Western Railroad Discussion > Cumbres and Toltec Non-Steam

My brother and I visited Cumbres and Toltec Railroad to see the steam and take in the October sites of the mountains October 2nd and 3rd.
For me, one of the unexpected sights was C&TS GE 19 at Cumbres with three hoppers being loaded with ballast.
Trucks we're bringing ballast up from the direction of Chama and dumping it at Cumbres. A front end loader filled the cars and 19 headed for Osier. Wednesday we were at Tanglefoot and 19 followed 463 towards Chama. 
Narrow gauge diesels are way more rare than narrow gauge steam these days.

19 shown at Cumbres and then ascending Tanglefoot curve.

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2 more of 19 from Tanglefoot and 15 resting in Chama.

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Great stuff, I have a picture just like your #21 except with 487 as the power. Maybe I'm jaded but this type
of activity is way more interesting than the daily passenger.

Ou

The #15 & #19 are probably some of my all time favorite diesels and we dont typically get to see much of them here so this is a treat. Thanks for focusing on them here and taking the time to post.

Ryan Barber
Stockton, CA

Wonder how many loads fo ballast the C&TS use a year?

I was lucky and caught that locomotive on an extra back in 2004.  The C&TS has their right of way in fine shape now! 

Dave

....there is a JBWX-2.  The clan is multiplying.  Nice to see pix of something different on the C&TS.

JBWX

GBW309 Wrote:
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> I was lucky and caught that locomotive on an extra
> back in 2004.  The C&TS has their right of way in
> fine shape now! 

Boy, is that the truth! I dare say both the C&TS and the D&SNG have their track in better shape now than the Rio Grande perhaps ever did, certainly the best shape since WWII.

Has the C&TS finished cutting back rock faces? I know it was a while ago, but when I was there in 2011 they were cutting back rock around Osier to reduce slide risk and had brought in a crusher to make their own ballast out of the spoil. The rear brakeman had told me this was a long-term project lasting several years and would provide much of the ballast they needed for a while to come.

On the day we rode the 19 was hiding out on the spur west of the tank in Osier.

NZ  

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The crusher at Martinez Point west of Osier has not been used for a number of years.  It is apparently cheaper to source crushed rock from private pits in Chama or Antonito.