Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad Photoset • rwstorm • 2017-09-19 • HikeArizona.COM

Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, NM

	2017-09-19
	36 by rwstorm

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Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, NM

Scenic Drive	64.00 Miles

Scenic Drive	64.00 Miles

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Two sections of the original Denver and Rio Grande Railroad's San Juan narrow gauge division remain, this one and the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Both date back to 1880-82. Only the Durango and Silverton section has been in continuous operation since the beginning. This line had a few years of inactivity in the late 1960's when the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad filed for abandonment. It was purchased by the states of Colorado and New Mexico in 1970, and has been in regular operation (except in winter) as a tourist train since 1971.

Our ride today was eastbound from Chama to the lunch stop at Osier, then on to Antonito with a return to Chama by bus. It was a somewhat unusual ride for a couple of reasons. First, the train stopped at a highway crossing to allow a passenger who missed the train to board. Nice of the railroad to do that, though pretty easy given the slow movement and proximity to the highway in that section. :lol:

Next up at Cumbres Pass a spare passenger car on a siding was picked up, as it would be needed in Antonito on a future run. Even with this extra activity, we easily beat the westbound train from Antonito to Osier. It was nice to be the first train at the lunch stop so we didn't have to fight big crowds.

After lunch I walked around Osier a bit, snapping photos of historic displays. The Friends of the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad has done a real nice job adding interpretive information on Osier, Colorado to enhance experience while stopped there. Also, the docents on the train do an excellent job detailing the history and answering questions.

Oh, and for the record, I didn't :zzz:

in. It's just that Jack's days start shortly after midnight. :lol:

Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate

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