In October of 2020, I made a visit to the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, located along the New Mexico/Colorado state line. Traversing some of the most rugged mountain railroad terrain in North America, the Cumbres and Toltec has always been on the bucket list for seeing in person. Being the first week of October, and with the presence of fall colors in their peak, it was a perfect opportunity to see this historic steam railroad in action.
After chasing the passenger train up the pass, I heard rumblings there was a "training" freight train about to head up towards Cumbres, used for training some new crew members. Turned out the talk of the town was true, and out came the freight extra. CTS 487, a 1925 built K-36 Mikado class locomotive, was in charge of the freight extra. The train ran up the pass, then using the wye at Cumbres, Colorado in some beautiful golden hour light. Definitely awesome to see a freight train, and surely didn't expect this surprise!
Thanks for watching! | Video and Content by MichaelLovesTrains 2022