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There is our Friend Therese,
in full size steam, live steam... whatever she finds, she's willing
to give it a shot... way to go my friend. |
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I had to pick up a T-shirt
for a friend, that's a good excuse to go into Hooters, right!!!!
I knew you would agree. |
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Well welcome to the Antonito Shop..
I visited the shop February the 16th of
2006. |
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The guys are working on Jacking up a car to get
the trucks out for maintenance. |
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The car is a little lower than the jacks minimum
height so Sam on the left is using a hand hydraulic jack to lift the
car just high enough to get the air powered jack into lifting
position. |
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Once the jacks are in place, the Compressed Air
does the work, the Air Compressor in the shop is not powerful enough
to run both jacks at once, so it takes a bit to get the car in the
air. First the left jack is run and lifts a little then the right
jack runs and lifts a little, then left, then right and soon the car
is in the air. |
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Once the trucks are out, the guys get right to
work on the truck inspection. |
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The bearings, brake rigging, pins, roller
bearings, springs and all will be inspected... the guys will also
repack and clean the brake cylinder, replace the brake valve and
adjust and test the brakes. The guys are also putting brand new
retainers on the cars. |
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This is the removed truck set. Over the years the
truck has been rebuilt and the design changed to provide the
necessary improvements to provide for the best possible ride and
safety for our passengers. |
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It may be dusty and a little greasy, but it is in
excellent condition, continued improvements in our maintenance and
repairs are keeping our equipment in better and better shape.. The
Antonito Shop has five guys who total close to 80 years of
experience in Cumbres & Toltec Passenger Car maintenance.. That's
pretty cool ain't it, it freaked me out when I did a rough estimate
on the total. |
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You can see clearly the details of the truck,
after inspection.. the rollers are the right height and the brake
rigging is doing great. |
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The Centerplate and King Pin are also in great
shape, there is no uneven wear or any damage. The trucks can be
re-lubricated and placed back under the car for another season. |
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There is a look at the car jacked up in the shop,
maintenance is being performed, there is alot to do, but its getting
done. |
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Now what are we looking at, well these are AB
brake valves.. the older generation on the Chama based cars are
being replaced with these newer rebuilt generation of Brake valves. |
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Waiting their turn are 463 and Diesel 19 in the
shop.... I will bring you a visit to
the Chama Shop in the next update, thank you for being patient with
me!!! |
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I always told my mom the
Aliens would be coming for me someday, well I looked over my
shoulder at a balloon rally in Alburquerque, New Mexico and saw a
Alien watching me!!!!!!!!! |
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Welcome to Madrid, New
Mexico.. located on the Turquoise Trail, Highway 14, half-way
between Santa Fe and Alburquerque.
This is home to the Old Coal Mine
Museum! |
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This place is home to A.T.S.F.
Locomotive 769. |
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Madrid is one of the few places in
the world where Bituminous and Anthracite Coal can be found side by
side... Locomotive 769 did its share to help Madrid prosper in the
early days. |
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Locomotive 769 is actually pretty
well intact, all the parts and accessories are still in place. |
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A look at the Engineer's side of the
cab. |
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And the fireman's side, and yes the
769 was hand fired. |
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A look at 769's firebox, I tried my
best to get a good shot of the interior for you.. and I will have
alot more picture's from Madrid in future updates, there is a
amazing collections of items at this museum. |
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Hey, have you ever seen
Australia and New Zealand flying above you.... The World Balloon
flies over Balloon Fiesta field in Alburquerque. |
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Climbing out of the La Veta
Valley. |
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Those are the Spanish Peaks in the
Distance, if you look closely, you can see the track climbing up
thru the mountains in the middle of the picture. |
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If you look to the left and below,
you can see the tracks heading downhill. |
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Now this is a spooky part of the
railroad, a few years back.. a runaway train actually derailed on
the descent on La Veta Pass. The Light Blue panels you see behind
Caritas are actually the cut up remains of derailed cars that came
off the tracks at just this point... |
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Climbing up past the Defects
Detector.. |
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We have just made the Summit at
"Fir". |
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Now beginning our descent, to the
left you can see the connecting track on the loop and the actual
Loop down below. This section of railroad is very similar to the
track set-up at Lava, New Mexico. |
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Look thru the doorway of Caritas, you
can see Paul keeping a eye on Locomotives. |
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Rolling back to Alamosa, we are now
near the Highway. |
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Just a few miles east of Fort
Garland, Colorado. |
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Rolling across a place of the San
Luis Valley nicknamed "Iraqi Flats", we watch the sun go down and
see exactly why this mountain range was called by the Spanish
Conquistadors the "Sangre De Cristos" or the Blood of Christ.
I hope you enjoyed the picture's... |
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Say Hello to Dominique... I
am sorry, I had a... or better yet have been having a little
internet connection trouble here in Colorado. But, I will have
another update up soon. I wanted to let everybody know I will be
visiting Chama next weekend and hope to get some Chama Shop photos
for the website.
So have a great one and take care. |
