Cumbres & Toltec Railroad (# 0090)

My time in the Alamosa area ended up being all about historic railroading. Here I’m in Antonito at the depot of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic narrow-gauge railroad – this is one of their switch engines.

The Cumbres & Toltec is a portion of the original Denver and Rio Grande Western; the southern Colorado D&RGW was built in the late 1800’s primarily to serve the mining industry. This particular section once linked San Luis, CO with Durango, CO, passing through a portion of northern New Mexico. With the decrease in mining in the 1960’s the line was close to being abandoned, but in 1970 the states of Colorado and New Mexico bought the line and began the operation of the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad.