The Cumbres & Toltec's Holiday Express train is back after a 3 year hiatus due to COVID and equipment work. Here K-36 488 pulls a full train of families through fresh snow out onto Lobato Trestle ... (more)

Valley of Gold

The Intense color of Fall south of Cumbres Pass near the state line between Colorado and New Mexico. Climbing the grade among the aspen a dance of light and sha... (more)

A charter makes its way down from Cumbres Pass in this early June view, shot just up the line from Coxo Crossing. A couple of things of note here - on point is newly rebuilt #488 and in the consi... (more)

With the 488 on the point and 487 helping mid-train, a long westbound train, probably at the limit of 70 cars, is strung out along the hillside above Los Pinos River west of Rock Tunnel. The rear... (more)

At sunrise a freight crosses Ferguson's trestle about five miles west of Antonito. The event was a series of photo charters by Bernd Seiler of FarRail Tours.

A caboose hop leaves Durango headed for Farmington. It will pick up its train at Carbon Junction, where the cars were set out the prior evening by a train from Chama. The caboose, two loaded boxca... (more)

Water for a thirsty horse. A Denver & Rio Grande Western K-36 brings her freight to a halt at Cresco Tank, approximately 4 miles and 900 vertical feet below Cumbres Pass. In days of old, t... (more)

Steamscape: Coxo. The morning sun is still behind the ridges to the east as D&RGW K-36 #488 claws her way past the little yellow telephone box at Coxo, with a short Cumbres Turn. The tempe... (more)

D&RGW K-36 negotiates Whiplash Curve.

Desert Dawn. A Denver & Rio Grande Western Freight runs westbound out of Antonito, Colorado at sunrise on a chilly, October morning.

Pipe loads for the gas fields. D&RGW K-36 #488 charges westbound out of Lava Loop, with loads of steel pipe that are destined for gas drilling operations in the Farmington, NM area, the bet... (more)

Westbound around Los Pinos loop. In the old days this used to be a really dramatic location with a sweeping curve in a beautiful mountain meadow, but these days unless you want a number of rather... (more)

This image is a bit of an experiment. This is just a very small portion of the full frame (thus some noise), and not the image I was trying to get. But the distant mountains looked nice, as did ... (more)

Fifty years ago on the shortest day of 1963, D&RGW 488 makes a gallant showing as it climbs out of New Mexico into Colorado with the 3rd Cumbres Turn. At Cumbres Pass the three sections of frei... (more)

Having just left Chama, N.M., D&RGW 488 (with a helper on the rear) gets a run at Cumbres grade with the second turn of the day, Dec. 20, 1963. In those days it usually required three trains to ... (more)