ANTONITO - The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, co-owned by the states of Colorado and New Mexico has begun a new season with plenty of passengers enjoying the trips between Antonito and Chama, located in northern New Mexico, 64 miles away by rail.

It's the 40th year for the rail entity.

Friday, June 4, media and travel industry employees experienced a "FAM Trip," a familiarization tour given by the Cumbres & Toltec, to remind some and inform others who had never taken the rail trips before.

To someone relatively new to southern Colorado, seeing the immediate miles at the beginning and end of the 37-mile round trip to the midpoint of Osier and back was a very clear reminder of why irrigation is so important in the San Luis Valley. The initial miles are not fertilized, water-supplied farmland, and the dry appearance and desert-like vegetation made an impression of what large areas near Antonito could look like if not irrigated.

Once the first 10 miles or so were passed, a climb in altitude to more than 9,000 feet at the lunch stop at the large, cafeteria-style train stop in Osier brought ponderosa trees and pines, with the Los Pinos River running in a gorge at least 600 feet below the tracks.

Among the highlights of the excursion besides the scenery and the company, was a water stop for the train at Sublette.

There, a shack for rail workers and supplies built in the 1880s stands gleaming a if it were built this spring. A docent explained that it was likely built by a fresh immigrant to the U.S. from Europe at the time, because the methods of securing the corners of the structure, from bottom to roof have made the building rock-solid. The Cumbres & Toltec helper explained that the cornering methods were not well-known American craftsmanship.

If one takes only a half-length trip to Osier from Antonito, or a whole trip from Chama ending in the evening, a bus is available to go back to Chama and leaves the Cumbres & Toltec station at the south end of Antonito around 10 minutes after the train arrives back from Osier.





For the complete article see the 06-09-2010 issue.