The Cumbres Turn. Two Denver & Rio Grande Western K-36 Locomotives haul a large cut of boxes, tanks and gons eastbound out of the Chama Yard, as they begin the run up the 4% grade to Cumbres Pass, known as a Cumbres Turn.
In the final years of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Narrow Gauge, the railroad ran very long freights from Cumbres Pass to Alamosa. These trains would often run 60-70 cars or more. Getting that many loaded freight cars up the 4% grade from Chama to Cumbres Pass was a challenge and was typically done in several sections, which were called Cumbres Turns. A pair or perhaps even 3 locomotives would take a cut of cars up the hill in the morning, then run back to Chama with only their caboose, to pick up another cut of cars in the afternoon. After several turns positioned all of the loads up on the pass, a single train would be assembled, and one locomotive would then take that train downhill to Alamosa. The recreation that you see here was the first day of a 3-day charter organized by Historic Transport Preservation (HTP) and operated by the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. Other than the lettering on the water tank, and the spark arrestors on the locomotive stacks, there's not much in this photo that would be all that different from a scene right out of the 1960s.
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad are all that remains of the legendary Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge system. Here you'll find some of my favorites from these two beautiful railways.
