San Luis & Rio Grande 1744 to Antonito

On Jun 22, 2007, San Luis & Rio Grande 4-6-0 #1744 made a rare afternoon run down from Alamosa to Antonito. 1744 was supposed to meet RGS Goose 5 that day, but the Goose was cancelled on account of a blown head gasket. Instead, we got to see something that hasn’t happened in some fifty years – working narrow and standard gauge steam in Antonito at the same time.

SLRG 1744 sits at the Alamosa depot, preparing to make one of its few runs to Antonito on 22-Jun-2007

One of the younger passengers looks back as 8577 waits to enter Alamosa.

Pulling into La Jara... We'd make a brief stop here for the locals to see the steam engine, which conveniently allowed those of us on the train to get a few shots. — Pulling into La Jara… We’d make a brief stop here for the locals to see the steam engine, which conveniently allowed those of us on the train to get a few shots.

The old La Jara depot is now the town hall, but at least it still has the train order signal out front.

Something at La Jara I'd never noticed before - some of the ties are notched for dual gauge track. That said, it doesn't look like the third rail was ever spiked into these, meaning they were put in place after 1970. — Something at La Jara I’d never noticed before – some of the ties are notched for dual gauge track. That said, it doesn’t look like the third rail was ever spiked into these, meaning they were put in place after 1970.

The special run enters Antonito under slightly threatening skies. This wasn't the first time 1744 had been to Antonito, but was only the second or third trip (can't remember). That said, here's also proof that a little rain can't keep the railfans away... — The special run enters Antonito under slightly threatening skies. This wasn’t the first time 1744 had been to Antonito, but was only the second or third trip (can’t remember). That said, here’s also proof that a little rain can’t keep the railfans away…

1744 at the end of standard gauge, in front of the Cumbres & Toltec depot.

The perspective from the C&TS station platform. RGS Goose 5 was supposed to be running into Antonito that day, but cancelled its C&TS appearance after blowing a head gasket.

Before the arrival of the C&TS train, they wyed the SL&RG train so that 1744 and K-36 484 would be facing the same way.

And while they were facing the same way, they were unfortunately then both back-lit. Still, when was the last time that standard and narrow gauge steam engines were next to each other in Antonito? It had to be, at a minimum, fifty years prior.

The special trip was just a down-and-back, so we were soon on our way back north to Alamosa. Here we are swinging north at Antonito, with the old stone depot in the background. The alignment we're on were once the start of the San Juan Extension, stretching westward to Silverton (though the gauge was 3ft then...) — The special trip was just a down-and-back, so we were soon on our way back north to Alamosa. Here we are swinging north at Antonito, with the old stone depot in the background. The alignment we’re on were once the start of the San Juan Extension, stretching westward to Silverton (though the gauge was 3ft then…)

Crossing the famous truss bridge north of Antonito, with a few fans tagging along in their cars... — Crossing the famous truss bridge north of Antonito, with a few fans tagging along in their cars…

And safely back at the Alamosa depot at the end of the day.

All photographs in this trip report were taken with a Canon EOS 40D using either a Canon 24-105mm F4 L IS/USM, Sigma 18-50mm, or a Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS/USM.

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.