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Well welcome to the 4th week of
April Update and welcome to Alamosa Colorado and Oscar's restaurant.
Oscar's used to be housed in a building next to but connected to the
old Rialto Theater in Alamosa, well the theater burned down taking
Oscar's restaurant with it. But after all this time the restaurant
is open again and doing better... Oscar's Mexican Restaurant in
Alamosa is one of my all-time favorites.. it is Twinky Approved, if
your are in Alamosa, stop in for a Bite to eat, Great Food and
Wonderful people and some of the most friendly employees ever, just
like Jammie Gallegos
here at the front door. We will be back to visit this new Beautiful
restaurant. |
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And Thanks to my Buddy Mike May,
here is 478 on the Turntable in Durango in light snow. |
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Thanks to Jarrette Ireland, here
is a picture of the Dixiana Shay at the Roaring Camp and Big Trees
Railroad, ain't she a beauty... Thank you Jarrette and I will have
more from Jarrette's collection. |
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And thanks again to Jarrette
Ireland, here is 473 in Bumblebee Paint, Rio Grande Yellow the night
before her first run, now that is a one of a kind photo, thank you
Jarrette for the behind the scene's shots from Durango!! |
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My Buddy Dean Lowe finished his
Model of Caboose 0306, ain't it a Beauty. |
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I just wanted to say Hi to my
Sweety, she always looks at the new updates, love ya Bunches, you
are the Love of my Life!!!!! Here she is on Thanksgiving day with my
Parents dog.. |
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Tuesday May 3rd 2005...
Well under gray skies and snow flurries, the guys
continue the work on the track.. here the Frog to the second switch
has been put in place. |
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Wednesday May 4th 2005...
The work continues and the switch for Work Spur is
going in. |
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The Guys are spiking the outside rail into place,
then they will install the Frog to gauge.
And the last shot, shows the frog installed. |
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Thursday May 5th 2005...
The frog has been installed and the guys are
working on the points and other rails.
You can see Max using a Railsaw to cut a rail
to fit. |
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Using the Pettibone Machine, the guys lower the
Outside rail into place. And Ray in
the backhoe is grading the ground to make the base for the new track
from the spur to the switch. |
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The Guys in order to speed up the work are using
the Air Compressor to run the Pneumatic Spiking Machine. |
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A look at the new track in Antonito. |
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A view of the freshly laid ties and the rails
spiked to them. |
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Now we are inside Track 3 in Antonito and 484 is
hooked up to "Locomotive Life Support" you can see a large rubber
hose or line going to the monkey tail valve on top of the Steam dome
and one to the fireman's blowdown. The water Heater puts heated
water into the blowdown and sucks it out of the monkey tail, this
allows over a period of time for the boiler to preheat before
performing the Hydro Test on the boiler. |
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All the boilers must be pre-heated before we can
perform the Hydro-Test and that is according to the New Regulations. |
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Hey the Mechanical Lubricator developed a leak, so
we had to make a repair, requiring us to pull the front cover off. |
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As the Handle attached to the Expansion link rocks
back and forth while the Locomotive is in motion, the Gear you see
in the picture rocks back and forth driving all those vertical
pistons up and down pumping oil to the Valves and other items. |
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The Motor car and the Air Compressor pass over the
new track. |
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A view of the Work, since this picture, the track
on the left has been completed and the Guys are working on the
second switch. |
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These picture's are kinda out of order, but the
Hydro Test on 484 is done, we pushed 484 to 243 pounds water
pressure and kept it there while each and every Staybolt in the
Firebox "1044 of them or something" was Hammer tested to comply with regulations. |
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Now we have opened the Boiler and will go inside
to inspect the interior of the Boiler for any Problems again to
comply with Regulations and to check the Dry Pipe.. that is the pipe
between the throttle valve you see to the Super Heater Header in the
smokebox.. |
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We have the Steam Dome Cap hanging from the Roof
in the Antonito Shop. The Steam Dome are quite hard to handle now
that we have increased the Thickness of the Caps to comply with
Regulations. |
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You are looking inside the just opened Smokebox to
inspect it for leaks during the Hydro Test... it passed.. Zero
leaks. |
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The Inspection Door on the Smokebox is Open, and
we found a Cracked bolt, so we will replace it... |
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Just a shot of 484's front end. |
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Now we are at Milepost 290 and are loading rail...
