Copyright © 2019 John F. Oyler
August 15, 2019
The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad
As I mentioned last week, the highlight of my recent trip to Colorado was a memorable trip on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. We drove from Alamosa to Antonito, making certain to be there in time for the scheduled 10:00 am departure.
Sara had purchased Tourist Deluxe tickets for us, which gave us access to a car outfitted like a dining car with four person tables on one side of the center aisle and two person tables on the other. Our car was the sixth of seven cars in the train, directly following an open gondola car that provided an opportunity for passengers get “close up and personal” with the environment.
The railroad is descended from the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, which was chartered in 1870 to connect Denver with El Paso, Texas. It soon became obvious that a route west to Salt Lake City was more lucrative, so the D&RG went no further south than Alamosa; at least it did reach the Rio Grande River at that point.
In 1880 the D&RG was extended south as far as Santa Fe and west to Durango and Silverton, as narrow gauge (36 inches) lines. The western route was known as the San Juan Extension. It proved to be profitable and operated both freight and passenger trains until the mid-1960s. The D&RG abandoned the San Juan Extension in 1967.
The following year both Colorado and New Mexico established railroad authorities and jointly purchased the portion of the San Juan Extension between Anonito, Colorado, and Chama, New Mexico, renamed it the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, and have operated it successfully as a tourist railway ever since.
Leaving Antonito our train headed to the southwest on the San Luis Valley floor (elevation about 7900 feet above sea level) with sage brush as far as one could see in either direction. Sara commented that, unfortunately, it was so dry there that there was no grass growing there, thus making it unsuitable habitat for sage grouse. In the distance we could see a flat-topped rise that appeared to be a classic mesa.
After about seven miles our route made its first of eleven crossings of the Colorado/New Mexico border. Eventually it turned and climbed up the face of the mesa, an elevation change of about six hundred feet. The surface of the mesa consists of material eroded from volcanic depositions and transported here. We are now in a region of rabbitbrush and mountain mahogany, small shrubs.
Soon the train began to climb off the mesa and up into the foothills, employing long horseshoe loops with the sharp curves that the narrow gauge permitted. We came into an area dominated by ponderosa pine trees, many of them dying because of bark beetle infestation. The danger of forest fire in this area must be severe.
At the Big Horn wye we ha reached the 9,000 foot elevation and were beginning to encounter aspen trees. They occur in massive groves, reproducing from shallow roots that propagate laterally. We are soon high on the side of the mountain, with the stream Canada Jarosita in a canyon five hundred feet below us. Next we pass the remnants of Sublette, New Mexico, the site of a section foreman’s dwelling years ago.
The first tunnel, through weathered volcanic ash, is appropriately called the Mud Tunnel. Once through it the train passed through spectacular scenery with volcanic pinnacles, spires, and pedestal rocks at every turn of the perpetually twisting route. Unlike the Mud tunnel, the Rock Tunnel had to be blasted out of PreCambrian rocks (nearly two billion years old!). Once through it we were now high above Toltec Gorge, with views of the Rio de Los Pinos far below us.
Back in Colorado after our sixth border crossing we arrived at Osier and detrained for lunch. The eastbound train, from Chama, had arrived earlier and its passengers were well through their lunch. Sara, Claire, and I elected to choose the salad bar for our lunch; turkey and meatloaf were other choices. Osier is connected to civilization by Forest Road 103; it is impressive that the caterer can staff and supply the cafeteria so capably.
Back on our train we crossed Cascade Creek on the Cascade Trestle, 137 feet high and 408 feet long. It was constructed by the Pittsburgh-based Keystone Bridge Company, an Andrew Carnegie enterprise and predecessor to the American Bridge Company, in 1881.
