Page 12 - NMRA Roundhouse January-February 2020
P. 12

 COVER ARTICLE
Riding on the Cumbres &Toltec
Tom Watson
  Double Heading on the Cumbres & Toltec, August 2008 - photos by Tom Watson
  12
   I t was August 1979 and the Middle fully,.... and enjoy your ride !” I didn’t
-East fuel crisis was in full swing, with a blanket 55 mph speed re- striction on all US roads when the
Colorado Highway Patrolman pulled me over just beyond Walsenburg on the La Veta Pass.After explaining that I was new to American highways, having landed at Denver Airport just that evening,
and that I was on my way to Alamosa and Antonito in order to ride on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, he mellowed “Well, you don’t want to be starting your vacation with a ticket”, he said,“so just take it easy and drive care-
 Cumbres & Toltec Mikado #487 reversing past the water tank at Chama, NM
New Mexico, even in high summer, and both warm and rainproof clothing is advisable if you are going to ride a train.
These days Southern Colorado is home to no fewer than three brilliant tourist railroads. The first is the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad (RGS), which is a stand- ard gauge subsidiary of the San Luis
and Rio Grande Railroad (SLRG), which operates the La Vita Pass Route from Alamosa to Walsenburg. Sadly the SLRG has recently filed for Section 11 bank- ruptcy, so whether this service or the RGS will be able to continue operating in 2020 is presently uncertain.
The second, and by far the most popular and famous, tourist line is the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNGRR).Whether this popularity
is entirely deserved is another matter, but there is no doubt that from a tourist point of view it is family-friendly, slick
tell him that in fact I had flown in from Omaha, Nebraska where I had been a guest of the Union Pacific, and that I had already visited NewYork,Washington and Chicago during my first trip to the States. It was bucketing down with rain and I guess he was only too happy to re- turn to his patrol car. It continued raining all the way to Alamosa and was still dull, damp and overcast when I finally reached Antonito just after 4.30am, in time to catch a couple of hours sleep. I was to discover that bad weather is not uncom- mon in Southern Colorado/ Northern
  ROUNDHOUSE - January/February 2020


















































































   10   11   12   13   14