a rail is swung onto the flatcar as Marvin guides the rail. |
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Here is the Pettibone at work. |
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Ronnie watches closely as Marvin in the Pettibone
swings a rail to the Flatcar as Sam and Marvin onboard the flatcar
guide the rail. |
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Working on the last car load of Rail. |
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The Pettibone gets off the rail to turn around and
head for Home. |
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The First switch on the Mainline is completely
done. |
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A view of the Track Work in Antonito. |
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And another shot of 484 at Milepost 290. This is
where we picked up the last batch of rail, at the time of the
Picture, we were waiting for the Pettibone Machine to arrive behind
us. |
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After the run, we backed 484 onto the Ashpit and
dropped the Fire. |
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484 is having its fire dropped, Ronnie is in the
cab shaking the grates and the injector is running to fill the
boiler, then we will chain it down, shut down the air pump and go
home, goodnight 484. |
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Another view of the Track work in the Antonito
Yard. |
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Ray Martinez is in the Backhoe digging down the
Roadbed, the Ground is actually quite uneven and the new track will
sit about a foot lower than the curve. |
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484 is away from its tender and will be going thru
its annual inspection. |
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We will remove the Air Cooling Pipes and the front
Inspection door is open to inspect the Smokebox. |
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A view of 484 and don't worry, we have every
intention to re-trim 484 in new silver paint. |
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We put 484 into track three so we could hook up
the Water Heater to the Boiler, this will allow us to pump the
boiler full of water and raise the temperature to about 100 Degree's
in preparation for its Hydro Test. We have to raise the Boiler to at
least 70 degrees before we can hook up the Pump and do the
Hydro-Test. |
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Now we are working on 484, but we still have to do
car work also, here is the spare truck set ready for use, it has
actually been moved to chama and we will put it under a car at a
later date. You at how fresh and clean the Truck set looks, we
powered washed all the grease and muck off it.. |
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I think I have the AshPit shots
ready, but I am still going to leave my Sweety on here. My
Sweety will fill in for a day or two.... |
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There's that Motor Car that Track
Patrolman John Martinez and Mac McCoy use... |
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Locomotive 473 switches the yard
in Durango. I have had a love for
these Locomotives, it must be a longing of some kind... I have never
run one of these.. I would love to be assigned to a 470 and run her
all day long, that's my dream, to sit and feel the exhaust, to pull
her whistle cord thru a road crossing, to sit back in the seat and
ride the brakestand on a downgrade, to have a Microwave ham and
cheese sandwich wrapped in aluminum foil from a gas station warmed
up on her backhead...... Hey, even with all these miles I have
logged on Steam Locomotives I still long for more!!!! |
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A look at 473's Cab. |
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Look at the running gear of 473,
you can see the Air filter for the air intake for the Air Pump up
front just behind the plow, do you see it? |
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Locomotive 473... |
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is switching cars into the next
days train. |
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A look at the Yard from near the
Dispatch Office. |
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Locomotive 473. |
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Caboose 0505 in Durango. |
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The Dispatch tower in Durango. |
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Looking down the yard into
downtown Durango past the Dispatch tower and Caboose 0505. |
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A look at two of the Ash pits, |
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and the other. Thought a friend
might like these.. |
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Here is Railbus number One. |
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A look at the interior of Railbus
number One. |
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I like that thing, thats pretty
cool. |
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Now how about a few views of the
San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad and La Veta Pass, and these
picture's are courtesy of Richard Cutter.
