Description
Steam Over Cumbres is a 100-page special issue from Trains magazine highlighting the 50th anniversary of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. This premium restoration railroad crosses the border of Colorado and New Mexico 11 times climbing to the top of 10,015-foot Cumbres Pass, the highest point reached by any steam railroad in North America. Step back 50 years and learn more about this amazing preservation effort to save Rio Grande narrow gauge steam in the Rockies.
Articles include:
- Timeline of Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad: The history of the railroad since its purchase from Colorado and New Mexico in 1970.
- Saving the Railroad: The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad began hauling tourists as a time capsule experience.
- Rotary Snowplows Run Again: Examine the dramatic railroad snow removal equipment used on the tracks of Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad.
- The Future of Cumbres & Toltec Railroad: Restoration of an 1883 locomotive, No. 168.
- And more!
Pages: 100
Steam Over Cumbres is now available in a convenient digital format so you can enjoy your favorite hobby on your
PC, Mac, laptop, iPad, iPhone and select Android devices version 2.2 or higher. Powered by Zinio™, digital editions are
compatible with PC, Macintosh®, Android™ via Google Play™ app, iOS™ via App StoreSM, and Win8 devices.
Reviews
Who would have thought back in 1968 when the last revenue freight train ran over the Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge tracks, that the historic, irreplaceable line between Antonito, Colorado and Chama, New Mexico would ever survive its likely fate? After all, there were only 34 trains in total run during 1967 over the D&RGW route between Alamosa and Durango.
But lo and behold, sometimes miracles do happen, and the tenacious Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, which is owned by the states of Colorado and New Mexico, has defied abandonment and developed into a national treasure. In 2020 it was voted “USA Today's Best Scenic Train Ride.” The railroad traverses 64 miles between Chama, New Mexico and Antonito, Colorado, crossing the borders of Colorado and New Mexico 11 times as it chugs its way up and over 10,015′ high Cumbres Pass. It was awarded a National Historic Landmark Designation in 2012.
This 98-page booklet covers the railroad’s sad finale in 1968 in verbiage and photos, and its revival in July of 1970 when the Rio Grande Railroad deeded 64 miles of trackage, nine locomotives and 130 pieces of rolling stock to the two Western States. How the railroad got to where it’s at today is the story of the rest of this publication. The difficulties the railroad’s volunteers face every year, the challenges of mounting Cumbres Pass, looking ahead to the next five decades, fighting snow in the mountains, significant C&TS events through the years, restoration of C&TS locomotives, cars and structures, and finally a photo gallery of glory and grandeur of the C&TS comprise this absorbing booklet.
While everyone should get the chance to discover the C&TS themselves personally, this captivating publication brings the railroad right to your doorstep.
—Don Heimburger, Heimburger House Publishing Co.