During my career as a journalist for United Press International in the 1970s, one topic that I wrote about many times was the joint effort by the states of New Mexico and Colorado to acquire the old Denver and Rio Grande Western narrow-gauge railroad between Antonito, CO and Chama NM.
It was an almost impossible task that was pursued by a group of railroad nerds who sought to preserve one of the few steam-powered narrow gauge railroads left in the United States. There were daunting obstacles, including negotiating terms between two states with differing sets of laws, rights of way issues and turning what was essentially an antique railroad line into operational status after sitting idle for almost 30 years.
In 1970, the legislatures of both states agreed to pay a little more than $547,000 for 64 miles of deteriorating track, nine rusting steam locomotives built in the1920s and a collection of dilapidated freight cars and other railroad equipment. Luckily, it all worked out, and the train began operating again in 1971. I was fortunate to be one of the first people to ride the train when it started up again and have ridden it several times since.
I’m writing this because during our 50th anniversary trek to Durango earlier this month, we took our entire family on the Durango and Silverton narrow gauge railway, which was once part of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad that included what is now the Cumbres and Toltec section of the line.
I’ve ridden on that railroad several times as well and always marvel at how these railroads with three-foot wide tracks (as opposed to the standard 4-feet, 8-inch tracks) were built in incredibly adverse terrain and weather conditions during the late 1800s. The railroads were needed to reach the rich ore deposits and timber in the southern Rockies. The brakeman on the Durango & Silverton train told me that the difficult route between those towns took only nine months to construct.
“They couldn’t do that today, even with the advances in construction techniques and materials,” he said. “There weren’t that many rules and regulations, so they just did whatever was need to build the railroad.”
The photo below gives you an idea of how difficult it must have been for the railroads to cut through the narrow rock canyons of Colorado and New Mexico.
Both trains are worth the ride. Most of the Durango & Silverton train follows the narrow Animas River canyon, which can get a bit boring except for the section in the photo above. The Cumbres and Toltec passes through a wider variety of mountainous and high desert landscape, with broader views. The eastern end of that train can be a bit boring as well, however.
One of my best memories when I was writing about the acquisition of the Cumbres and Toltec was the opportunity to interview one of the original engineers on the then Denver and Rio Grande. His name was Herb Greathouse, and I interviewed him while taking one of the first trips on the newly acquired Chama to Antonito Route. A grizzled old veteran, he pronounced the original railroad’s name as the “Rye-O Grand” and talked about how difficult it was for the trains to go through Cumbres pass after a heavy snowfall. He also explained a little about the old Baldwin locomotives which, at the time they were built, were at the top of the steam engine technology.
“The steam literally exploded in the pistons, kind of like the explosion in your car,” he said. “They had to be that powerful to get up into those hills.”
I’m sure Herb is long gone, still at the throttle of a smoke-belching steam locomotive somewhere in the sky. But I’m glad, for his sake and for other railroad nerds like me, that these powerful little locomotives are still getting up into those hills and thrilling passengers just as they did more than 125 years ago.
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