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After several rides over the years on the D&RGW from Durango and Silverton, and, then, the Silverton, I finally got a ride on the Cumbres and Toltec, from Antonito out and back to Osiris behind steam.  I recommend anyone do the train all the

way through and back on the bus, and from Chama....but it was a quick decision, and I just wanted to be behind steam the

entire trip.  I was there, unlike in the past, there were no forest fires to cancel trains, and the aspens were beautiful in SW Colorado, the best I have seen them, and I was afraid it was too early in the month for them.  They were not even turned much farther north in Glacier or Yellowstone a few days earlier.  (I was photographing Montana ghost towns, Bannack, Virginia City, Alder, etc. for structure model ideas) The C&T was a fantastic ride, standing on a coach platform (I don't think I was allowed to do that on the Silverton, although I had done it years ago on the D&RGW), or in the open tourist "gondola".

Soot in your face, smoke and your hair in the wind, aspens galore...highly recommended.  Even photographed a double

rainbow over aspens.

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To get to Antonito, I went through Lee's home town, Trinidad, for the first time, and

over famous Raton Pass for the first time, but my goal in the area was Cokedale and

the coke ovens and the town, which had a museum with a special opening I blundered

on... Drove around and photographed the remains of the coke ovens, several coal mines and old stores out from Cokedale, once a company town of Pueblo's Colorado Fuel and Iron.  Then over Raton and a scenic canyon drive through northern New Mexico to Antonito.

That's some forest fire, Ken.  Such imagination!

 

Colorado, Hirailer, I also rode the C&T for the first time September 13, and it is probably the best regularly-scheduled steam trip in the US.  This is real mountain railroading (using retainers on the descending grades, even) and they have made every attempt to recreate a true narrow gauge railroad.  They even operate by timetable and train orders, however, since there is no pole line or open train order offices between end terminals, they use radio instead of telegraph to issue orders to trains en route, and there's no flimsy paper.

 

We rode behind slightly off-square engine 487, and had a great trip with excellent train handling by both the Enginer and Fireman, who traded off during the trip.

 

 

I definitely won't be modeling one of those.  Besides from being blocked from a previous ride on the C&T, on other trips I have been chased around S. Dakota by one,

driven through the remains of one in Utah, and the climax was spending almost

the whole night in my car at a closed bridge under construction in western Wyoming

after being chased out of the east side of Yellowstone by a NPS "set" fire that got

away from them.  Not amusing.

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