Cumbres And Toltec Scenic Railroad Shops Up-Date

Cumbres And Toltec Shops Up-Dates
2006

November week-1

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	Drop Bottom Gondola 727 is in the shop for repairs and upgrades.. 727 will be going into regular maintenance of way service, so she is getting a overhaul in Antonito... We rebuilt and cleaned the braking system, I took the wasps nest out of the retainer and got it working again, a center structure was installed in the car, we greased the center plates and cleaned out the rust, adjusted the brakes, replaced angle cocks and air hoses and now she is ready for service according to Antonito Shop standards!!!
	Marvin lowers the car back down on the trucks... 727 is ready for service.
	We are at Sublette on the Trains Unlimited Special..
	Locomotive 488 poses at Sublette..
	Fall colors and a Steam locomotive.
	The snowplow was actually put on the 488 for this special.
	Locomotive 488, I love these specials, it allows me to get off and take picture's where I normally wouldn't be able to!!!
	Looking back at the train...
	This is what it looked like to roll freight trains over the Railroad.
	We backed into Toltec Siding and let the passenger train pass us.
	Ronnie on 484 passes us at Toltec...
	Passing thru Calico cut and over Toltec Creek.
	I love this section of the Railroad, lots of Aspen Tree's.
	The aspens have loss their leaves already, the 488 stands on a carpet of leaves..
	This is one of the few places on the section between Antonito and Osier where we have to use sand on the rails.. the Aspen leaves make the locomotives slip quite often on the uphill climb.
	Another view of the Area.
	A good look at the train and Toltec Creek and Calico Cut.
	I love the freight train specials.
	Locomotive 488 poses near the French Drain...
	Love this shot..
	Now I am not sure where the name came from, but the creek and curve here is called the French Drain.
	What are you looking at here, well Ronnie is under the car and is applying grease to the center plate on car 727!!!!
	Its Monday the 30th of October and Diesel 19 is switching the yard..
	19 will take a carload of ties up the line to Lava Tank..
	Diesel 19 has been such a valuable locomotive to us, I don't know what we would do without 19!!!!
	Diesel 19 taking fuel in Antonito.
	And, away she goes for lava Tank...
	Halloween day and Diesel 19 is at the Fuel tank again....
	Its Ballast dumping time.... We plan to dump rock from Milepost 283 to Antonito.
	Three cars at a time, but we are getting the job done... with Ronnie in the cab, Max and I on the ground, the three of us are dumping ballast.
	With a tie on the rails ahead of the wheels we are putting the rock down kinda heavy.
	The tie acts like a blade and levels the rock..
	When we rolled back into the loading area, the trucking company was busy delivering us more rock.
	Four trucks at a time were bringing in the rock.
	Where do we load the rock, well right where X-Marks the spot.
	Halloween evening and Diesel 19 rolls into the Antonito, I brought the backhoe in and Ronnie rolled the train into the yard.
	November 2nd and we have completed our first ballast project!!! Yeah!!!!
	The tracks from milepost 283 to the Antonito yard is covered in ballast, almost three complete miles of rock.
	That looks pretty cool, Huh!!
	With some regulating and tamping, the track will greatly improve for the passenger trains.
	A look at the piles of rock and the completely ballasted track.
	Both machines are hard at work loading the cars with ballast.
	Take a look at the track, this section has been worked with the "Ballast Regulator".
	It is extremely joyful to see the track under that much rock...
	I have to admit, I am proud of the work we have done, little by little we will lift this whole railroad up thanks to the rock ballast.
	Ronnie is checking Diesel 19's Fluids before her day of service.
	October 9th and another day at Cumbres.
	Thru the Engineer's window of Locomotive 487 at Cumbres.
	The Car Inspectors house at Cumbres thru 487's fireman's window.
	Locomotive 487 at Cumbres.
	The Depot and 487.
	There is Jeff at Cumbres with 487.
