Durango Looks Great This Summer

Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, headquartered in Durango, Colorado, is offering a rare deal for vacationers this summer and has several events planned. Durango, a town that's never really shed it's wild west image, is an amazing place to fall in love with narrow gauge, steam railroading. It's worth the travel time to get there, and if you're really brave, you'll bring your camera but leave your laptop and smartphone charging at home. Unplugging with only a hotel phone for emergencies may be the 2011 way of "roughing it," for some folks. I know that for me, doing so would certainly add to the old west, frontier feel!

Lobato Trestle Nearly Complete - Planned Opening Prior To Season Start

Important: See update at end of post

Chama is back!

The Lobato trestle is nearly completed and is projected to open mid-week, only days before opening weekend. Once in place, trains will once again roll from Antonito to Chama and back again, without having to halt progress at Cumbres Pass.

Volunteers Needed This Weekend

Colorado Railroads just received an urgent appeal for volunteers this Saturday for a steam-up at the Colorado Railroad Museum. Here it is:

Looking for volunteers to help with parking for our "Bunny Express" Saturday. We are anticipating need for overflow parking for this annual and very popular event at the Colorado Railroad Museum. Help!!!!

Donald Tallman
Executive Director

If you're in the Denver area on Saturday and need an excuse to go to the Colorado Railroad Museum for the day, this is about as good as they get. Giving time to the museum is an easy and cheap way to show your support for Colorado's railroad history. Contact Donald Tallman via Facebook, or contact the museum directly at 303-279-4591 or 800-365-6263.

Friends Bring $121K Check For Lobato Trestle

The Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is a volunteer support organization that works to preserve the rolling stock and most of the equipment of the Cumbres & Toltec. Last year on June 24th, the trestle at Lobato burned in a spectacular nighttime blaze. No one was injured, and the investigators have ruled out arson. Even while the embers were cooling , the Friends have taken on the work of soliciting donations for the rebuild, hopefully in time to restore service from Chama this coming season, which starts May 28th.

New Mexico Antes Up For Lobato Repairs, Could Complete By Opening Day 2011

The Lobato Trestle on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, which burned in a fire in late June, could possibly be back in service by next season's opening day! Long time New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson directed the state's Department of Transportation to direct $1.2 Million in federal funds toward the trestle reconstruction.

Lobato Trestle Op-Ed in ABQ Journal

Bill Hume, board member of the C&TS Railroad Management Company wrote an Op-Ed piece for the Albuquerque Journal regarding the Lobato Trestle rebuild project. In it, he covers the history of the actions taken since the fire in June.  Of note:

Firemen School on the C&TS

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad continues their school for different roles on steam operated freight trains. This week, they've got 6 firemen students training. The video is from Monday where they spent half the day in the classroom and half the day making up the train they planned to use on Tuesday.

You Forgot Your What!?

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad recently completed Railfest 2010, and the fans have some pretty unique souvenirs for their money. I found this picture while browsing their Railfest photo gallery. I've seen worse, but I think most folks would agree that when a person is giving a whistle demonstration at said Railfest, it's important--nay, crucial that they bring adequate ear protection. Regardless, the show, or the demonstration, must go on.

Cumbres & Toltec Buses Passengers Between Chama & Cumbres

At last, there is good news from Chama! Because of the fire at the Lobato Trestle, the 40th anniversary season of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad was under a significant cloud of doubt. Now, the operational shuffle by the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad appears to be over for the time being. 

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.

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,

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.

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.

Flag Day - Colorado's Star

This isn't directly related to railroads, but with today being Flag Day, I thought it would be appropriate and a little interesting to look at the flag when Colorado's star was added . It was first used on July 4, 1877, the first Independence Day after Colorado's admission into the Union.

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?

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!

Video: D&SNG Between the Rails At Hermosa

The D&SNG is the only narrow gauge railroad that, like the UP 844, has never ceased operations. It's squat, black engines and strings of Grande Gold coaches have been delighting railfans for more than half a century.

The video below, set from a unique angle, is from Hermosa, Colorado. No analog quality here! A train running over you (or your camera) at a good 25 or 30 miles an hour is impressive, and with digital quality and a widescreen format, it's quite an amazing vantage point between the rails!

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.

William M. Moedinger 1913 - 2010

Noted Colorado narrow gauge enthusiast and author William M. Moedinger passed away April 24, 2010. He is the author of The Road To Paradise: The Story of The Rebirth of the Strasburg Rail Road. as well as a fan of anything that ran on rails. He was the recipient of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society's 2003 Railroad History Award in photography.

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.