Colorado and New Mexico. From Hangman’s Trestle to Windy Point: A Train through the San Juans
Passing over rocky gorges and through thick stands of ponderosa pine, the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railway (C&TSR) is North America’s longest (103 km) and highest railway still used by steam locomotives. It is located in the San Juan Mountains along the border between New Mexico and Colorado. Constructed to serve the mining and timber industries, the track between Antonito, Colorado and Chama, New Mexico was laid in 1880 as the San Juan extension of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGWR). In an effort to reduce costs, the narrow-gauge track used on the line is 91.44 centimeters (3 feet) wide instead of the standard 143.51 centimeters (4 feet, 8.5 inches). After 1890, the line fell into disuse and in 1969, the D&RGWR filed paperwork to permanently abandon the tracks. The following year the states of Colorado and New Mexico jointly purchased the track and historic railroad structures for the purpose of promoting tourism.
Today, the C&TSR owns nine locomotives and 130 passenger, cargo, and other types of cars including a rotary plow designed to remove snow. Trains make the trip between Antonito and Chama from May 25 to October 19. Passing though Colorado’s Rio Grande National Forest and New Mexico’s Carson National Forest, the route crosses the border between the two states eleven times. Pulled by a steam locomotive, each tourist train is made up of flat-roofed and clerestory cars in three classes: coach, deluxe, and parlor.
We arrived in Antonito at 9:00am, about an hour before our scheduled departure. Antonito was established in 1889 as a railroad “company town.” After a quick self-guided tour of the railyard, my companion and I found our seats in the parlor car. The parlor car was arranged with tables surrounded by two or four chairs and a bar and kitchen in the rear. Immediately after sitting down, a crew member came to take our drink orders. Elsewhere in the line of cars being pulled by the engine were coach class cars with traditional bench seating and deluxe cars with wingback chairs that faced windows on the right or left. With a capacity of 360 riders, the train was pulled by a single large steam locomotive. Our crew included the conductor, in overall charge of train, a brakeman who assisted the conductor, a fireman who rode in the engine and was responsible for maintaining pressure in the boiler by adding coal to the firebox, and an engineer who controlled the train’s speed using the throttle, brakes, and other controls. To prevent a fire being ignited by embers from the locomotive’s smokestack, a crew member equipped with a fire extinguisher followed the train in a self-propelled cart. The crew communicated using a series of whistle blows with one short blast indicating a stop, two short blasts announcing that the train would move forward, and three short blasts signifying that the train would back up.
Soon after departing we passed Lava Mesa and crossed Ferguson’s Trestle (aka Hangman’s Trestle). The trestle is named after an outlaw who was hanged there by a posse from Antonito. Our first major turn was Whiplash Curve, a double horseshoe bend that offered views of the train’s entire length including the locomotive and caboose. For much of the journey we stood in an open car that was just ahead of the parlor car. In addition to offering unobstructed views of each side of the train, the open car was staffed by a knowledgeable docent who pointed out landscape features and told stories. At one point he mentioned that the section of C&TSR line we were passing over was featured in several movies including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Wyatt Earp (1994), and Bite the Bullet (1975).
The train’s progress was slow, with an average speed of nineteen kilometers per hour. We stopped briefly for water at a railroad section camp known as Sublet. Adjacent to the track we could see a section house and water tank. Section houses were used to house railroad workers and store and maintain equipment used on a section of track. After pausing long enough for the locomotive to take on water, we continued along the edge of Toltec Gorge and into Mud Tunnel, carved through soft volcanic rock and supported by heavy wooden beams.
Above Rio de los Pinos we passed through Rock Tunnel just before reaching our lunch stop at Osier. The section town of Osier has stock pens and a section house. A crew member directed us to a large building where we stood in line for a delicious buffet of pork enchiladas, grilled chicken, potatoes, bread rolls, salad, and cobbler. After lunch, some riders boarded a train that returned to Antonito while we climbed aboard a train that continued on to Chama. Soon after leaving Osier, we crossed Cascade Creek Trestle towards Cumbres Pass. At 3,052 meters, Cumbres is the eighth highest railroad pass in the U.S. After reaching the summit the train began descending at a four percent grade to Tanglefoot Curve, another horseshoe bend in the track. Subsequentially, we passed an outcrop of volcanic rock at Windy Point before crossing the Lobato Trestle. Arriving in Chama (elevation 2,400 meters) we boarded an hour long bus ride back to Antonito. Fans of the C&TSR might also like a section of the former D&RGWR between Durango and Silverton, Colorado that is also served by steam locomotives.
