Steam & Excursion > Tiempo de Chama/Alamosa (veinticinco)

A few shots from our trip home to California.  Usually we drive the narrow gauge RoW over Marshall Pass to get home, but this series of photos doesn't have anything from up there, so either we just drove it w/o many stops or went another way- I can't remember.

Photo 1.  The water tank at Sargents- looking a bit rough!
Photo 2.  The DRGW passenger depot in Gunnison, also in pretty rough shape.  I think a construction outfit was occupying it.  Be gentle, guys!
Photo 3.  The Bumble Bee, also in Gunnison.  It had been cleaned & better cared for than when we'd last seen her- but somehow still sad, like a tiger in a zoo.
Photo 4.  The 278 and small train on display near Cimarron.  This was in 2009.  About a year later the 278 and train were pulled off for restoration.  Google Earth shows the bridge as still being empty. (anyone have an update on that?) 
SR

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Dude, what kind of gear are you packing?  Those shots are fantastic!  And a nice photo essay on the narrow guage.  Thanks for posting.

Thanks
Simple stuff, really: A Canon 30D with a 10-22mm and a 28-135mm.  These are nearly outdated now.  And I tweek things a little in Adobe Lightroom- I'm HUGE into cropping.  Next Summer, when I retire, Amtrak will kick back some un-used vacation pay that I'll use to bump my tech up a bit.
SR

Must have been interesting getting the 278 and those two cars off the trestle.   Where are they being restored?   I've been back there a couple of times and thought that area was super neat.  Driving back to the dam  on the old route of the NG and imagining those little guys echoing in that canyon must have sounded.

Mammoth Locomotive Works in Palisade CO is doing the work on behalf of the NPS. I think they're doing the whole train? There are several other cars in Cimarron, but I don't know if they're included in this effort.
From what little I've read, it should be a first class job!
SR

Yeah, we did drive over Marshall Pass. The weather was just so rotten at that point that we opted to keep moving as the sideways rain was about to turn into sideways snow.

That afternoon Earl sent a text and photo of SLRG 18 and its train sitting in blizzard conditions at Fir. The message was something to the effect of "Gee, look at the fun you missed today!" (I knew we should've hung around another day...). By the time we rolled into Montrose that evening, it was clear sailing.

S_W

Ah. Okay, yeah, I remember Earl telling us about the snow. Damn- sure would have been great to photograph THAT!
sigh....
SR