The daily passenger train from Alamosa to La Veta is powered by San Luis & Rio Grande 2-6-0 No. 1744 and is approaching the summit of La Veta Pass of Fir, Colorado, on September 21, 2007. The summit of Fir at 9,242 feet, and just to the west side of the pass is this horseshoe curve the train is about to negotiate, with the upper portion of the big, elevation-gaining curve in the foreground. The out-of-service track in the middle of the curve is a steep cutoff joining the two levels creating a balloon loop that Rio Grande once used to turn steam locomotive helpers and snowplows in winter.
