As far as locomotives serviced, and tonnage moved, April 1952 was the busiest month ever on the NG. There was average of 10 trains a week out of Alamosa, which translated to at least one train a day in each direction between Chama and Durango, sometimes more, if crews were available. There were daily (sometimes 2 in a 24 hour period) trains to Farmington. Every train was a maximum tonnage affair.
All of it was done with 2 K28's (473 was out of service), 1 K36 (#488) (484 was in the shop, the rest were up in Salida), 10 K37's. On any one day there was a doubleheader west from Chama, a doubleheader east from Durango, a single engine going to Farmington. From Alamosa, there was another doubleheader. In Chama there was a fairly constant parade of hill turns up the hill. The Silverton Branch was buried under miles of snowslides, and the two K28's spent most of their time up there bucking that out, along with occasional assistance from 463 and 464. 453 was the Durango switch engine. The Alamosa and Durango roundhouse forces were doing an amazing job of keeping the locomotives on the road in daily service. The crews were working 16 hour days with 8 hours off, seven days a week.
With few exceptions, there were no steel cars in pipe service. It was mostly wood pipe gons and wood idlers. The car shops stayed real busy keeping all that old stuff on the road as it failed under the heavy loads.
Trains were dispatched to expedite matters as much as possible. The Durango crews were called so as to be on duty when a westbound pipe train rolled into Chama. When the train rolled west through Ignacio, the Farmington crew was called, and were waiting at Carbon Junction when the train rolled off Bocea Hill. Likewise, the eastbound crews were called in Durango to meet the inbound Farmington train at Carbon Junction to take the train of empties east. Of course in Chama the trains had to be broken up into Cumbres Turns. The Gramps traffic was moving too, adding more tonnage. I have a train sheet showing a 3 engine train (all 490's) headed out of Chama at 300am with 50 empties and a caboose. 70 car trains were the maximum between Antonito and Cumbres, and Chama and Durango/Farmington. 60 was the maximum off the hill, it was mixed loads/empties. The pipe trains with their idlers, were always mixed loads and empties. But every one of those big trains left 10 cars on top of the hill to be brought back by engines returning from Cumbres Turns.
It was an insanely busy time on the narrow gauge west of Alamosa.
