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Rio Grande Narrow Gauge The Final Years Alamosa to Chama by Joseph P Hereford Jr
Rio Grande Narrow Gauge The Final Years Alamosa to Chama by Joseph P Hereford Jr & Ernest W Robart
Soft Cover
112 pages
Copyright ?
CONTENTS
Equipment
Traffic & Operations
Alamosa
Antonito
Chama
Cumbres
Osier
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this book is to illustrate the narrow-gauge freight trains operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad between Alamosa, Colorado, and Chama, New Mexico, during the years 1965 to 1968. The 92 miles of track connecting those two points were part of 293 miles of narrow- and dual-gauge railroad still then operated by the D&RGW - the remnant of what had once been an extensive narrow-gauge railroad "empire" in the Rocky Mountains. The Alamosa-Chama segment, Subdivision 12-A of the railroads Colorado Division, notable for its mountain scenery, included a dramatic crossing of 10,015-foot Cumbres Pass.
The four-year period ending in 1968 was a distinct, final episode in the common-carrier operation of the railroad over Cumbres. It was a time characterized by declining traffic, both in volume and variety, sporadic train operation (except in the winter, when trains were suspended), and, in 1968, by the abandonment of the line as a common carrier. That abandonment ended the last use of steam locomotives in general freight service by a major U. S. railroad.
The Rio Grande's 2,128-mile system, in 1965, included 29 miles of dual standard- and narrow-gauge track and 264 miles of 36-inch-gauge track. The dual-gauge track ran from Alamosa south to Antonito; the narrow-gauge extended west from Antonito to Durango, Colorado. From Durango, there were branches to Silverton, Colorado, and Farmington, New Mexico.
After abandoning its narrow-gauge freight operations, the Rio Grande removed the third rail from the track between Alamosa and Antonito, over which the company's successor, the Union Pacific, still nips standard-gauge freight trains. The Rio Grande for a time retained its narrow-gauge branch from Durango to Silverton, providing summer excursion service. The 64 miles of narrow-gauge track between Antonito and Chama, plus locomotives and other equipment, were sold to the states of Colorado and New Mexico. That line is currently operated for summer passenger excursions as the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. Track between Chama, Durango and Farmington was removed. In 1981, the Silverton branch was sold, becoming the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.
The Alamosa-to-Chama railroad was - and still is - one of contrast and extremes. Between Alamosa and Antonito, a distance of 29 miles, the track had three rails, accommodating both standard- and narrow-gauge trains. Except for two curves, one of six degrees and the other of four degrees, that portion of the railroad is straight. West of Antonito, curves of twenty degrees are common. The straight-line distance between Antonito and Chama is about thirty miles - a little longer than the straight-line distance between Alamosa and Antonito - though by rail the distance is 64 miles.
There are contrasts in elevation as well. Antonito is some 300 feet higher than Alamosa, but, except for short stretches running to 1.4%, the grade between the two points does not exceed 0.85%. West from Antonito as far as Cumbres, a distance by rail of fifty miles, westbound trains worked against a ruling grade of 1.42% for nearly the entire distance.
The summit of the railroad is Cumbres, Colorado, at an elevation of 10,015 feet. From Cumbres, the railroad drops down a grade of four percent to reach Chama, fourteen miles beyond. Chama is at an elevation of 7,863 feet - a little lower than Antonito.
The steep Chama-Cumbres grade was the single most significant factor in the operation of freight trains west of Antonito.
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