Traveling Back In Time: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad
Historic Passenger Trains From The 1920s Ride Tourists Through The Rocky Mountains From Colorado To New Mexico And Back
In the late 1800’s the rush was on to expand rail transportation in the west. The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad began in 1870 with aspirations of extending to El Paso and Mexico City. However, as fate would have it, the D&RG was thwarted in its efforts by the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad and instead set its sights on the silver boom in Silverton Colorado. The D&RG line was abandoned in 1969, but a dedicated group convinced the states of New Mexico and Colorado to preserve 64 miles between Antonito, Colorado and Chama, NM and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad was born.
“What we have here is 64 miles of 1880, because the country side around it hasn’t been developed. There are no parking lots, paved roads, or power lines, so when visitors get on the train being pulled by a steam locomotive, they are literally traveling on a time machine, and that time machine takes them back to 1880”, explained John Bush, President of the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad.
Mr. Bush explained how he got into railroading at a young age. “I grew up in Telluride, Colorado in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s and used to play in the train yard when I was only 3 years old. Every time the train would come into town, they would chase us kids out and I wouldn’t leave, so they started putting me in the cab of a locomotive so they would keep from running me over.”
As president of the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad, Mr. Bush works to empower his managers to keep the railroad operating. The Cumbres & Toltec is currently operated as a passenger train for tourists providing rides through the southern Rocky Mountains along the 64 miles between Antonito and Chama and is jointly owned by the states of Colorado and New Mexico. “A lot of my job is to talk to legislators and work out our capital funding. We have developed a capital strategic plan that could grow us to self-sufficiency if we stay on it”, said Mr. Bush.
The Cumbres & Toltec is unique as it was constructed as a narrow-gauge railroad. The track of a narrow gauge only has three feet between the rails where standard gauge rails used in most of the rest of the country have four feet eight and one half inches between the rails. “To appreciate what we go through here, you have to realize this is some of the most demanding territory to operate a railroad that you could find anywhere in North America”, stated Ed Beaudette, Engineering and Operations manager with the railroad. “In order to get the railroad through at a cost that was effective to try to turn a profit, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad resorted to using a narrow-gauge model that was fairly effective.”
“This railroad was absolutely an engineering marvel when it was built”, explained Mr. Bush. “It has two of the only three tunnels that were ever built for narrow-gauge for the Rio Grande. It has two big steel trestles on it, goes over a 10,000-foot-high mountain pass, runs right along the edge of a steep canyon, and crosses the state line 11 times in 64 miles so it truly was an engineering masterpiece and it is now a National Historic Landmark. The really amazing thing is they managed to build this whole thing with men and mules in only nine months including the month of December which is winter up here.”
The passenger trains that operate on the railroad today are some of the same trains that were in operation in the 1920s, operating much in the same fashion as they were back then. “Essentially what we do is live in the 1920s-30s. We operate with steam locomotives and with the same type of equipment that operated at that time”, stated Mr. Beaudette. “The train is operated with a crew of four people. We have two people on the locomotive, the engineer who operates the locomotive, and the fireman who is the one who provides the energy by shoveling coal and monitoring the water. We normally have two people in the train itself, the brake man who serves a variety of purposes in assisting the conductor, and the conductor who is basically the crew chief for the entire four-man crew.”
Operating a 1900’s era railroad in the 21st century does not come without challenges. “The challenge when you get down to it is maintaining 64 miles of mountain railroad that is based on technology that is no longer used. Our youngest locomotive is 92 years old and our oldest was built in 1883, so the people that knew how to work on that stuff and most of the tooling are gone. We have had to collect it together and over the course of 47 years teach ourselves how to do the work and pass that on to younger generations so they can carry on”, explained Mr. Bush.
“We are really a time capsule. When you walk onto our property here, it is very much like walking onto a railroad yard as you might find it in 1925 or so. That’s all possible because of what we do here along with our large volunteer organization, The Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, that does tremendous work in maintaining all the historic cars and structures”, said Mr. Beaudette.
Thanks to the passion and dedication of individuals like Mr. Bush and Mr. Beaudette, visitors have the opportunity to experience a piece of history when traveling the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad.
Jared Langenegger
A graduate of New Mexico State University with bs in wildlife and fisheries biology Jared spent 15 years working in fisheries and parks management. He enjoys camping, fishing, hunting, painting, and wood working.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Alamosa KOA is located between the breathtaking San Juan and Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The campground is just minutes from the scenic Cumbres Toltec steam train, Rio Grande Scenic Railroad and the championship Cattails Golf Course.