A beautiful Night Shot of the Alamosa
Depot and the arrival of FEC Locomotive 148 in Alamosa. This is the
road crossing at State Street. |
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A view of Maestas Mountain from
the Tracks.. I love this Mountain, from the East side it looks like
a perfect natural Pyramid shape. Maestas Mountain was named after a
Vietnam Veteran who earned the Medal of Honor and who lived in this
Beautiful area of Colorado. |
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Coming down off La Veta Pass, FEC
Locomotive 148 is in the consist and heading to Monte Vista. |
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About to exit a Tunnel on La Veta
Pass. |
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In the Cab... I love this
Photograph, it is a look into a hidden world away from the public
where two guys ride side by side hauling freight that keeps America
running.. most people don't even know they are there, but they do
the Job and watch out for each other to make the ride home safe.
Railroading is a Brotherhood of men and women, its a Beautiful
life... |
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At the Summit of La Veta Pass in a
winter wonderland. La Veta is a real no nonsense grade, Mountain
Railroading at its finest, the crews here hold back their heavy
trains thru tight curves and a 3 percent ruling grade. |
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How about a Stack of Balloons in
Los Lunas.. |
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Beautiful Colors. |
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I love the Colors... |
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There is nothing like a balloon
rally, it is something to see. |
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Liftoff.... |
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Another beautiful stack of
Balloons, |
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Greenpeace in the Center. |
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And the Dragon, isn't that
Amazing. |
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Goodbye to Los Lunas till next
year. |
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Cielo Encantado flies above the
Albuquerque, or at least the outskirts. |
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Ain't that a beauty.. |
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Cielo Encantado flies as we cruise
under in the Chase Truck of Viento Encantado. |
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At the controls is my Wonderful
Friend Tula who is working on her Pilots License. |
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Clarke, the Pilot of Viento
Encantado and the instructor flies with Tula who is the Student, she
flew Beautifully that Day. |
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Cielo Encantado against a
Beautiful Sky. |
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And after a wonderful flight, Tula
lands her Balloon, Yeah Tula, you did Great!! |
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Well have a great one, see ya next
week AND THE WEEK AFTER THAT AND THE WEEK AFTER THAT AND THE WEEK
AND WEEKS AFTER THAT... Carlos Llamas
Say Bye to
Jammie
at Oscar's.. remember, stop in for a Great bite to eat.
i WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL THOSE
WONDERFUL PEOPLE WHO CONTINUE TO VISIT THIS WEBSITE, I WILL VISIT
MORE RAILROADS THIS SUMMER, I AM GLAD TO SAY WE WILL HAVE REGULAR
UPDATES FROM DURANGO, I WILL BE TAKING YOU TO A FEW HISTORIC
LOCATIONS HERE IN THE SAN LUIS VALLEY, I WILL HAVE A SECOND CAMERA
WITH A MEMBER OF THE TRACK CREW, I WILL HAVE A FEW INTERVIEWS WITH
PEOPLE, THERE WILL BE A FEW SURPRISE'S AND MOST IMPORTANTLY I WILL
CONTINUE TO UPDATE YOU EVERY WEEK... LOOKING FORWARD TO A GREAT
SUMMER, I AND MY TRUSTY CAMERA WILL BE THERE FOR YOU TO SHOW YOU THE
EVERYDAY ADVENTURE'S OF THIS GREAT RAILROAD, THE CUMBRES &
TOLTEC.... carlos.
and Thanks to a very Generous Donation and money out of my own
pocket, I have placed a down payment on a Digital Canon SLR and with
a few payments, I hope to step into the future and upgrade the Film
Camera's "Canon Rebel-G and Canon Rebel Ti" I use now to Digital.
Many people have asked and yes, I still pay all film and developing
expense's out of my OWN Pocket and also with a few generous
donations, I do it, because I believe in this
website and have come to realize, the greatest gift I could receive
is the ability to freely share my Photographs with the world.
ENJOY!!!!! |
