Albuquerque Journal the C&TSRR has a full page in the Sunday Travel Section. Sorry I could not scan the actual article but I am told there are five photos with the story. Top of the page is a 1924 historical shot at the Chama Depot (courtesy Friends, Dorman collection). then two "Roger Hogan" shots, interior of a car and the "Galloping Goose, then a shot of the rotary snowplow in action in winter, John West collection and a panoramic shot of a locomotive and three passenger cars crossing a meadow (Roger Hogan). That last photo is postage stamp sized on the section lead with a teaser about the story on the back page.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Cumbres & Toltec Celebrates 40 Years As Tourist Attraction With Special August Events
By Rick Nathanson
Journal Staff Writer
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad was originally built in 1880 as the San Juan Extension of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad.
Technically 130 years old, the historic railroad is this season celebrating the 40th anniversary since the governments of New Mexico and Colorado saved it from destruction and turned it into a popular tourist attraction that some 43,000 passengers ride each year, says Nick Quintana, spokesman for the Cumbres & Toltec.
Many of the anniversary events will be Aug. 27-31.
The historic railroad was not only an engineering feat for its time, he says, but it remains America's highest and longest narrow gauge scenic railroad.
When first built and put into operation, the coal-powered steam train was designed to hug the mountainside, transporting silver ore, equipment, miners and passengers. It linked a number of communities from its hub in Denver, south to Antonito, then into Chama, N.M., west to Farmington, and north again into Colorado with stops in Durango and Silverton.
With the decline in silver mining in the 1890s, the railroad hung on by providing services for logging, livestock and natural gas operations, says Quintana. By the 1960s, however, those operations had dwindled to a trickle as buses and trucks largely took over transportation of goods and people.
Recognizing the unique resource that the railroad represented, a group of railway preservationists and civic groups lobbied to save the most scenic portion of the route.
In 1970, the states of New Mexico and Colorado jointly invested $547,120 for the purchase of the 64 miles of track and line-side structures between Chama and Antonito, Quintana says. The deal also gave them control of nine steam locomotives, more than 130 freight and work cars, and the Chama yard and maintenance facility.
The reborn Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad began hauling tourists the next year. Today it is operated by an interstate agency, the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Commission, while care of the historic assets are entrusted to the nonprofit, member-based Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad.
The 40-year partnership between New Mexico and Colorado is being honored throughout the season, with a concentrated schedule of events from Aug. 27 to Aug. 31. There will be a series of special train excursions, distribution of pins, posters and ballcaps, photography opportunities, shop and yard tours, exhibitions and lectures, railroad-related photo and art displays, slide shows and screenings of films in which the Cumbres & Toltec appears.
Like the rest of the original Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, the San Juan Extension was built on a narrow gauge platform measuring 3 feet between the rails, instead of 4 feet, 8 1/2 inches, which became the U.S. standard. Many of the coaches now used on the Cumbres & Toltec were built in the 1980s or later, says Quintana. Among the original equipment that remains operational are four coal-powered steam locomotives, including a 1903 K-27 Baldwin that had been owned by singing cowboy and actor Gene Autry, according to Quintana, and a 1925 K-36 Baldwin.
Each locomotive pulls about eight cars with a capacity for 240 passengers, though in busier times cars and locomotives can be added so that up to 350 passengers can be accommodated. The trains run seasonally from Memorial Day weekend through mid-October.
On a normal day, two trains traveling at about 15 mph make the trip between Chama and Antonito, Quintana says. The trains leave simultaneously at about 10 a.m. Adult round-trip tickets cost $75 and include a lunch buffet at a dining facility in Osier, Colo., the halfway point where trains traveling in opposite directions meet. Passengers then return to their point of origin by train. A one-way full trip with lunch at Osier and continuing all the way to either Chama or Antonito and returning by bus the same day, is $91.
In June, a fire damaged the 310-foot-long Lobato Trestle, 4 miles north of Chama, originally built in 1883. Consequently, trains will not leave and arrive at the Chama depot, but at the Cumbres Pass station, about 12 miles north of Chama, which at 10,015 feet elevation is the highest point on the railroad line.
Passengers are transported from the Chama depot to the Cumbres Pass station by bus when departing in the morning, and then back to the Chama depot by bus at the end of the trip; or they are taken by bus all the way back to Antonito, if that was their departing point, Quintana explains.
For a complete list of the Cumbres & Toltec 40th anniversary celebration events, or to book trips, go online to www.cumbrestoltec.com; or call 888-286-2737 (888-Cumbres).
