Cumbres and Toltec: 2021

The summer of 2021 found us headed to Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado many a time, and now, here’s the video that we shot of the famed Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad that year.
For the uninitiated, the Cumbres and Toltec is one of the last operating remnants of the famed and far-flung Denver and Rio Grande Western narrow gauge network. This railway once was part of a network that stretched from Denver as far south as Santa Fe, New Mexico, and west as far as Salt Lake City. The railroad allows for a peek back into the wild west to see what towns like Montrose, Gunnison, Salida, and even Durango were once like before the railroads into town were abandoned. The railroad is locked in a consistent battle with the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge in USA Today’s ‘Top 10 Best Scenic Train Rides’ with the D&S taking this year's crown (it swaps between the two nearly every year). Cumbres runs between Chama New Mexico (next to Pagosa Springs and its famous hot springs resort) and Antonito Colorado (north of Taos NM, but south of Alamosa CO) crossing the border of the two states 11 times as it creates a winding route between the two.
While none of this video features any of the guest locomotives of the ‘Victorian Iron Horse Roundup’, which featured many pre-1900 steam locomotives on the line, a few shots are from those days. Along the line, we’ll see the two classes of ex- Denver and Rio Grande Western steam locomotives that ply the rails today here, the 1903 built K-27, No. 463, and the 1925 built K-36 class (484, 487, and 489), all constructed by Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia Pennsylvania.
In this video we’ll take you trackside along (and above) the longest and highest narrow gauge railroad in the United States as we are in the Chama Yard, the crossing of the Rio Chama, Lobato Trestle, Hamilton’s Point, Coxo, Windy Point, Cumbres, Los Pinos, Osier, Toltec Gorge, Big Horn, and Antonito. Most of the footage rolls between the coal burning 463, 484, and 487, but the future of the railroad, oil burning No. 489 shows up at the end of the video with its clean stack and a beautiful hooter whistle. A little darker than its brethren over at the Durango and Silverton, the 489 provides a stunning look with no stack cap and dark graphite smokebox.
Music: ‘Grand Vista’ by Jason Shaw: [a href="audionautix.com/"]Creative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix. com[/a]

[@ronbuser9797]

😮 A fantastic drone view of Laboto Trestle and Wolf Creek like it has never been done before. Absolutely!! beautiful!!

[@wolfgangpfeilergartenbahnd6530]

Hello, fantastic video, from the Cumbres & Toltec narrow gauge railway. The exit of the train from Chama and over the Chama river bridge is very beautiful. Very beautiful the K36 # 487, and the train in the vastness of New Mexico. Great drive over the Laboto Trestle, Windy Point and Cumbres Pass. An excellent video from one of my favorite narrow gauge railways in the USA. Thanks for sharing and have a nice Sunday. Best regards from Germany

[@timnewman1172]

These videos are awesome, your production values are on par with the best of them!

[@Big_Diehl]

Thanks! I try…

[@yihongchen-e3p]

制作非常精良的影片 感谢您的分享

[@YardLimit]

My C&T fix for today.