Re: San Juan / Chili Line train form Alamosa

The Santa Fe Branch had two scheduled trains. Trains 425-426 which was a first class passenger/mail/express train that operated daily except Sunday. This was normally a 2-3 car train and was most often handled by a T-12 locomotive on a 6 hour schedule.

The other train was 427-428, which was a freight only train that operated three times a week. By 1927, at the latest, this train was normally handled by a K-28.
Trains 427-428 were discontinued in 1930. (See bulletin below, courtesy Jimmy Blouch.) Freight trains continued to be run on the branch, but they were operated as extras, usually about twice a week depending on traffic.

Chili Line Trains 427 428.doc

In October 1933, Trains 425-426 became a mixed train, although remaining a first class train on the timetable. (The Silverton Mixed was classified as second class.) The T-12 locomotives were retired at this time, and K-28’s became the only regular power on the branch. This generally eliminated the need for separate freight trains, but not totally. (Postings by Jimmy Blouch for 1933 show that even before the trains were changed to mixed trains, K-28’s were starting to show up frequently on the trains rather than the T-12’s.) (Other classes of engines were used on the branch occasionally, especially in work train service including C-16’s, the C-25 and K-27’s.) The schedule for the mixed trains was about 8 hours.