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.
Remember that C&TSRR’s 4-6-0 No. 168 was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Rio Grande Engine No. 168 in 1979.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
The C&T is one fine railroad. My wife enjoyed the last train of the 2024 season and with sadness due to medical issue had to turn back our tickets for the freight train ride earlier this month. If you have not ridden the C&T you need to do so soon.