Notes from Chama

As Ed noted in his View from the Headend, it's a bit melancholy watching the railroad close down for the winter. We NEED the break to work on track and equipment, but it's sad to bid farewell to a bunch of good folks who we won't see until next spring.
The 489 and 497 doubleheaded the Chama coaches to Cumbres today, where the 487 picked up the consist and took it to Antonito for the winter. The 489 and 497 returned to Chama. It was a cloudy cold morning, with the sun occasionally poking through. After the trains left Cumbres it began to snow, and by late afternoon Cumbres had assumed a decidedly wintry appearance....although that will probably disappear quickly.
Ballast trains will continue to operate sporadically, initially with steam and maybe later on with the 19 (after a traction motor is replaced and some rewiring done). Assuming the weather stays mild for a couple of more weeks, Mad Dog hopes to spread about 1000 tons of ballast betweeen Los Pinos and Osier. In November there may be some ballasting and tamping close to Antonito and/or Chama. Work will also start on building some retaining walls.
Tomorrow we board up Osier, and get it ready for the winter.
It's been a great year (at least relative to the alternative), and a whole lot of credit goes to a bunch of hard working folks who made it happen. And now we've got seven months to get ready for next year.