Denver & Rio Grande Western 487 leads its freight train upgrade at Dalton on a cool summer morning.

Denver & Rio Grande Western 487 works hard up the grade at Dalton with its freight train.

Denver & Rio Grande Western 487 nears the top of the grade at Cumbres Pass with its freight train on a sunny August day.

Denver & Rio Grande Western 487 leads its passenger train up the 4% grade at Windy Point on a beautiful August afternoon.

A Golden Coxo

Intense color of Fall lines the narrow gauge as a double header and steamed up passing the lake at Coxo.

Under the Jukeā€™s Tree

From under that famous tree in delightful Fall morning light the daily passenger train rolls up the grade for Cumbres Pass.

Fall Color at Coxo

The valley is echoing from the double header working up to Cumbres Pass on the Cumbres & Toltec.

Water from the Tank

Like gold glowing in the brilliant Fall morning light; water on the deck flows from the tank. Chama, NM

Big country, little train. A stock train crosses the Rio de los PiƱos on a wood pile trestle at milepost 324.52 on its climb up Cumbres Pass. From a 2011 Lerro Productions charter.

Los PiƱos Tank
A stock train makes its way up the east side of Cumbres Pass, here passing Los PiƱos Tank. A few small acreages now dot this end of the valley, but when the states of C... (more)

Fall colors are a week or so away from peak, but hints of yellow and red cover the hillside as our stock special climbs the 4% grade up Cumbres Pass. From a 2011 Lerro Productions charter.

Cowboy Up!
A drover rides the top of a stock car to assist D&RGW #487's crew in spotting one of the cars at the chute. This is the stock pen at Osier, and there are cattle in the pen wa... (more)

She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain...

Our stock special is coming around a bend still high above the Rio de los PiƱos between Cascade Trestle and the los PiƱos tank. From a 201... (more)

Our stock special waits at Los PiƱos siding for the daily passenger train for Chama to pass. It's a flawless "chamber of commerce" fall afternoon in the southern San Juans From a 2011 L... (more)

I was traveling to Chama, NM early on a Friday evening to spend a weekend shooting fall colors on the C&TS when I ran into a surprise as I crested Cumbres Pass on Hwy 17. A short eastbound train ... (more)