Re: 497 and 487 Cumbres turn 10-3-67

Olaf Rasmussen Wrote:
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> Victor's book has three plates on the Rio Grande
> narrow gauge. There is 497 eastbound at Cresco on
> October 3, 1967, on the first of two Cumbres turns
> that day. Plates 51 and 52 show a westbound pipe
> train with 487 as road engine and 483 as mid-train
> helper rounding the horse shoe curve at Los Pinos
> 6 days later on October 9, 1967. So Victor,
> assuming he followed either the Chama-Alamosa
> train or the Farmington turn on October 4, would
> have had a five day gap with no narrow gauge
> action. On October 9 497 brought a freight from
> Durango to Chama to meet 483 and 487 from Alamosa.
> On October 10 483 and 487 returned to Alamosa and
> 497 returned to Durango. As for me, I had to drive
> back to New Mexico State U to finish up my
> research and submit my Master's thesis, so no more
> narrow gauge chases for a month, until November 8
> (473 switching the Weidman sawmill for the next
> days run of 476 to Chama , in the works to be
> posted).

The train 487 and 497 brought in from Durango consisted of 19 loads of lumber, 2 cars of scrap pipe, 2 loads of coal, 30 empties, about 1025 tons.

497-487 was called for 830 on 10/3.

497
eng Carl Jack
frm Gayle Cunningham

487
eng Ken Faucette
frm Stan Smith

The first turn had 29 empties.

The second turn, called for 120pm had 13 loads of lumber, 1 coal, 2 loads of scrap pipe, 16 loads, 0 empties.

The next day 487 and 497 were called at 9am and left Chama with 12 loads of lumber and 14 empties. At Cumbres they picked up the rest of the train and headed east with 69 cars. My guess is 487 was road engine.

This was probably the last long train on the narrow gauge.