Wes and Jan see the US Wanderings and Side Trips

Cumbres/Toltec Scenic Railroad Sep 13, 2008

Yesterday, we took a trip on the Cumbres/Toltec Scenic Railroad. The train travels about 64 miles from Antonito, CO to Chama, NM. There are several options to choose from. We chose to ride the bus to Chama, NM and take the train back to Antonito. We boarded the bus at 8:15 am on a cold, damp, foggy day. As we climbed higher into the mountains, the fog became worse and we decided we had chosen the wrong day for a ride. There would obviously not be enough sun for good photos. We boarded our train at Chama and began our trip. The train crosses the Colorado/New Mexico state line 11 times during the trip. The beginning of the trip was through mountain meadows and crossed the highway several times where cars and people were lined up taking photos of the train as it passed. We passed several work crews in little track cars and were informed that they were sanding the tracks. Since it had rained and was a wet day, the tracks were wet and slick. Evidently the sand dries out the track and provides traction for the train. I went to the open observation car and spent most of my time there taking photos. It was crowded and I am so short, I needed to be on the outside to get any photos. We came to an arrangement with a taller guy and he stood behind me and got some great shots as well, over my head. I ended up with about 200 train pictures. Don't worry, you won't have to see them all. Once again, I am grateful for my new digital camera.

This train trip is through much of the National Forest and it is open range. We were told we might see lots of wildlife - elk, deer, and maybe even a bear, but mostly we saw cows. The train had to work up a big head of steam and get a good running start at the steep climb toward Cumbres Pass at 10,000 feet elevation. Imagine our surprise when the train stopped on a hill almost to the top. Evidently there had been cows on the track or right at the edge of the track, the engineer blew the whistle to scare them away, but he had to slow down and the wheels on the slick track just couldn't pull the load up the hill. So, a work crew had to come along and sand the tracks so we could get going. Several false starts (and rolling backwards) later, we got started again and slowly got to the summit. A little excitement always adds to the trip:-)

Over the summit and into the Osier station, where we were served a very good homemade lunch. I mean HOME MADE! The turkeys were roasted all night on the premises and the meatloaf was made from scratch. The mashed potatoes were NOT instant and the bread was fresh baked, as were all the cakes, pies and cobblers for dessert. We were full and ready for the second half of the trip. We had to change trains here also. It was an interesting trip down the mountain. The terrain etc. was totally different from the environment on the ride up the mountain. This side of the trip had deep canyons, tunnels and some steep drop offs. The last 1 1/2 hours of the ride was out on the prairie coming into Antonito. It was not very interesting and a lot of passengers were napping by this time. We did make one emergency stop - out in the middle of nowhere. It seems the engineer lost his sunglasses out of the window, so we had to stop and retrieve them:-)

This was an enjoyable trip and we had plenty of time for visiting with our friends. There are many options for shorter trips, moonlight dinner trips, snow trips, fall photo trips, etc. Check out their website - google search Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. It is well worth the time and money.

It was a long day and we returned home ready for an early night.