Loading livestock at Osier. The crew of a D&RGW stock train carefully aligns the doors of one of its cars with the loading chute at the stock pens in Osier, Colorado. A local rancher, sending his herd off to market, has positioned the animals inside the pens and will shortly go inside to begin driving them into the loading chutes and on board the train. The railroad complex at Osier has been a waystation on the D&RGW San Juan Extension since the 1880s. In addition to the cattle pens, the facilites included a freight depot, visible on the far right, a section crew facility, visible on the far left, and water and coaling facilities for steam locomotives. A covered turntable used to exist here, but in later years, trains were turned on a wye. Today, Osier is the lunch stop for the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad's tourist operations. Trains coming from Chama and Antonito meet here and passengers enjoy a buffet-style lunch at a modern dining facility, conveniently located out of view behind the photographer.
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.
