More photos of this train are in Bob Richardson's
Rio Grande Chasing the Narrow Gauge Vol II, pgs. 83 and 84.
According to the text, "For years at Salida on a Saturday close to Christmas, railroaders ran a 'Santa Claus Train.' A highly decorated caboose was taken to Poncha Junction where a local impersonator of the old gent would climb aboard, and the train would then stop at a street crossing where Santa would descend and lead the kids (and plenty of grownups too!) to a children's show at the nearby theater."
So it looks like this photo is of a train that only visited Salida.
That said, I would swear I've seen photos of similar cabooses, decorated, sitting in Durango, so I will have a hunt through my photo collection and see what I can come up with.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/2010 10:22AM by WRRRJosh.