493 and 498 on maximum tonnage freight 10-2-67

Less than 11 months before the end of freight operations, the Rio Grande was still running some full tonnage freights from Alamosa to Farmington. One of these trains left Alamosa on October 2, 1967. Not surprisingly Ernie Robart and Joe Hereford were there, although I think we ended up chasing independently as it was difficult to coordinate driving at times, since I had a four-hour longer approach from Las Cruces than Ernie and Joe from Albuquerqe.

Here 498 and 493 are leaving Alamosa under a substantial plume of smoke





The train made a brief stop for an inspection allowing for a rail level view of 498



With the Antonito tank out of service, the engines took water at the small La Jara tank



Here engineer Ken Faucette is leading the train past the La Jara station





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2019 10:39PM by Olaf Rasmussen.