Cumbres section house framed by the snowshed. I like the details. The engine is taking water from the water plug, and a gon of new ties is on west end of the siding. The black dog by the switch stand belongs to the section crew. The trainorder signal was installed at the section house in the mid-1950's after the original station building was torn down, and after an unexpected increase in traffic due to a natural gas boom in the Farmington basin that required train loads of pipe and drilling mud. I do not know if the section house ever actually served as a regular trainorder station, but if so it was for only a brief period.
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.