May 31 – June 26, 2019
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad
While looking for day trips from Angel Fire, we discovered the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. We really didn’t know anything about about this narrow gauge steam engine train so we did some investigation. The favorable reviews on Google and Trip Advisor convinced us to take a ride. The train travels 64 miles between Chama, NM and Antonito, CO., crossing the New Mexico – Colorado border 11 times. It is the longest and highest of the narrow gauge railroads.
When purchasing tickets online, we had to decide among a number of trip options depending on where we wanted to start and how much of the route we wanted to do. We finally decided to drive to Antonito (since it was the closer of the two endpoints), ride the motor coach to Chama, and do the entire train ride back to Antonito. We based our starting point for the train on some Trip Advisor comments that indicated the ride up from Chama was more dramatic and often required two steam engines.
The drive to Antonito was about 1 hour 45 minutes. Since we needed to catch the bus at 8:30 a.m. we had to leave Angel Fire by 6:15 a.m. (That’s a bit early for someone that doesn’t do mornings!) The bus ride from Antonito to Chama (along Colorado’s Los Caminos Antiguos Scenic Byway) took another hour but gave us a good perspective of the landscape we would travel via train. Once in Chama, we briefly visited the station before boarding our 10 a.m. train.
Our reservation was for the parlor car, one of three available options – premium parlor car, deluxe tourist car, and classic coach car. The parlor car offered comfortable lounge type seating with panoramic windows (which you could open for unobstructed views and fresh air), food and beverage service, and other amenities.
Upon boarding, we found a fresh fruit plate, our train tickets, a souvenir drink cup and tote bag already at our seats. The attendant immediately took our beverage order, and we settled in for the ride. The parlor car was the last car of the train which provided ready access to a rear viewing platform and views of the steam engine as we rounded the curves. Unfortunately this train only had a single engine.
Right on time, the train pulled out of Chama and started the 4% climb into the mountains. We passed through an area of rolling meadows that was once the Lobato sheep ranch. From the bus we had seen a mounted sheepherder with his sheep dogs tending a large herd of sheep in this area but we couldn’t get a photo from the train.
Before long we crossed the Lobato Trestle over Wolf Creek and passed the Los Pinos water tank.
Climbing ever higher, we eventually reach Cumbres Pass (10,015 feet), the highest mountain pass reached by rail in the United States. The Cumbres section house at the pass is one of the original buildings along the route.
Soon after Cumbres Pass we entered Tanglefoot Curve, a tight hairpin curve. Wheeee!
Next we crossed Cascade Creek Trestle, at 137 feet it’s the highest on the line, and then pulled into Osier, Colorado the midway point for our lunch stop.
The effort required to provide cooked from scratch lunches for up to 600 folks is quite remarkable. Osier is an old railroad settlement with a depot, bunk house, a coaling platform, a water tower, and railroad sidings. Once home to several hundred residents, it is now uninhabited. Cooks, servers, and other personnel arrive by bus early in the morning. All food items must also arrive by bus or train. Those responsible for roasting the turkeys take shifts through the night to ensure that all is ready when the hungry guests arrive. A complete turkey dinner with cornbread stuffing, potatoes and gravy is just one meal option. You can also choose homemade meatloaf with potatoes and gravy, or soup and salad bar. No matter what you choose, it’s all you can eat, but be sure to save room for homemade desserts. We both had the turkey and it was delicious. Kudos to the workers that make this happen in a train depot at an elevation of 9626 feet.
After lunch we once again boarded the parlor car for the journey from Osier to Antonito. Shortly after leaving Osier, the route started following Toltec Gorge, a rocky gorge that plunges 800 feet. The tracks followed a narrow ledge where the view was straight down to the River de los Pinos and the rocky walls seemed to press in on us. Next we came to two long tunnels – Rock Tunnel and Mud Tunnel – and then the abandoned section town of Sublette.
As we continued our descent, the terrain softened into hills and then into broad plains. At one point we caught a glimpse of elk crossing a stream.
By the way, the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad is actually a movie star. It has been used in more than 20 documentaries, mini-series, and films.
From classics such as the 1975 Bite the Bullet and Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade in 1989, to the Oscar-nominated Wyatt Earp in the mid 1990’s and the recent PBS American Experience: Billy the Kid, the C&TSRR has shared the screen with many great actors. One of the recent projects that utilized our railroad was the 2014 film A Million Ways to Die in the West, starring Seth McFarland, Liam Neeson, and Charlize Theron. And in 2018, Hostiles, starring Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike, features the C&TSRR trains and our Chama Depot in the last four minutes of the acclaimed film. — combrestoltec.com
We passed the location where Indiana Jones was able to swing from one spot on the roof of the train to another spot. (The small car that you can barely see behind us is the chase car responsible for watching for and extinguishing any potential fires caused by sparks from the coal fire.)
We pulled into the Antonito station about 4:30 in the afternoon. After being delayed due to a traffic accident on our route home, we finally returned to Angel Fire about 7:30 p.m.
Although it was a long and tiring day, we thoroughly enjoyed the experience, especially the Chama to Osier section. Some reviewers on Trip Advisor commented that they thought this train ride was superior to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Although the scenery on this route was very dramatic and different than what we experienced on the Durango to Silverton route, we give D&S first place. Our advice is, if possible, ride both and judge for yourself. All aboard!!
