Pile driver OB demonstrates its capabilities in the yard at Antonito, Colo. Jim Wrinn photograph
Victorian Iron Horses pose together at Antonito, Colo., from left, Denver & Rio Grande 2-8-0 No. 425, Denver & Rio Grande 4-6-0 No. 168, Rio Grande Southern 4-6-0 No. 20, and Eureka & Palisades 4-4-0 Eureka. Jim Wrinn photograph
Nos. 168 and 425 doublehead out of Antonito, Colo., on a passenger special using the Cumbres & Toltec’s historic fleet of passenger cars, including a restored sleeper on the tail. Jim Wrinn photograph
4-4-0 Eureka and 2-6-0 Glenbrook doublehead on a mixed train for fans. The location is Ferguson’s trestle. Jim Wrinn photograph
Eureka and Glenbrook arrive at Big Horn, Colo., to turn on the wye there. The two 1875 locomotives are a throw back to the earliest days of this line. This was Eureka’s second visit to the C&TS, the last time being 1997, and Glenbrook’s first trip outside of Nevada since its construction. The locomotives were on the Baldwin shop floor together when built, but there’s no evidence of them crossing paths since … until now. Jim Wrinn photograph
Eureka and Glenbrook arrive at Big Horn, Colo., to turn on the wye there. The two 1875 locomotives are a throw back to the earliest days of this line. This was Eureka’s second visit to the C&TS, the last time being 1997, and Glenbrook’s first trip outside of Nevada since its construction. The locomotives were on the Baldwin shop floor together when built, but there’s no evidence of them crossing paths since … until now. Jim Wrinn photograph
Eureka and Glenbrook arrive at Big Horn, Colo., to turn on the wye there. The two 1875 locomotives are a throw back to the earliest days of this line. This was Eureka’s second visit to the C&TS, the last time being 1997, and Glenbrook’s first trip outside of Nevada since its construction. The locomotives were on the Baldwin shop floor together when built, but there’s no evidence of them crossing paths since … until now. Jim Wrinn photograph
In a Trains Magazine-sponsored photo charter, Rio Grande Southern No. 20 and C&TS 2-8-2 No. 463 portraying RGS No. 455 doublehead at Ferguson’s trestle. Conductor Lucas Maez directs the action from trackside. The two locomotives were replicating a train photographed by William Moedinger in the early 1940s. The images of that train appeared in the February 1942 issue of Trains. Jim Wrinn photograph
Wood-burning steam locomotive event in 2021
Wood-burning steam locomotive trains were the highlight of a September 2021 celebration of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad that is automatically a step back in time to the 1920s. With the inclusion of the older locomotives, the clock turned back further, to about 1900.
The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the anniversary celebration back a year, but in late August 2021, the biggest party in narrow gauge history came together with visiting locomotives Eureka and Glenbrook from Nevada, the Cumbres & Toltec’s own 19th-century 4-6-0 No. 168, and in-residence 2-8-0 No. 315, renumbered to an earlier time when it was No. 425.
Trains magazine arranged for the Colorado Railroad Museum’s newly restored 1899 Rio Grande Southern 4-6-0 No. 20 to join in as an after-party guest for two photo charters for the faithful. Trains also arranged another event, the first photo charter with the Durango & Silverton’s oil-burning K-37 2-8-2 No. 493, restored in 2020. D&S generously shared Southern Pacific 4-6-0 No. 18, visiting for the summer. Join us for a look at the Victorian Iron Horse Roundup, Rio Grande Southern No. 20 photo charters, and our special train, Extra 493 with SP 18, on the Durango & Silverton. This was two weeks of amazing narrow-gauge action unlike anything ever before it, and yet another affirmation of the amazing power of little trains in the Rockies.
