Steam & Excursion > Chama du Jour #18

For the record: Photo 2 is my personal fave of all my Narrow Gauge photography. 
Also, it records what was a sublime afternoon/ evening...
We (S_W and I) had been shooting the approaching freight from the ridge above the Pinos Valley (My "Long Shots" I posted the other day).   A couple of MoW guys came along in a motor car and we hitched a ride up to just shy of Cumbres- they booted us off before the highway crossing because they didn't what to be seen with unauthorized passengers.  By the time the train marched up around Tanglefoot a light rain had begun and Photos 1&2 were taken.  The train was handled in traditional DGRW fashion:  At Cumbres the mid-train helper was set out (Earl on the '63) to run ahead down the Hill, light.  The 497 backed into the rear section of the train, made the joint, and pulled forward to take water.  The Brits, who had charted the train and were riding, piled off there at Cumbres.   Stevo & I figured we were on a roll, so we asked the conductor (I forget who it was) if we could get a lift into Chama?   By now it had set to lightning, thunder, and snow.  He glanced up at the sky and said, "Sure, climb on".  Photo 3 is the view out the caboose door as we rounded Windy Point and the weather and darkness set in.
Not only the train operation, but the whole experience (the MoW and caboose ride) were right out of the 1940's.
Sublime.
SR 
 

---

---

---

Man, what a cool trip.

It's hard to go wrong up there. Even a bad day is far better than a good day anywhere else. But, you had a really GOOD day... and got some killer photos in the process. Thanks for sharing them.

Jason Rose
Spring, TX
Rio Grande Explorations

These are just great.  I haven't been out there in twenty years and now I have the bug..............what this a photo charter or other special event?

 

This was in 1979 and we just kinda got lucky. A group of British fans (spotters?) had chartered a series of photo freights. This was their own deal, so it wasn't announced or offered publicly.
S_W and I seized the moment
SR

Just a couple comments and really a back handed way of saying that those are damn fine shots and that
charter looks "real". The Friends do an excellent job of rebuilding equipment and when finished it looks new,
the Rio Grande narrow gauge after the mid-sixties looked anything but new. The charter shows a much more
Rio Grande like train. The C&TS MOW guys have done an excellent job of recreating a three foot gauge UP
mainline, the Rio Grande in narrow gauge days looked like the posted shots. It's tough anymore to do a
recreation of the sixties operations because things don't look like that anymore. One other comment and
you swerved into it when you mentioned you happened upon the charter, I've shot way more interesting
stuff on the C&TS by almost accident ie ballast trains, non-revenue freight moves.

Out

Thanks! 
I agree, the "tired" look of things positively screams ambiance & authenticity.  And, yes, it's a place where you'd better stay on your toes- you simply can't plan the best moments here. 
The only "problem" with these, and I'm being a bit harsh, is the combination of the K-37 and 27.  These classes probably didn't team up very often.  But I guess you can always squint a little and pretend the 'hen is simply working back to Durango after some shop time in Alamosa, right?
Right.
SR

Yep, have to second what SR (Boiling Man) said. That this was easily the best trip we ever made to Chama!

To add a bit more background - Four of us had set up at Pinos tank to wait for the train. SR and I wanted to try a different angle, so we started hiking west. Along came the motorcar and off we went - not knowing if the others knew we were gone. So, fast (okay, slow) forward to Cumbres. The train had arrived, we'd gotten our shots, the Brits had offloaded and were on road back to Chama. 

That left the train and crew, the two of us, an empty parking lot and a black wall of really nasty looking clouds moving in from the south. We had no idea where are traveling companions were (in fairness, they were probably thinking the same thing). Not wanting to walk the 15 miles back to Chama, I saw Conductor Ray Martinez walking towards the caboose and I asked if we might ride down the hill with them. He was agreeable, so we hopped on and stowed our grips. A few moments later the head end whistled off and we started to roll west. Within seconds the storm hit with fierce winds and pounding rain. We stepped out onto the rear platform to enjoy the view as we rounded Windy Point.

KABOOM! Everything lit up pink as lightning flashed through what was now snow! This was unbelievable, it just seemed to get better and better as the day went on. As the caboose crew was sitting below, we opted to ride in the cupola as the train continued west. It was dark when we finally spotted our friends waiting at the second highway crossing. They were surprised, to say the least, to see us on-board. Later that evening, over dinner and cold beers we explained to them that our ride down the hill was nothing more than a matter of necessity...

S_W

BoilingMan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This was in 1979 and we just kinda got lucky. A
> group of British fans (spotters?) had chartered a
> series of photo freights. This was their own deal,
> so it wasn't announced or offered publicly.
> S_W and I seized the moment
> SR

I think it was 1997 that this train was run....

you two should been arrested for Trespassing With Terrorist Intentions...

Well, you certainly had your chance to turn us over to "proper authorities".
SR

- or maybe this was the time you set Steve out, (having learned his propensity to oil burners?

 

---