Hi, all -
Forty-five years and about four hours ago, #483 and #484 whistled off in Chama with the C&TS very first photo freight, the Toltec Rattler.* Here are the two "portable volcanoes" passing the water tower near the north end of the yard
:
Lobato Trestle was still accessible on October 22, 1972, so most of us hard-core chasers walked across to get photos of the helper crossing ahead of the road engine. #484 pulled the front of the train across the bridge, stopped, and #483 was backed and re-coupled. Then engineers Rich Braden ('employee2' here on the NGDF) and Jim Shawcroft opened 'em wide as the train got underway toward the 4% grade beyond
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It was still a cool and frosty morning as the train neared Cresco Tank. IIRC, my fellow cürmudgeoño JBWX was among the Phalanx of Phoamers visible about 50 yards upgrade from the bridge, although I don't remember meeting him back then
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At Cumbres the engines were uncoupled
; #484 was assigned to the "chase" train, and #483 to the freight. I don't remember the length of the train, but here's the front end rounding Cumbres Loop (aka 'Tanglefoot Curve')
:
IIRC, for the shot above – and at Cascade Trestle below – I was ex-Sperry-menting with a polarizing filter, so the colors in these two shots are more intense than normal – even for Kodachrome
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John West was also aboard that day; his photo taken within seconds of mine – but from the opposite side of the trestle – can be seen on his new site at [
chasingtrains.smugmug.com].
Note that, although run for photographers (and the "enjoyment" of the C&TS crewmen), this wasn't strictly a Phraud-O-Phreight™ – the lettering on the tenders wasn't changed from the small "CUMBRES AND TOLTEC SCENIC RAILROAD" done using Ernie Robart's original stencil, and the train was run as a double-header rather than with the helper cut in ahead of the caboose as was usually done with Cumbres Turns in the
Rio Grande days.
- GRAMP
S
* IIRC, a "rattler" is a freight consisting mostly of empties, which rattle and bang a lot more than loaded cars.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2019 12:30PM by Russo Loco.