Re: NNG - SLRG's busy and "interesting" weekend.....

My wife and I, along with 26 other members of our group from the Northern Colorado Garden Railroaders, rode that "packed out" train on Saturday. What with the switching and unloading/loading times at Fir, the trip was longer than usual and we had to stay on board, but it was still a great day. We finished the day at Calvillo's, with everyone raving about the experience.

We hung around for another day so I coud get some shots of the Sunday train pulling out, then headed down to Taos. We came back through Antonito, where we found #487 resting from the day's chores, then got back into Alamosa just before dark. I noted that the "San Luis Express" hadn't returned yet, so hung around the depot for a while hoping to catch some shots of her coming in. It soon got too dark and SWMBO was complaining that she wanted to get some dinner. It was only after that, when we were back up in our room, that we heard #18 announcing her return to home base. I was wondering what had happened, and now I know!

For those of you who haven't taken a ride over this line yet, I can highly recommend it. I've been over the C&TS and the D&SNG numerous times, and while the RGSRR isn't narrow gauge, the route and the engineering are every bit as impressive (except for the tangent from Alamosa to Ft. Garland). Though our group booked seats in a dome car, I spent a lot of my time on the return trip riding in the "Lookout Mountain" open air car. Coupled right behind the tender, you get to enjoy the sounds and smells of the locomotive working back up the hill from La Veta, and the scenery is fantastic!