I went for a steam cruise from Chama on May 30. It had been a long time and I really enjoyed the ride through every kind of weather except a lighting storm!
The ground is very saturated on La Manga and Cumbres from the snowmelt and I spotted several places where the roads are moving. I hope they dry out before serious trouble occurs. Rock falls will be a problem for a while.
I visited places along the SL&RG railroad and was saddened to see a VERY quiet RR. The Eastbound train at Fort Garland had only a few cars and two sad looking ex-Amtrak units plus an ex-UP AC. Alamosa looks like a salvage yard although there are some good passenger cars and three F units. The only revenue cars I saw South of Alamosa were two covered hoppers on the Antonito wye. ( The Coors beer cans are stored on Coors owned track). When I left I went to Monte Vista and caught the SLC moving their SW from their main into the car shop area but that was the only power in Monte Vista. A few cars were parked on the main at the West yard board and a few MOWs on a parallel track. The Parallel track had a cherry of a 40' KATY box and some D&RGW cars.
From what I saw the future of SG railroading in the San Luis Valley looks pretty bleak. That's a lot of rough mountain railroading to support with just a few cars. Does it pick up at harvest time?
JP