I love the stunning contrast between the high plains and the gorge. It never ceases to amaze me that two such different geological features can be in such close proximity. Truly a beautiful region of the country.
Colorado is home a good number of amazing railroad rides, it's hard to pick out a favorite because they are all so different, but this has to be a strong contender, the Toltec Gorge is awesome.
I might have agreed with you until I visited Colorado, both places are very different in character, like comparing apples with pears. I feel very lucky to have visited two such amazing places whilst living in the UK with it's really successful preservation scene. Who in the 1960's would have guessed there would be so many places in the world where the sights and sounds of working steam could still be enjoyed in 2018? it's a win, win, win situation.
Hi Tim , thank so much for the lovely train ride you took us on, you have shown me places I could never hope to go now. This planet of ours never fails to amaze me the contrasts of Scenery which are really fantastic. Best regards from Rupert in Kent.
Hi, I love travel, there is always something new round the next corner. Colorado is a beautiful place and I am glad you enjoyed this wonderful train ride. I'm not that far away. Tim in West Sussex.
Wow-- a fantastic 2 Pt series and trip. Love it. I wish I was able to go on this trip I would really enjoy it. Since I can't thank you very much for sharing this awesome trip with us. The scenery was beautiful. Looking forward to your next scenic trip like this one. Safe travels ahead. God bless.
Hi, as always, it was a pleasure to take you on this outstanding trip. I'll start packing my cameras and backpack tomorrow ready to go travelling in mainland Europe for couple of weeks chasing trains. I won't be able to post any videos whilst I'm away from my computer, but I'm sure the rest of the family will enjoy having the house to themselves. If all goes well I hope to capture some more interesting footage. Take care. Tim.
A great video, Tim. Thank you for sharing it with us all. One note about Antonito: The BNSF branch line in the San Luis Valley comes past the Cumbres and Toltec terminal and there is a standard gauge spur that reaches down on the northwest side of the balloon loop. If a piece of narrow gauge equipment is acquired elsewhere in Colorado or another state, they have the option of having it delivered to Antonito by rail and moved with a crane from the standard gauge flatcar to their own track.
Hi, I really appreciate this extra snippet of information. I now realize there is a lot more to Colorado's railways than I saw on my visit. I purchased several books to read on my return to the UK. Curiosity aroused by comments and reading the books will surely temp me to return for a second visit on day.
Hi Neil, almost every video I upload is flagged as not suitable for most advertisers, costing me most the revenue earned in the first few days, are you having any problems?
I do my videos as a hobby so I'm not worried about not earning any revenue from them. But I can't see why your videos would be deemed by RU-vid as unsuitable for most advertisers. It's not like you're espousing extreme right-wing ideology, you don't use copyright-protected music, the music you do use is created specifically for the purpose of inclusion in publicly-viewed videos and as such, is copyright-free, I'm afraid you've been caught up in RU-vid's arbitrary demonetisation net, along with others who's videos would earn a 'G' or 'PG' rating if shown on TV or in cinemas. I hope, for your sake, this gets sorted but RU-vid have been copping some well-deserved flak over this for the past year or more. You seek to show classic steam locos in their natural working environment, what advertiser could be offended by that?
My videos are always cleared when I appeal, but I'd rather be making videos than checking them for problems. I spend around £4 to every £1 earned from RU-vid in making these videos, as you can see I don't do it for money, like you its a hobby, having said that money earned from RU-vid helps towards the cost of travelling. I am careful to abide by all RU-vid's guide lines and rules, but that is not enough to stop the orange dollar signs appearing next to more than half the videos I upload. I realize RU-vid has to keep advertisers happy and I hope they get things sorted out soon.
Hello Tim, I found an article at Washington Post date 1985 about visiting 'Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad'. Before taking trip this was one of recommended tips: "Read the history of the area and learn about geography in advance, much of the history of the Western Movement and Spanish raids was written within a few hundred miles of the C & TS." Nowadays people are clicking their smart phones or tablets (QR codes, if possible!), glancing at displayed information and immediately forgetting it. What did these people experience except they later know 'great'. Heinz
Visiting the area made me realize just how difficult life must have been for the early settlers, especially the mineral prospectors. The geography is very interesting, it is a pity I wasn't able to record every thing the commentator said, because he gave a lot of information about the shaping of the landscape. Much of the area was quite barren, coupled with the cold winters it is not the sort of place to raise cattle. Many towns and places had Spanish names, the railway crosses the Colorado, New Mexico border many times between Chama and Antonito. The advice given in the Washington Post is good and it is as relevant today as it was then. Tim.
The area is somewhat of a high desert, with snow in winter and occasional thunderstorms during the summer monsoon season. Most of it is very rocky, so rock slides do happen. Every spring there is some clearing needed along the line. Since it is a joint property between the states of Colorado and New Mexico and is administered by the State Parks of both states, much of the maintenance of roadbed and buildings is paid for by the states. The restoration of the cars and locomotives and their maintenance and operation is done by a volunteer organization that collects donations for major projects like restoration of one of the locomotives.
Just too bad, in many ways, that builders couldn't get these boilers to completely burn the fuel. (Hint: secondary air inlets rqd.) Would've made for much better fuel mileage too. Exhaust smoke is waste (and harmful). Amazing vistas in the mountains BTW.
These engines can't be too bad, ten were built in 1925 of which 9 survive to this day. I can't think of another locomotive class with such a remarkable survival rate - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Grande_class_K-36 . These engines may not be perfect, but they handle relatively heavy trains on steeply graded lines in a very competent manner. The views from the train are wonderful and when I saw the amount of work required to keep the line open, I couldn't help wondering how it had managed to survive.
You miss my point. Nothing to do with survival. Rather with being point-sources of pollution on bituminous. Around their build date, Lima was adding on "overfire air jets" to fireboxes, for secondary combustion. Brit Rail suggested leaving firehole doors cracked. Of course, today they could just feed it smaller bites and hope. Less lifting of safeties that way.
great scenery..that rocky canyon is amazing..almost impossible to walk anywhere..the snatches of that guy talking are annoying as you never know what he is on about,....
It is a bit annoying....but if you ever have the opportunity to take this trip, please, stay in the open gondola car and you will come away with more information than you ever dreamed of...the gentlemen doing the commentary are experts and further, do not resent being asked questions.
