Re: Cumbres & Toltec operations in September & October, 1970

Hello once more -

For those of you who don't have a copy of Terry Ross's book, here's a summary of Ernie Robart's descriptions of operations on the C&TS for the rest of 1970.

Beginning September 12 there was almost daily activity until the end of October, with trains moving equipment purchased from the Rio Grande from east to west along the railroad.  This was interrupted only briefly by the "Governor's Special" and the filming of the few railroad scenes for the movie 'Shootout' starring Gregory Peck.

Sept. 12:  #483, one boxcar with tools (#3316) and caboose 0503 made the return trip to Antonito.

Sept. 13:  Engine #492 and eight cars were picked up at Lava, #492 was set out on the tail of the wye at Big Horn.  The 26 cars on Big Horn Siding were added to the train, which ran as far as The Narrows where mud and rocks blocked the track.

Sept. 14:  Volunteer hostler Ernie Robart stayed with #483 all night; the track was cleared by the Highway Department's contractor in the morning, and the train arrived in Chama at 11:30 am. *

Sept. 15:  Sid McKinney ran #483 to The Narrows to dump three carloads of ballast, then to Cumbres & return.

Sept. 16:  One carload of ballast was dumped in The Narrows; the train backed to Chama afterward.

Sept. 17:  #483 and her two-car train ran from Chama to Lava Loop, turned, and backed to Antonito.

Sept. 18:  Engineer Art Pugh coupled #483 and train to 35 of 40 cars in Antonito (including 3 engines).  Per Ernie, this was the longest train to operate on the C&TS in 1970.  The 35 cars were set off at Toltec Siding and #483, the tool car and caboose returned (backed?) to Antonito.  Meanwhile, the D&RGW delivered its third and final shipment – the last mixed-gauge train to run to Antonito.  A section of the 3rd rail was immediately removed.

Sept. 19:  #483 made two runs this day - first taking #482 and five cars to Big Horn, then returning (backing?) to Antonito and taking #488 and five cars to Sublette.  #483 (always with the tool car & caboose) then returned again to Antonito.

Sept. 20:  #483 and her two cars pulled #489 and five cars to Big Horn, where outfit car 04982 was added to #483's "permanent" train.  #492 was pulled off the tail of the wye and placed on the siding with #489 and #482, and #484 was picked up.  After setting up retainers at Cumbres, Ben Greathouse carefully eased this first train with a dead engine down the 4% grade to Chama:

Copyright © 1970, 2015 by Ernest W. Robart - All Rights Reserved.

Sept. 21:  The Chama yard was switched in the morning, #483 was then turned on the wye and serviced.

Sept. 22:  More switching, then #483's fire was dropped and she was put into the enginehouse.
Meanwhile, Ernie took a few pictures near Dulce of what might have happened between Antonito and Chama – see first two, below:

Copyright © 1970, 2015 by Ernest W. Robart - All Rights Reserved.

Sept. 25:  Colorado State Boiler Inspector Fred Koehler helped replace three grates in #483's firebox which had melted together and could not be shaken.  The engine was then fired up, and a five car train put together for a run to Antonito the next day.  Meanwhile, Ernie and others painted the caboose.   (See Steve Forney's video for pics . . .   )

Sept. 26:  #483 and her regular companions, plus 3 gons, departed at 9:00 for Antonito.  Two hotboxes on one of the gons, plus another on #483's trailing truck, delayed the train for several hours near Los Pinos Tank until a brass from #484 could be brought from Chama.  The three gons were set off at Osier; #483 and train arrived in Antonito – facing forward – at 9:50 p.m.

Sept. 27:  Due to #487's snowplow, #483 and #487 could not be coupled face-to-face until a longer drawbar was eventually found and installed.  The train finally left at 11:00 a.m., with #483 running backward as far as Lava Loop.  Six cars were picked up at Toltec and placed between #483 and #487.  (See third & fourth photos in set 2, above.)

Sept. 28:  The day was spent switching and making up the train for the "Governor's Special" to be run October 4th.

Sept. 29:  #483 and her three-car train plus three boxcars and three gons made a Cumbres turn, leaving at 5:05 p.m. and returning at 9:00 p.m.

Sept. 30:  Minor switching in a.m., followed by a run to drop ballast near m.p. 340; train backed into Chama at 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 1:  #483 & train plus two gons and a stock car left in late morning, dropping the empty gon and the stock car at Lobato for the upcoming movie shoot.  Continued on to Cresco where some ballast was dropped and minor repairs made to the water tank.

Oct. 2:  #483 & train plus ten cars for "Governor's Special" deadheaded to Antonito.

Oct. 3:  The day was spent getting the ten-car train ready for the "Governor's Special".

Oct. 4:  The C&TS' first excursion, the "Governor's Special", left Antonito about 8:30 a.m.  #483 was pulling three box cars, the tool car, the outfit car, four gondolas and the caboose.  112 dignitaries, but neither governor, rode the train.  Photo runs were held at Toltec Section House, Tunnel #2 (Rock Tunnel) and Cascade Creek Trestle, with an "unscheduled" stop due to a robbery at Big Horn and the usual stop at Osier for lunch – in this case a mutton bar-b-que presented by residents of Antonito.  The train arrived in Chama at 4:30 p.m.

Copyright © 1970, 2015 by Ernest W. Robart - All Rights Reserved.

