It is late afternoon and the shadows are getting long as the 484 with its helper cut in ahead of the caboose pulls a Cumbres turn into the small yard at the top. It is the crew's second trip up the 4 percent hill that day. They will return to Chama for a second night away from home, then bring a third cut up the hill in the morning. The three cuts will then be assembled into a 70 car train and one engine will take everything down the 2 percent grade to Antonito and into Alamosa. This is a good overall view of Cumbes Pass as it used to be, as seen on the approach from Chama. In the distance the section house, snowshed over the wye, and water plug are visible. Near the left edge of the picture, peaking over the top of the low ridge, is the roof of the building that once was the home for a resident car inspector who inspected and repaired brakes prior to the decent down the 4 percent grade to Chama. In the the middle of the picture you can clearly see how the old road originally passed underneath the tracks west of the section house. Much remains the same today on the C&TS, but also much has changed. The road has been relocated and now crosses the railroad at grade on the other side of the section house, and the snowshed is gone.
The DRGW narrow gauge was the last major steam operation in the U.S. The climb over 10,000 foot Cumbres pass was spectacular, with two engines handling 70 car trains. Hopefully these images convey some of the drama of mountain steam railroading.
