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Late Night Maintenance on the Cumbres and Toltec
Late Night Maintenance on the Cumbres and Toltec
This picture is of the inside the maintenance shop for the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railway in Chama, NM. The 488 had just returned from its daily run bringing tourists over Cumbres pass and was about to be serviced in the Chama shop. It had departed that morning from Antonito, CO bringing a half-dozen cars 64 miles through the mountains. Since the 488 would be returning to Antonito in the morning, it was to be kept hot after the service is done so that a fire wouldn’t have to be recreated.
In this picture, they were just about to move it inside of the shop to start the nightly lubrication needed to keep the old engines in good working order. A companion picture – my “Jiffy Lube” shot was posted earlier. It can be found here: I’d Like Your 29.99 Oil Change Special, Please
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 17-40 f/4L @ 40mm. ISO 100, f/9, 3 shots bracketed +/- 2 stops and merged to an HDR with LR/Enfuse.
The Goose is Loose
This ugly duckling is called the Galloping Goose. It was a contraption created by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad for passenger service on the narrow gauge railways in southwestern Colorado and northern New Mexico. It’s the crazy love child of a box car, a bus, and a Packard V12 motor. Today, there are a few that remain and have been restored. They run them for special passenger and photo charters on the tourist railroads like the Toltec and Cumbres Scenic Railroad as shown here. This picture was taken just outside of Chama, NM as the Goose was pulling out of town on a private tourist run.
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 70-200mm f/4L @ 70mm ISO 400, f/11, 1/125 sec.
I’d Like Your 29.99 Oil Change Special, Please!
Could you imagine the look on the highly paid technician at Jiffy Lube when this guy pulls in?
I’ve got another railroad picture for you today.. this time, it’s in the shops in Chama, NM. This is the Cumbres and Toltec shop where they give each engine a once-over before sending it out for another passenger excursion over the mountains. Number 488 (shown here) had just been moved into the shops and the mechanics were starting to do their maintenance.
The RV park where we were staying was right next door to the train yard. We had just pulled into Chama an hour earlier . As we were getting settled in, we heard the unmistakeable whistle from a steam train. Dad and I hustled over to the yard and I started taking night pictures of this engine and several others. Normally, night pictures are best about 30 minutes after sunset – this was about three hours after sunset. We made do with very long exposures, selectively lighting things with a lantern, and getting shots in the lighted area of the shop.
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 17-40 f/4L @ 40mm ISO 100, f/9, 13 sec.
The Aspen Express
When I set off for Colorado nearly a week ago, I went with the intentions of getting some awesome landscape shots to add to my catalog. What happened instead is that I ended up spending two days chasing trains with my dad (It’s one of his favorite activities) and getting some really nice railroad images.
This picture is on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railway that runs between Chama, NM and Antonito, CO. They run one passenger excursion each direction every day – and they always sell out during the fall because it’s an unbelievably scenic route. We were lucky enough to be there during the peak color for the Aspen trees – and the bright yellow is really beautiful.
To get this picture, we had to hike about a mile at over 10,000 feet to a place called Windy Point. It’s a horribly exposed curve high on a steep rocky point – and there is no way to get a good shot there other than hike for it. We made it with about 5 minutes to spare – just enough time to scout out the best angle to get the train, the aspen, and the rocks composed where I wanted them. Once the train went by, we were able to hop a ride on the maintenance vehicle that follows the train putting out brush fires.