Chama Steam VIII - 2009
October 17-25, 2009
Trip Report
Day 6 - Thursday
Alamosa - RGS
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With my truck functioning again it was time to get back to the business of exploring Narrow Gauge Country. I left Chama at 0600 and headed east to Alamosa to ride the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad. At Cumbres I noticed the plow trucks had come through and pushed snow over the tracks. There was also sand on the road so I was pretty confident driving over the passes to Antonito. However... about a mile east of the "La Manga Pass" sign I hit a patch of black ice on a sharp curve doing about 20 MPH. The tires broke loose and I spun about 60 degrees from the direction I wanted to go. To make matters worse I noticed a disturbing lack of any type of guardrail in the direction I was sliding. After 2-3 VERY LONG seconds I managed to get the truck under control and aimed correctly. The tires bit the pavement and all was right again with the world. However, I'm pretty sure I shaved at least a year off my life. Determined NOT to repeat that experience, I dropped the truck into 1st gear and coasted at the geriatric pace of 10 miles per hour until the road leveled out. As I've said before, I'm a "sea-level flatlander". Snow, ice, and mountains are things I don't play with very often. But, I lived through this experience and will be more careful next time.
The trip up the valley to Alamosa was much less eventful. As it turns out this day was the last steam powered trip to La Veta. And, with the fresh snow fall from the previous 2 days the scenery was OUT OF THIS WORLD!
I splurged and got a seat in the dome car. Shortly after boarding the attendant brought me coffee and donuts. You can't ask for better service than that! |
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East end of Tanglefoot Curve |
Looking east towards La Manga Pass |
North end of Los Pinos Valley |
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Los Pinos Tank |
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Looking east across Los Pinos Valley |
Looking west across Los Pinos Valley |
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Looking west across Los Piņos Valley. This is another of my favorite shots. |
East of the "La Manga Pass" sign a few minutes before "the incident" |
La Jara Depot |
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Looking west from La Jara Depot |
SLRG 8577 comes out of the fog in Rio Grande paint |
Rio Grande Scenic C42 #18 |
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Maybe not a real C42, but close enough for me |
This is the remnant of the wye that at one time marked the beginning of the NG "Valley Line" to Salida, CO |
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West leg of Valley Line wye |
Remnants of the past |
The sky finally began to clear about 5 miles east of Alamosa |
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I believe this is the east end of the siding at Blanca, CO |
Looking west from the end of the "open" car. The view is really much better than you'd think with that roof. It was also bitterly cold this day! |
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Deer were everyone |
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LOTS of deer |
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Fir, CO - the summit |
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Looking west towards Alamosa - note the t racks in the valley below |
C42 #18 at Fir |
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The Conductor was kind enough to let us off for about 20 minutes to get pictures |
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I guess these guys REALLY wanted to get away from it all |
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This railroad has an amazing "narrow gauge feel" to it |
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For a "sea-level flatlander" like me this was truly an awe-inspiring sight!! Before this trip I'd never seen anything like this. |
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Absolutely beautiful |
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#18 on the west leg of the La Veta wye |
Heading west to take on water from a Coors tank car that is in storage |
La Veta Depot |
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Returning west to Alamosa |
Note the small structure in the center. This was a gun emplacement used to protect a mine in the late 1800's. |
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West end of balloon loop at Fir |
Stock pens |
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Abandoned connecting track for loop. This is basically a standard gauge version of the Lava Loop on the C&T |
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Fireman/Brakeman returning to the locomotive cab |
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Back in the valley |
Coors tank cars in storage |
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The Rio Grande |
SLRG 1711 |
The new engine house |
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EMD SD40T-2 - "Tunnel Motor" SLRG #203 Former DRGW #5373 |
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Heading south to Antonito |
Bountiful, CO |
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Romeo, CO |
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Romeo, CO |
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On the train I met Steve Forney again. We'd met previously on Opening Day in Chama last May. I spent most of the day with Steve getting the inside scoop on the SLRG and other Colorado & New Mexico railroads. He's a wealth of information! Steve was even kind enough to get a few pictures of me at Fir while we were stopped. Thanks Steve. I appreciate the pictures and the company.
After our return to Alamosa I got gas and raced south to Antonito. Because of the incident that morning I didn't want to be on the passes after the sun went down. It was well below freezing up there. However, despite my efforts it was dark when I crested La Manga at a timid 10 MPH. I didn't see any ice this time.
At Cumbres I noticed that something had been down the tracks since I came over that morning. But, I'm pretty sure that all four K36's were in Chama when I left and all four were there the next morning. I don't know what moved or why. Perhaps a ghost train?
I got chow at Fosters again. They make some mean enchiladas. Red or green, both are very tasty! |
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