To reach the highest point on our journey, Cumbres Pass, we had to negotiate another long loop with a hairpin curve at its middle, Tanglefoot Curve. The pass, at an elevation of 10,015 feet, is the highest point reached by any narrow-gauge railroad in North America. Colorado State Highway 17 also goes through this pass; we will go through it on our bus trip back to Antonito. The pass is also the lower boundary of the subalpine life zone, characterized by heavy snow in the winter, luxuriant wildflowers in the Spring and Summer, and very few trees.
There is a sign at the pass showing the crossing of the Continental Divide Trail. This is deceptive; the actual Continental Divide is about twenty miles farther west. From Cumbres Pass west the track begins a rapid descent on a four percent grade (dropping four feet every hundred feet). Consequently, in addition to stopping for water, the train crew conducts a brake test here before proceeding onward.
Our route now took us around Windy Point, an outlook high above Wolf Creek Valley, and then across the headwaters of Wolf Creek. We then proceeded to follow the valley to the southwest, high on the mountain above it, eventually crossing into New Mexico for the final time. The incessant squeal of the locomotive’s brakes was a constant reminder of the steep grade we were negotiating.
The Lobato Trestle is a smaller version of Cascade Creek, also constructed by the Keystone Bridge Company nearly one hundred and forty years ago. We assume from its age that the material from which it was fabricated was wrought iron.
At this point we entered “the Narrows”, an interesting geological phenomenon. Farther up Wolf Creek the valley has the classic “U-shape” associated with valleys that have been carved by glaciation. Apparently a glacier coming in from the side produced a terminal moraine that interrupted the glacial carving, leaving the original narrow, V-shaped valley.
The western terminus for the Cumbres and Toltec is Chama, New Mexico. Back below 8,000 feet we had returned to an environment of cottonwoods and willows. The railroad complex there is impressive, including a rare coaling tipple that provides coal to the tender.
At Chama we were met by a C&TS tour bus which comfortably returned us to Antonito on the aforementioned Route 17. It paralleled our train route to Cumbres Pass, then went far enough north to reach the Conejos River valley which we followed back to Antonito.
Our locomotive was number 484, a member of the K-36 series. The letter “K” is from the designation “Mikado” for this style; in 1897 Baldwin Locomotive Works built a group of narrow gauge locomotives of this type for the Emperor (Mikado) of Japan. The wheel configuration is 2-8-2; two non-driven pony wheels, eight driven wheels, and two non-driven trailing wheels. The numerical designation “36” defines the magnitude of the tractive force developed by the locomotive, in thousands of pounds. The K-36 can develop 36,000 pounds of tractive force.
Baldwin built ten narrow gauge K-36 locomotives for the D&RG in 1925; the C&TS has five of them still in operational condition. The Durango and Silverton has another three. As a railfan I am happy whenever I can hitch a ride on a scenic railroad, even if it is pulled by a diesel engine. Nonetheless the thrill of riding behind steam is an order of magnitude greater. We are very fortunate that organizations like the C&TS have been able to restore and maintain these wonderful old steamers. What a thrill it would be to ride up the Chartiers Valley behind steam!
The trip from Antonito to Chama is a lesson book in geology. Sara’s “Colorado Roadside Geology” book reported that the gift shop in Antonito had a book specifically discussing geology on the C&TS. Sure enough, I was able to find “Ticket to Toltec”, an excellent book initially written by a geologist, Doris Osterwald, in 1976, and apparently updated recently by her daughter, Becky. It contains a comprehensive “mile-by-mile” description of the geology of the route. I spent most of the trip cycling between the open gondola car to soak in the experience and our dining car where I could refer to the Oserwalds’ book.
Similarly the trip is a lesson book in environment and botany, with the changes in flora obvious as the elevation changes. And let’s not forget hydrology and the role that streams play in creating the landscape that we see today. The synergy between geological features and the watersheds that define them is a science all its own.
It goes without saying that this was a marvelous experience for me, certainly one of the most memorable of my many railfan adventures. Many thanks to Sara for making it possible! And, thanks too to all the workers and volunteers who make it possible to keep this tiny bit of history alive.
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