	Objects in Mirror are closer than they appear!!!!!
	We are stopped at Dalton for the Chama Steam Special.
	Flanger 0L and Locomotive 488.
	After the quick stop, 488 pops its safety valve's.
	Climbing above Dalton we can see 488 and the train following us.
	Looking back we can see 484 doing its thing cut into the train.
	All three locomotives work uphill.
	We are making our way to Milepost 337 just up the tracks.
	Crossing the second highway crossing..
	Past Milepost 337 and the old Highway, we continue for Cresco Tank.
	Into the tree line at Cresco Siding.
	Taking out turns at Cresco Tank.
	487 and 488 have watered, now its 484's turn!!!
	All three locomotives in the shot at Cresco Tank.
	Good Ole' 487.
	Flanger 0L and 488 above Cresco..
	Locomotive 487, be patient and I will have more from Chama Steam..
	The EBT Hoppers being loaded with Ballast.
	Diesel 19 is started and its quite early in the morning... Welcome to Antonito, its the 25th of October and we are going to drain Locomotive 487 of all its water in preparation for its rest until December.
	Diesel 19 and one of the Fire Patrols!
	Looking past Diesel 19, the storm clouds build over the San Juan Mountains.
	We used the Cumbres passenger car between Diesel 19 and Locomotive 487 as a idler car of sorts. The plows on both Locomotives do not allow them to couple together.
	In this picture you can see the two locomotives and the passenger car as a idler.
	Water drains from locomotive 487 thru its blowdown valve.
	The light was beautiful, but the storm clouds were just sitting on the Horizon.
	Cold weather in Antonito.
	MW-02 sits in the Antonito Shop where it will remain for the Winter.
	The water drains from 487 at about 90 degree's after two days of sitting in the locomotive.
	After having drained the locomotive of water, Ronnie and I filled the boiler with compressed air, we will now roll the locomotive around to drain all the water out of the cylinders and throttle using air instead of steam.
	We also ran the air pump, dynamo, and other appliances with compressed air to get all the water out of 487... you know the whistle works with air, but it sounds completely different..
	Cumbres & Toltec M.O.W. gathers all its equipment in Antonito..
	The Track crews are replacing ties from Ferguson Trestle to Antonito... We are planning on dumping a complete layer of Ballast from Milepost 283 to Antonito.. this will be the biggest section of complete ballast when we are done with almost three miles of solid ballast.
	Now here is Drop Bottom Gondola 727 in the Antonito Shop.
	The guys are adding a center structure to make dumping dirt alot easier..
	I wanted to include these shots to show you how the structure and work was done.
	After the guys finished they added a tin flashing... looks great guys.
	Ronnie and I are getting the Tie Flats in place, we will switch them over and the track crews will loads freshly cut ties..
	Rolling around the loop..
	Diesel 19 has been so good to us, we hear rumors she will receive new motors this spring.
	The freshly loaded ties ready to be moved out on the line.
	That's Ronnie's hand blowing the horn on Diesel 19....
	Good Ole' 19... this Locomotive has saved our lives...
	The track crew calls it a evening... Well this is a update on the activities for this week!!
	*One of the Hoppers and Diesel 19.*
	October 18th and we are finishing up Osier.. we brought in a set of scaffolds for this side of the building..
	Putting up the last one, the building is now sealed up for the winter..
	Now thanks to some snow, it was a little rough to get out of osier..
	We kinda slide off the road...
	That Osier road is a bit slick.. but, we got the generator out!!!
	*Another shot of the ballast cars...*
	Marvin and 488 put up a little steam on a early morning in Antonito.
	Locomotive 488 backs to the coal dock.
	Love that steam as she comes across the parking lot crossing.
	488 is ready for the coal loading.
	How many things can you see in this picture.. a old fire patrol tank, a set of trucks, the company truck , Diesel 19, me, my camera...... anyway, see ya next week!

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