Antonito Sunset. After completing a day-long round trip to Osier with fans and photographers on board, Carson & Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Co. #1 "Glenbrook" and her running mate, Eureka & Palisade #4 "Eureka" retire to the yard in Antonito, Colorado, under an appropriately glorious sunset. The two 1875-vintage Baldwin wood-burners powered excursions on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad in August of 2021, during a week-long Victorian Iron Horse Roundup event, which featured 5 operational narrow gauge locomotives that were all built before 1900.
Although these two engines look very much alike, and there is strong evidence that they were both on the Baldwin erecting floor at the same time, there are actually some differences between the two that affect the performance. The Glenbrook is a 2-6-0 "Mogul" type that was built to haul log trains in Western Nevada, whereas the Eureka is a 4-4-0 "American" type, that mainly handled passenger and mixed trains in the deserts of Central Nevada. As might be expected, the freight hog Glenbrook is slightly more powerful than Eureka, being slightly heavier and having slightly smaller drivers and slightly larger cylinders. The tractive effort numbers are something like 6,000 lbs. for Eureka, and 7,300 lbs. for Glenbrook. During the Victorian Iron Horse event, the two spent most of their time working together, as neither one can pull many cars by itself. By combining forces, the two were able to pull 4-5 cars on the substantial grades of the C&TS. And yes, the two engines were indeed coupled using a link-and-pin drawbar and that was the first time I'd ever seen that done on an FRA railroad. The FRA was apparently OK with the coupling arrangement, just as long as the actual coupling process was done under a Blue Flag, with the primary concern being the safety of the personnel making the connection.
Landscape photography is difficult due to the challenge of combining good light and good scenery. Good railroad photography enters another level of complexity since it requires the first two while there is a train in view.
A continuously growing album of photos that IMHO reveal the awesome and seldom-seen beauty of the railroad world from the dimming of day to dawn's early light! From dusk to dawn, trains roll on! (I'm still finding gems of sunset-to-sunrise surprises!)