Re: Photos from Chama

Dave,

Every once in a while, I see a photo posted on this site that stirs me to post a note. So it was with the first of your series of photos of the right-of-way at Windy Point. The camera looks west-bound and the yard limit sign is in the near distance on the left. It's hard to imagine that every day in the summer, hundreds of tons of equipment and sometimes hundreds of people head down this 4% grade on these spindly, kinked up, sagging rails, with little more than the beauty of the surrounding scenery on their minds. I learned to handle trains on this grade. While not afraid, I had a tremendous amount of respect for 4% grade. Each time I departed Cumbres westbound and the train picked up speed as it started down the grade, I muttered a little prayer to George Westinghouse and kind of held my breath while I made that first brake application, relaxing only as I felt the brakes take effect and begin to slow the decent.

I always enjoy your crystal-clear, well-composed photos.