Steam & Excursion > Sick of heat, so steam and snow it is

With fires raging all over and temperatures at least in the 90s for the better part of the last couple months, I feel this may be a good time to look back to six months ago when the C&TS ran rotary OY up the 4% grade of Cumbres Pass. There were many good photos (and a couple videos) posted immediately following the event, then things got hectic with the pandemic, so I figured I'd wait to post any photos. Then Roger posted the videos from the trip, and I figured I'd wait a little bit more! Haha

This was my first time seeing any rotary run, so I was very much looking forward to the event. The snowfall prior to the weekend was extremely disappointing, until it actually started. As it turns out, the little bit of snow we had was just enough to get some good plumes, yet was light enough to allow the railroad to get all the way to the state line as planned on Saturday, February 29th.

Photo 1:
We're hitting our first decent-sized drifts of the day as the consist exits the Narrows. Shortly in front of the them the tracks curve to the left, and we were witness to quite the show when the sanders on 487 were stuck. Video here: https://www.facebook.com/DubkirMedia/videos/757075548157312/

Photo 2:
The consist is leaning into Ess Curve in nice afternoon lighting. This was my favorite shot of day 1.

Photo 3:
This was our last shot of day 1, at the state line curves. Due to the topography, the snow here had some decent drifts. It was a good high point to end the day.

We shot the train 14 times on day 1, way more than I was expecting! Day 2 was a lot more quality than quantity.
~wko

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Day 2, March 1, was shaping up to be a day in which we clearly weren't going to see OY as much. The train was to start plowing at the state line, and we'd intercept it the first time at Perry's Pond near Coxo. The railroad is hidden through pretty much this entire stretch. Then, after Coxo, the railroad is hidden again until up near Windy Point. We were shaping up for only a few runbys.

When leading up to this whole thing, there was one selfish thing I had wanted to see during it all: snow falling. I figured there was no way if snow was falling that they'd send 150 paying ticket holders out in the snow. The forecast for March 1 actually showed snow arriving into Chama in the late evening, but everything would be wrapped up by then. However, while the tenders were all being filled with water, that storm system moved in early! I got my wish, and was psyched about it!

Photo 4:
In a winter wonderland, OY plows through roughly 3-4 feet of snow. This was my absolute favorite runby of the trip, and produced both good photos and great video, nearly 9 minutes worth. This happened to be the heaviest snow of the day. I'm very thankful!

Photo 5:
The snow has lessened as the train is about to crest the summit at Cumbres. After cresting the summit, all 3 tenders would fill with water again.

Photo 6:
Our "grand finale" of the trip, where they had to plow through roughly 7-8 feet of heavy snow. There was hope they could make Tanglefoot curve, but ice on the flangeways of the highway halted movement, and put an end to the trip.

Overall, I thought the trip was a remarkable success. It was nice seeing some familiar faces, meeting some new ones, and enjoying this rare piece of equipment. President John Bush said that due to the logistics in planning this event, this may be the last time an event like this ever happens on the 4%. I have absolutely no regrets about going, especially with everything that has happened in the world the last 6 months!

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed!
~wko

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Great work!  Thanks for posting these, wko.

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ

Had a chance to go and had to pass it up.  Thank you for sharing!

Outstanding!

Very NICE series!

Larry

Great pics!!