(Added 09/01/2020:  IIRC, someone has since posted a full-size (for the NGDF) copy of the photo at the bottom left, above, and identified all the crew members.  I'll do my best to track down that post and get the names so they can be re-posted here.)

Oct. 8:  Engineer Sid McKinney made a trip over Cumbres to Antonito with #483 and her usual three-car train.

Oct. 9:  #483 & train coupled onto the remainder of the equipment in Antonito, picked up three more cars at Big Horn and set out flanger OK at Lobato.

Oct. 10:  Due to snow east of Cumbres Pass, the planned trip to Antonito was reduced to a Cumbres Turn out of Chama at 1:30 p.m.  Five boxcars were set out and clubbed down at Cresco; the train continued on to Cumbres, turned on the wye, and returned to Chama after dark.

Oct. 11:  Fifty cars belonging to the scrapper were set out on the scrapper's track west of the Chama wye.  #483 was re-lettered with flying Rio Grande logos for the movie 'Shootout', and her scarlet-harlot counterweights painted black.

Oct. 12, 13 & 14:  #483 spent the three days moving back & forth in front of the cameras.  (Per fireman Richard Braden, his one or two lines of dialogue ended up on the cutting room floor.**)  The Cumbres & Toltec netted $3,000 for the three days of filming of 'Shootout'.  (If it weren't for the appearance of my acquaintance Jeff Corey as the saloon keeper, I would have a hard time watching this film beyond the second RR scene at Lobato (aka "Weed City", formerly known as "Progress".).  Jeff is probably best known for his role as Wild Bill Hickok in the excellent film 'Little Big Man'.  See [jeffcorey.com] for further information.)

Oct. 16:  #483 and her usual train finally left Chama for Antonito after being delayed until a couple of novice brakemen could be recruited.  (Your's Truly was one of them - see [ngdiscussion.net] for details and photos.)

Oct. 17:  The year's final departure from Antonito was made around 10:00 a.m., with a stop for water at Lava.  (That's scrivener Ernie Robart handling the chore in the first photo in the set below.)   At Big Horn at attempt was made to pick up two engines, but #483 could only pull one so #492 was picked up and #489 left behind.  The train continued on to Sublette where an attempt was made to add #488 and five cars, but again this was too much for #483 to pull so #488 was switched out and left on the siding by herself.  #492 and five cars were left on a siding at Cumbres; #483 and her train were turned on the wye for an eastbound departure the next morning.

Oct. 18:  #483 and her usual train, plus three gondolas, left Cumbres for Sublette at 7:30 a.m.  Due to some sliding wheels, the gons were left at Toltec Siding and five of the cars left there a month earlier picked up.  Most of the train was left at Sublette while #483 turned on the wye at Big Horn, then the siding at Sublette was emptied as #488 and the rest of the cars left earlier were picked up, #488 thus becoming the third dead engine to arrive in Chama.

Oct. 19:  #483 and her train, plus five cars picked up at Toltec the day before, left Chama for Big Horn at 10:30 a.m.  Engine #489 was picked up and placed just ahead of the caboose after the train had turned on the wye.  Engine #482 was also picked up, and this time – working to capacity – #483 pulled two dead engines at the same time!

Oct. 20:  #483 finally arrived at Cumbres from Big Horn at 12:30 a.m. with #482, #489 and the eleven cars used as spacers between the engines to allow a safe passage over Cascade Creek trestle.  #482 was left in the snowshed, and the rest of the train cautiously proceeded down the 4% grade to Chama, #489 thus becoming the fourth dead engine to arrive there.

Oct. 22:  #483 and train made a Cumbres turn to pick up the fifth dead engine to arrive in Chama, #482.

Oct. 23:  #483 and her usual train made another Cumbres turn, picking up #492 and five cars for spacers over Lobato trestle.  #492, the first dead engine to leave Antonito, became the sixth and last one to get to Chama in 1970.

Oct. 24 & 25: - The last weekend of steam on the C&TS for 1970.  A lot of switching was done, including placing the six dead engines three by three beside the engine house.  All C&TS equipment was moved to the north end of the yard, and all of the scrappers cars to the south end.  #483's fire was dropped and she was moved forward into the engine-house for the winter with boxcar #3339 – a future passenger car – in the adjoining stall.

A few days later, Ernie climbed to the top of the coaling tower, and then the water tower, to record the last three views below:

Copyright © 1970, 2015 by Ernest W. Robart - All Rights Reserved.

For more details concerning the above operations - and LOTS more of Ernie's superb photos - be sure to watch Steve Forney's videos of the presentation given by Terry Ross and Ernie Robart during the C&TS 40th Anniversary Celebration five years ago.  See Steve's post at [ngdiscussion.net] for his link to the show.

      Th' ...   th' ...   That's All, Folks!

- Roosso

  *  Mudslides and rocks on the track in The Narrows continued to be a problem for the next two years.  During the summer and fall of 1972 strong steel retaining walls were built between the highway and the railroad where the embankment was closest to the r.o.w. - see the sixth photo on [ngdiscussion.net].

**  OOooops - wrong movie.  Per Richard, he missed his chance to be the next Harrison Ford when his role in 'Bite the Bullet' a couple of years later ended up on the cutting room floor.



Edited 15 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/2020 12:36PM by Russo Loco.