Greg Scholl Wrote:
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> Lovely shot with the horses....wild or domestic??
> I thought the 498 picked up the loads of lumber at
> Gato that were left there previously or some such.
> I would have thought they would be on the front
> of the train. The final train over Cumbres that
> has been talked about had 14 cars of loaded lumber
> from that pick-up.
I had the same thought. However the pics show the loads were placed ahead of the caboose. Several empties were set out at Gato.
> I find it interesting how the D&RGW brought all
> these empties from Durango to Chama, and left them
> there. Seems like a wasted effort and something
> more useful could have been hauled. Going back to
> the first westbound from Durango on June 4th, 1968
> a similar situation took place. The 498 took all
> box cars from Durango to Chama, yet a different
> train went to Alamosa the next day with 483 and
> 493. There were some pipe flats, and some box
> cars, and a load of cinders behind the 483. I
> guess trains got remade in Chama based on priority
> requirements for empties in Alamosa, actual
> westbound loads, and train weight up the hill.
> Greg
Even though it was generally known/thought that this was the last train. No one was certain of this as abandonment was approved until the summer of 1969. A retired trainman from Alamosa told me that in the spring of 1969 483 was fired up with the intent of running a train to Chama. He was a new-hire and was excited about the prospects of going to Chama. Alas, the higher-ups squashed that idea.
So with this in mind, the last trains were run with the idea they might have to continue operations in the future.