Cumbres & Toltec

Best train ride in the country. Don

One more shot just for fun. Don

Authentic narrow gauge railroading.  Not the job for millennials.

Don's right . . . it's the best train ride out there.  Nothing fake - just a slice of Rocky Mountain life on the three-foot as it existed from 1925 until 1965.

July 2014:

Circa 1977:

Rusty

Beautiful article in the Travel Section of the Washington Post, today!

scale rail posted:

Best train ride in the country. Don

It sure is the best ride. And all the buildings and original engines, freight and passenger cars are fantastic! Highly recommended!

I've never been to the C&T, but one of the writers I work with at Railroading in America is an engineer/fireman there. I have heard some amazing stories from him, and the photos he shares are extraordinary. This place is on my bucket list for sure. 

Here's the recent Washington Post article mentioned above.

https://www.washingtonpost.com...m_term=.91617b956de5

An amazing ride! The parlor car is worth every penny. 

Bob

I've got a reservation on the train in late October. Looking forward to it.

Roger

I visited about 3 years ago and stayed at the "Encanto B&B" which was about a block from the station in Chama.    It was great place, nice, clean and good breakfast.    A very nice lady runs it.   It is still listed on the C&T web site.    My wife thought it was great too.

I'm lucky, my wife Vicky's Pop was a Southern Pacific Railroad man. For my birthday about ten years ago she bought me a trip on Amtrak from Oakland to Denver. First class room with bathroom including shower. We drove to the C&T and the next day to take the trip. I walked around the yard that late afternoon and watched them put our train together for the next day. The folks there couldn't have been nicer. I had expected to get thrown off the property but the crew just waved and said hello. On the trip it  turned out we were sitting across from the CEO, we talked and it turned out he ended up taking us in the shops at the end of the line and told us about the freight train running the next morning. By far the best trip ever. Don

Mrs RJR & I were there maybe 10+ years ago.  The C&T was hosting the Eureka, an 1870's woodburner from the Eureka & Palisade RR, owned by an attorney in Vegas.  Quite a sight, as it struggled to keep traction on the grades.

We are members of the "Friends".  I highly recommend sending them a token $ every year.  We haven't been there in over a decade, but remember the same thing - friendly, never a problem riding on the platform or flat car, or walking through the shops.  We stayed at the Shamrock.

Durango was a different story - "Sit in your seat and do exactly as you are told!" Do not even think about the vestibule or the flat car unless you bought a flat car ticket.  Still, beautiful equipment and drop-dead gorgeous scenery.

I did get a tour of the Durango facility - I showed up at six AM in uniform, told them I had brought 122 folks in the evening before, and could they show me around?  They said yes.

With the aspens turning this is the time to get there... l only rode the eastern half to Osier, so need to go back and ride the most spectacular half. Luckily l rode the Silverton route when it was still D&RGW, so my brother and l stood on the platforms above the Animas canyon.  Of course, the country was a lot less sue-happy then, which the D&S now has to contend with.

bruce benzie posted:

Beautiful article in the Travel Section of the Washington Post, today!

Yes, it’s a great article!

 I was just out there for the Trains 50th Anniversary run and I agree with everyone else - fantastic ride and scenery.

This summer I took another (my sixth) ride on the Cumbres and Toltech Scenic Railroad (C&TSRR).  After I got home, I sent a trip report of the ride and chase to some friends and put the associated images in a Dropbox file.  I believe that the report is too long to put into this thread; it can be accessed with this Dropbox link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s4u0...R-OGR-Story.doc?dl=0

As noted in the report, the images are in another Dropbox file; the link for that file is:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/aws...V-Xnl1eqQnTPrYa?dl=0

Here are a couple of teaser images:

A map or the C&TSRR route is included in the report.  I hope that you folks find it and the images interesting and informative.

A-W-E-S-O-M-E photos, scenary and trains! THANK YOU for sharing!  ☺