Well since we are here for a couple of weeks we thought why not take the train. We have been on the Durango Silverton narrow gauge train a few times but never on this Cumbres & Toltc Scenic Railroad. Boy what we were missing.
Here is my facebook post... We just had the best day ever. An all day trip on the Cumbres & Toltec Secnic Railroad that runs from Antonito, CO to Chama, NM. Or a second train runs the other way if you prefer. The longest (62 miles) and highest (10,015ft) narrow gauge railroad in the USA. Built in 1880. They even provide a full home cooked meal at the mid point at Osier, CO at 9,637ft where the two trains meet up to pass and feed the passengers. This should be on your bucket list for sure. Way more impressive than the Durango Silverton train. Check out the web site http://cumbrestoltec.com/

This doesn't go up valleys it goes up and over and around. 

And to think they started to build this in 1880 and was complete in December of the same year.

Rock Tunnel 

Lunch stop. A full home cooked meal cooked on site. Turkey or Meat loaf dinner included in the ticket price. It was VERY good. Both trains stop here so they can pass with each going opposite directions. No power lines, a generator runs this place. 



Mud Tunnel, which is supported by wood beams.

Route Map 

Departing Antonito, Colorado
The excitement begins the moment the train leaves the station in Antonito, Colorado. Leaving the vast, open San Luis Valley, the imposing peaks of the Rocky Mountains seem to stretch forever. The train quickly covers the flat ground and reaches a series of hills. It crosses Ferguson’s Trestle, named for a man who was hung there, then climbs to a lava mesa, a remnant of the mountains’ volcanic past. From here, the route winds around wide curves, going up into the mountains. White-barked, slender aspen trees, which turn yellow-gold in fall, form a light, whispery forest. Sublette, New Mexico, an abandoned railroad town, still provides water for the steam locomotives. Wildlife abounds throughout the area, with bears, elk, and deer roaming the forests and hawks and eagles patrolling the sky. Shortly after passing Sublette, the train makes another crossing between Colorado and New Mexico state lines. (There are 11 throughout the train route.)rocktunnel

One of the most spectacular parts of the trip starts as the train inches its way along the rim of 800-foot-deep Toltec Gorge. The walls of the gorge are steep and rocky and at times the train seems almost pressed in by rock on both sides. First comes Mud Tunnel, which is supported by wood beams. Around Phantom Curve, named for a spire of rock that casts a ghostly shadow, then through Rock Tunnel is a narrow ledge where the dizzying view is straight down to the rushing Rio de los Pinos. The train roughly follows this river along much of its route. Leaving the gorge, the locomotive picks up speed, for it is only about 10 minutes away from the lunch stop at the old townsite of Osier, Colorado.

Past Osier, the train first crosses 137-foot-tall Cascade Creek Trestle, the highest on the line. Trees are sparse here and the open mountain scenery is magnificent. Around Tanglefoot Curve, a loop so tight that the train seems almost folded in half, the locomotive steams toward Cumbres Pass. At 10,015 feet elevation, it is the highest pass reached by rail in the United States. There are tall conifers and meadows that bloom with wildflowers in spring and summer. At the summit is an old section house, one of many of the railroad’s historic buildings. As the steep descent begins, sweeping views of the Chama Valley unfold. The lower elevations are dominated by aspen trees and grassy hills. Just past the area that was once the historic Lobato sheep ranch, over the Lobato Trestle spanning Wolf Creek, the end of the trip, Chama, New Mexico is just ahead.

Now back in the campground held up in to let the weekenders have their fun for the 4th. 
Then on Monday heading up to Cabelas in Sydney, NE to their RV park to shop till we drop and then on to IOWA.
Iowa you say... why... It's hot amd muggy there isn't it?  Well Ya... but we will be hooked up at Terry's nephews place so we can visit Terry's parents and help with the nephews remolding of his just bought older farmstead house. There will be time later to head more westerly.

We lucked out taking the train on Tuesday, a perfect day as since the weather has turned to rain. Let it be know a lot of unhappy campers to be found around here. But we are snug in our 5th wheel with generator power, HD DirecTV, and Hughes satellite internet roughing it!
 
 
 

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