Personal Projects, Photography, and Pointless Pontifications
Closing Day of the 2002 C&TS Season
I hadn’t actually gotten the chance to do any railfanning at all in over a month, and so with the final weekend of 2002 season Cumbres & Toltec Scenic operations upon me, I decided to head out for southern Colorado. Well, actually it wasn’t quite that organized. Saturday dawned a beautiful day, but I hadn’t decided whether or not to head for Antonito. Aside from the C&TS there’s not much rail action in the San Luis on a weekend. So, I packed my bag and headed towards Walsenburg, hoping for a little action on the mainline.
As luck would have it, everything between Colorado Springs and Walsenburg on the Joint Line was absolutely dead. However, upon arriving at Walsenburg I heard a southbound BNSF coal load departing out the other side of town. By following BNSF 9956 east/south, I eventually found myself in Trinidad, and then out on the Twin Peaks subdivision headed for New Mexico. Somewhere in the late afternoon, 9956 stopped at Banela to meet 8987 west. At that point I turned around and followed it back. Not all in all a bad day exploring part of a subdivision I’d never seen before, and it became Chapter 1 of this trip report.
The old roadbed for the D&RG / UPD&G connector that ran from the mainline at Barnes to Barnes Junction before the D&RG abandoned their Pueblo-Trinidad main in 1936. This relic can be found a mile south of the road to Ludlow, CO, on the west side of I-25.
While photographing the old roadbed, BNSF 9956 showed up with a southbound (SDEX) coal load.
And dropping down the other side of the hill near Ludlow (or Barnes Junction), with two DPUs on the back.
BNSF 9956 crests the top of a short grade south of Beshoar, CO, now on the Twin Peaks Subdivision (southeast of Trinidad)
With 9956 holding the main at Banela, I went looking for the westbound it would be meeting… I found it working upgrade halfway between Banela and Trinchera
In getting back to Banela to catch 8987 east, I came across these guys, who were initially blocking the road but cleared up after a few honks.
After meeting 9956, BNSF 8987 east comes through a curve on the grade west of Banela. The entire Twin Peaks sub is full of these spectacular curves.
Just a wider view of the previous curve. No matter what it looks like on a map, as it turns out the subdivision is quite a rollercoaster, at least east of Trinidad.
BNSF 8987 in the late afternoon sun along County Road 22, halfway between Banela and Beshoar, CO.
Cresting the hill and nearing the grade crossing southeast of Beshoar
The head end of 8987, as viewed from between two cars. You wouldn’t believe how many shots it took to get this right.
And the last shot of the day – 8987’s DPU, 9861, drifting downgrade. After that, I called it an afternoon and headed for Alamosa for the night.
From there, it was on to Alamosa for the night. (The only complication being a stop to take my rear right wheel off to diagnose and repair a horrible screaching noise. Turned out to be caused by a rock lodged between the hub and brake caliper. What trip would be complete without truck problems?) After getting a little dinner, fresh video tape for the next day, I turned in for the night. After watching Air Force get whooped by Notre Dame on the TV, I called it a night and got some sleep.
The next morning, like any railfanning trip, dawned bright and early, and without a cloud in the sky. My goal was to be in Chama by 9, but as usual I was running about half an hour behind due to various things (including falling asleep again in the shower). So, I did the usual runs of following the eastbound train (with a double-header) out of Chama, grabbing lunch, and following the light unit back down the hill. At that point, Chama was clouded over and getting a little bit of rain, so after photographing 463 and the last westbound from Los Pinos to Cumbres, I headed back over La Manga and down to Antonito. With the dry weather, I managed to get further out into the desert than ever before, though I wound up stopping near RR MP 285 due to road conditions and the angle of the light. From there, I shot 497 heading into Antonito, and with the sun rapidly dropping I decided to call it a day. A short, quick trip to the C&TS for its last day of 2002 season trains.
The last regular train out of Chama for the year is a double-header – CATS 487 and 497 sit and steam as the passengers board.
Another look at the Chama yards on Sunday morning
Would it really be a trip to Chama without the traditional “Departing Town” shot at the NM 17 grade crossing?
While the foliage color peaked out several weeks back, much of the color still remained for the closing day.
More of the fall foliage where NM 17 and the railway come back together north of Chama, NM.
Nearing the Lobato trestle and working hard…
There’s nothing quite like the sound of two steamers working up a 4% grade – especially when it’s through a cut of trees that focuses the sound.
The motive power crosses Lobato trestle one piece at a time – these steamers are too big (especially 497, a K-37 – the biggest of the D&RGW narrow gauge steamers), and two of them together would be close to exceeding the bridge’s capacity.
The two round the S-curves just north of the second NM Hwy 17 crossing (going north from Chama).
487 and 497 climb along the river canyon near the Colorado-New Mexico state line.
Just a shot through the trees near the Coxo grade crossing
Within sight of the top, the two locomotives and train round Windy Point – aptly named!
Draped over the top of the grade at Cumbres Pass
Not needed for the long gentle drop towards Antonito, C&TS 487 is cut off at Cumbres to eventually run light back down to the yard.
I couldn’t resist this father/son shot at Cumbres, as the two were walking towards 487 for a few photos. This is Bill Kepner and his son. It reminded me of trips with my own family when I was young. Note that 487 has an identity problem – the tender is off 488!
Descending the lower part of the Tanglefoot Curves, along Cumbres Creek.
A few minutes before arriving in Los Pinos, 497 approaches the USFS road crossing
After passing the Los Pinos tank, the line loops back around to follow the Rio De Los Pinos down to Osier and the Toltec Gorge.
Meanwhile, back at the summit, 487 and crew are getting ready for the light run back to the shops. This will be 487’s final run for the season, for when she gets back to Chama her fires will be dropped and the winterization process will start. Since 487 won’t depart until around 1330h, I decided to take a break at this point and return to Chama for lunch.
Running light, 487 is on its way back down the hill near Coxo, CO.
No need to stop for water at the Cresco tank
As you can see, the color is gone from many of the aspens at this elevation. However, there’s just enough left to add a touch of color.
Coming through the S-Curve near the highway crossing. No, the photo doesn’t exaggerate the grade by much.
At Dalton (just above the Lobato trestle), 487 once again shows its identity problem through the haze.
The crew blows off a little pressure south of Lobato. They’re nearly back to Chama at this point, and as usual in the afternoons, the weather is deteriorating. It’s actually raining in this shot, though you can’t tell.
By the time I made it back up the hill to catch the westbound, he’d already cleared the Los Pinos tank and was headed west. So I set up just east of Tanglefoot Curve waiting for it. The sun came out just in time…
Another shot of 463 and train, a bit closer but from the same spot.
Couldn’t resist, I liked this shot. It’s good to see polished narrow gauge still running through the Colorado mountains.
With the clouds and sun once again playing games, 463 prepares to depart Cumbres Pass. The weather down towards Chama is now looking positively ugly, so I’m headed over to the Antonito side.
No, I’m not lost, I’m exploring… Believe it or not, the “road” is just on the left side of the Yukon – but the road at this point is two deep ruts through the brush. This is near the MP 284.79 bridge.
About half an hour after setting up, 497 and train eventually arrive, trundling along through the high desert. This will be the last revenue train into Antonito for the year. Hopefully the whole operator bid process will be resolved soon, so that next year starts successfully and on-time.
The last eastbound, the motorcar, and the rugged Sangre de Cristo mountains in the background.
Passing the famous End of Standard Gauge sign coming in to Antonito
And ducking under the Antonito tank – that’s another year, folks!
Just as a last, parting shot… Now that’s how to see the Rockies – from the back of DRGW 0306 on an October afternoon.
This work is copyright 2024 by Nathan D. Holmes, but all text and images are licensed and reusable under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. Basically you’re welcome to use any of this as long as it’s not for commercial purposes, you credit me as the source, and you share any derivative works under the same license. I’d encourage others to consider similar licenses for their works.
