Steam over Cumbres Pass
On a sunny June morning in Antonito, Colorado, Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad’s 4-6-0 No. 168, built by Baldwin in 1883, is readied for another run over the mountains. Its relatively tall 46-inch drivers made it suitable for fast passenger service. Carl Swanson
The 64-mile-long Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is a National Historic Landmark. The narrow gauge railroad, jointly owned by the states of Colorado and New Mexico, bills itself as is the longest, the highest, and the most authentic steam railroad in North America.
The railroad crosses the Colorado-New Mexico state border 11 times on a route running between Antonito, Colo., and Chama, N.M. It’s a route highlighted by steep canyons, a pair of tunnels, and the 137-foot-high Cascade Trestle. Built as the former Denver & Rio Grande Western’s San Juan Extension, the railroad originally connected Denver to the mines, ranches, and logging operations in Northern New Mexico and Southwestern Colorado.
