I made a visit with a couple of old friends to the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic RR “After The Fall Rush". Fall colors, crowds of passengers and photographers had faded. Part 2 opens with train #215 (westbound) with coal burning K27 #463 departing from Sublett, then swapping of engines at Osier and the departure of train #215, now with engine #489 (heading back) to Chama. We caught up with train #215 at Coxo crossing before heading home to Durango leaving enough time to take the old right-of-way before getting dark.
In Part 1 I catch the daily train #216 (eastbound) ready to depart and departing Chama on a beautiful Tuesday of the last week of regular service. We stopped to catch oil fired K36 #489 coming out of the narrows before heading over to Sublett to capture the arrival and departure of train #215 (westbound) with coal fired engine K27 #463. Engineer Jeff Stebbens switched sides with Travis after topping off water, inspecting engine and a few words with conductor Chase Bond.
Enjoy,
Bob