Man, where to begin with this post? Last October 2023 I spent almost two weeks with friend Bryan Burton and several others on two different steam train charters in Colorado and part of New Mexico. I’ve railfanned the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad before, but not on the end of the line between Antonito and Osier, Colorado. However, the first charter was on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad between Durango and Silverton, Colorado and has been on my bucket list of places to photograph for a very long time and it didn’t disappoint at all!
One of the many photo lines on our Durango Photo Charter Trip. Bryan is in the center of this shot, along with from left, fellow friends Jeffery Stoner and William Diehl. In spite of having around 70 people on this charter, everyone pretty much got along and shared spots as we usually did several photo runbys at each location.This shot was from my window seat on the first flight I’ve taken since before COVID-19 began in 2019. I tried to do a iPhone post daily during my trip and this is one such shot.
From this 10 day trip, only about 5 of the days were actually on the photo charters and the rest were days when we chased trains on our own! In case you’re not familiar on how these charters work, each one is limited to a certain number of people, Durango was about 70 and Cumbres was about 40 people. The way things worked was we all started the day on both charters before sunrise where we all boarded our trains and were taken to our first photo location for the sunrise. Everyone would get off the train and our leaders would establish photo lines where everyone stood and then the train would back up the line and steam past our location so we could photograph and video the train. Most locations they would do several run-bys so people could change spots between each run.
The days were long and the altitude was between 9,000 and just over 10,000 feet and the body of this 73 year old knew it! Fortunately my walking 10,ooo steps a day normally, helped greatly with the loading and unloading in the high altitude and thin air. I’ll admit that after a 10 -12 hour day, by the time we got back to our hotel at night, my feet were ready for a rest!!
Rather than talking about the day by day events I’ll just let some of my pictures from the trip do the talking for me and finish this trip post up by saying, this was one of the best charter trips I think I’ve ever been on and a big shout out to the Durango and Silverton for their excellent charter and to Dak Dillon Photography for organizing and hosting the Cumbres charter!
Denver and Rio Grande Western steam locomotive 476 leads a daily passenger train as they pull around Granite Point, just outside of Rockwood, Colorado, as they head to Silverton, CO, on October 15th, 2023.
Denver and Rio Grande Western double header steam locomotives 473 and 493 pull one of several daily passenger trains south through Deadwood Gulch, as they approach Silverton, Colorado on October 15th, 2023.
Denver and Rio Grande Western double header steam locomotives 473 and 493 pull south out of Durango with a daily passenger train, bound for Silverton, Colorado on October 15th, 2023.
Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge steam locomotive D&RGW 473 leads a K-28 100th Anniversary Special as they head through the curve at Goblin Fire, Milepost 480.5, between Durango and Silverton, Colorado, on October 16th, 2023, with mid-train helper D&RGW 476.
Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge steam locomotive D&RGW 473 leads a passenger train as it heads to Durango, Colorado from Goblin Fire (480.5) on October 17th, 2023.
Denver and Rio Grande Western steam charter with locomotives 476 and mid-train helper 473 pull a freight and passenger train through Horseshoe Curve during our two-day charter between Durango and Silverton, Colorado on October 17th, 2023. The lead locomotive had just finished a blowdown, resulting in a rainbow in the steam cloud.
A blowdown is a way to get minerals and other contaminants out of the system. Engines want to be on a bridge or trestle because the blow down itself can reach 30+ feet at an angle away from the firebox with live steam.
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad steam locomotive D&RGW 463 passes through the curve headed up to the Lava Water Tank at sunrise, between Antonito and Osier, Colorado, during a photo charter by Dak Dillon Photography on October 19th, 2023.
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad steam locomotive D&RGW 463 leads an early morning freight past the Lava water tank. as it heads west at sunrise, out of Antonito, Colorado, during a photo charter by Dak Dillon Photography on October 19th, 2023.
The glow of the rising sun illuminates Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad steam locomotive D&RGW 463 as it leads an early morning freight west approaching Lava water tank, out of Antonito, Colorado, during a photo charter by Dak Dillon Photography on October19th, 2023.
The glow of the morning sun illuminates the horizon as Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad steam locomotive D&RGW 463 makes its way through the Lava Curve with a freight train on the way to Osier, Colorado, during a photo charter by Dak Dillon Photography on October 19th, 2023.
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad steam locomotive D&RGW 463 makes its way across High Bridge with a freight train on the way to Osier, Colorado, during a photo charter by Dak Dillon Photography on October 19th, 2023.
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad steam locomotive D&RGW 168 passes over Ferguson’s Trestle at MP 285.87 at sunrise as it heads to Osier, Colorado, during a photo charter by Dak Dillon Photography on October 20th, 2023.
