C&TS Crews at Work - May 24-26, 2010 (Pics)

Hello, All -

Apparently great (?) minds think alike.  Believe it or not, I was already working on a set of "one month ago" pics when Brian Jansky posted his superb collection at [ngdiscussion.net].

My photos are not of the "Springtime" Charter, however, but of the behind-the-scenes hard work that makes such excursions possible, and of the dedicated track crews of the C&TS who have so greatly improved the railroad over the past two or three years.

I'll have to forgive John Matthews for the structural, if not aesthetic, improvements at M.P. 287.50.  I first spotted that little trestle more than forty years ago – on 08/29/68 – and it's my own fault for not getting out there to take advantage of it's classic beauty against the backdrop of the Sangre de Cristo mountains until just two or three months too late.  (At least John didn't vehemently disapprove of Christian Romberg and me reducing the glare of its modern tubular replacement with the generous application of some Dark Olive Green Boiler Jacket Enamel Urethane – and dirt – on the eve of the Springtime charter . . . )

The shop, engine servicing and track crews are doing a fabulous job, and deserve thanks from all of us for their dedication and hard work.

The first set shows our train being made up on 05/24 – even #19 got into the act – and one shot of Ronnie topping off the coal in #489's tender on 05/25.   (Note carefully in the second shot that there is apparently still just a little bit of standard-gauge track buried in the asphalt of U.S. 285 just shy of the "End of Standard Gauge" sign at the west end of the yard in Antonito.)


The second set of photos was taken the morning after the day before — on Wednesday, 05/26. Mt. Blanca makes a great background as the daily westbound train crosses over the small culvert that replaced the JéBêWèx' guest house at m.p. 286.72 last year and then approaches the former location of the main lodge at m.p. 287.50 in Trölliessen with my trusty steed 'Wandergans' (the Galloping Goose) posed as though waiting at the crossing on Trölliessen's main thoroughfare. The train then passed the track gang's small backhoe, and began climbing the edge of the mesa about a mile further on.


The first shot in the next set was actually taken a little while before the train arrived; the speeder and its load of ties departed shortly afterward to 'go in the hole' on the connector track at Lava Loop, about two miles to the south as the hawk flies, and four miles by rail.  While I was taking the photos in the previous set another speeder snuck up behind me, and the crew began replacing ties and tamping ballast near the crossing.  Meanwhile the backhoe / skip loader straddled the rails, and the crew completed the replacement of a couple of ties. Having done this kind of work in the past (but only as a part-time volunteer) I know how much effort is required — even with mechanized assistance.  In surroundings like these, however, its hard to imagine a more satisfying and enjoyable way to earn a living while getting PLENTY of exercise . . . and fresh air.


. . . to be Continued.



Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/2017 12:35PM by Russo Loco.