Through the snowy San Juans. Rio Grande Southern 10-wheeler #20 takes a mixed train north through the snow-covered, San Juan mountains of Southwestern Colorado, headed for Rico, Ophir and eventually Ridgway.
This re-enactment was staged during a February 2026 photo shoot on Colorado's Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which featured a visit by Rio Grande Southern #20, perhaps that railroad's most famous locomotive. The 20 is owned and operated by the Colorado Railroad Museum and was brought here by truck to participate in a series of public and private events in the winter of 2026. In this image, the train is pictured passing the cliffs above Elbert Creek at a location the railroad now calls "Granite Point" at Milepost 468.6, in Rockwood, CO.
Landscape photography is difficult due to the challenge of combining good light and good scenery. Good railroad photography enters another level of complexity since it requires the first two while there is a train in view.
