Rotary OY after dark. Rotary Snow Plow OY, her water car and Pusher Locomotive #487 sit at the Chama Coal Tipple after returning from the first day of operations. Lighting here was provided by Peter Lerro of Lerro Productions, who was also a paid participant in the event. It should be noted that the coal tipple, while nicely restored, is not used by the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. Locomotives are still coaled using a front-end loader. This proved to be a bit of a problem with OY, because her tender has covers over the coal bunker. Back in the day, these prevented deep snow from sliding into the fuel supply, but for this event, these covers also prevented the use of the front-end loader.....meaning the crew literally had to shovel coal into the tender by hand. Yeah, it took a while.
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad are all that remains of the legendary Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge system. Here you'll find some of my favorites from these two beautiful railways.
