Snaking around the contours of the Conejos Formation above the Rio de Los Pinos, a Denver & Rio Grande Western Freight slowly works its way west on the run from Alamosa, CO, to Chama, NM via Cumbres Pass. Behind Road Engine 484, 4 oil cans owned by the Union Tank Car Company ride empty, destined for oil fields around Farmington. Pipe loads behind the tanks are also destined for the Farmington Branch. Back behind Mid-Train Helper #489, a sizable string of stockers and a lone reefer precede a few high-side gons and an endless array of boxcars. D&RGW Narrow Gauge Freights running back and forth between Alamosa and Chama often ran with consists of 60 cars or more, and on the westbound runs such as this one, two engines would typically be used, with the helper cut in at mid-train, to avoid loading restrictions on the line's bridges.
