Time travelers. Reliving a scene right out of the late 1880s, Denver & Rio Grande Locomotive #168 takes a vintage passenger train west through the Southern Colorado desert at Milepost 285.6, on an early morning run from Alamosa to Durango via Cumbres Pass. This kind of authentic time-travel is possible today through the efforts of the shop forces at the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and the associated volunteer group, the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. Between 2016 and 2021, the railroad returned this 1883-vintage Baldwin 10-wheeler to service after nearly 90 years as a static display in Colorado Springs, CO. Similarly, several historic coaches and a baggage express were resurrected from rotting hulks and rebuilt into a historic train that gives passengers a least a glimpse of what mass transit was like in the Victorian age.
This particular image was captured during an October 2024 photo shoot on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, organized by Lerro Photography.
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.
