deny that any accident happened twice and then take a cheap shot at a photographer? Business may be down, but that's not how you handle media relations, unless you're Sean Penn.
Let's see what develops.
Update 6/17/09
It seems like whatever did happen, the reporter blew things out of proportion when he wrote the story (linked above). According to Westword,
...It was a pretty wimpy punch," he [Winget] concedes. However, at the urging of Valley Courier publisher Keith Cerny, he reported the incident to the Conejos County Sheriff's Office due in part to what it symbolized. "It was an assault against newspapers and the freedom of the press,"...It isn't the first time a person has cited their first amendment rights after they've annoyed people and gotten a sour response. If the reporter had been injured, or if there was a concerted effort to suppress a story, it might have actually been newsworthy. Up to now, all that's been injured is a reporter's ego and a publisher's notion of superiority.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Summer Goose Migrations On the C&TS
The Rio Grande Southern's Galloping Goose Motor 5 from Dolores will be running on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic railroad this summer 2009. Here are the dates, destinations and ticket prices:
The Goose will then be back in the fall for another series of trips. This should be when the aspens are around their best down south. Here are the dates, routes and prices:
Lunch at Osier again is included in the price of a ticket. Call the Cumbres & Toltec ticket office 888-286-2737 for reservations for either migration.
- June 18 - Chama to Antonito - ticket price $90
- June 19 & 20 - Antonito to Osier roundtrips - $79
- June 21 - Antonito to Chama - $90
The Goose will then be back in the fall for another series of trips. This should be when the aspens are around their best down south. Here are the dates, routes and prices:
Lunch at Osier again is included in the price of a ticket. Call the Cumbres & Toltec ticket office 888-286-2737 for reservations for either migration.
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