With the 488 on the point and 487 helping mid-train, a long westbound train, probably at the limit of 70 cars, is strung out along the hillside above Los Pinos River west of Rock Tunnel. The rear of the train may still be in the tunnel. Gordon Chappell and I walked east from Osier hoping to beat the train to Rock Tunnel, and we were probably lucky we didn't make it and got this kind of view of the train instead. The sun was rapidly dropping and by the time we got back to Osier it was dark.
The DRGW narrow gauge was the last major steam operation in the U.S. The climb over 10,000 foot Cumbres pass was spectacular, with two engines handling 70 car trains. Hopefully these images convey some of the drama of mountain steam railroading.
