Afternoon arrival on the High Line.D&RGW K-37 #493 rounds the rocky point at the north end of the famous High Line Horseshoe Curve at Milepost 469.5, in Rockwood Colorado, hauling a mixed train from Silverton, bound for Durango, CO. There's a permanent slow order in place here, so the train is making perhaps 5 mph all the way from the High Bridge at Tacoma, more than a mile back, until it leaves the High Line. Usually, the locomotives will be running with a clean stack here, but for the benefit of the 60 photographers on our Trains Magazine Charter this day, the crew is giving us a nice plume. This image was captured from the rocky hillside on the south side of the High Line Horseshoe. At this time of day, the actual camera position for this shot is all in shadow.
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad are all that remains of the legendary Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge system. Here you'll find some of my favorites from these two beautiful railways.