A mighty push. With 36,000 lbs of tractive effort, helper engine DRGW #489 provides a steady, hard push on this 17-car Cumbres Turn, as it claws its way up the 4% grade just above Dalton Crossing. Folks not familiar with operations on this line might wonder why they didn't just put all the power up front and double-head in a more conventional manner. On some of the D&RGW's other lines, that would be SOP, but on this stretch, the high bridge over Wolf Creek at Lobato is not rated to hold more than one locomotive at a time. Double-heading would require the train to stop before the bridge, run the helper across, then run the train across, stop again, and re-couple the helper. The train would then have to hard-start on the 4% grade. Rather than deal with all of that, the D&RGW typically put the helper either at mid-train, or on the tail end as a pusher. Sometimes, with large cuts of cars, they did both.
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.
