Big Horn Wye. Here's an angle you don't often see of an RGS re-creation freight, turning on the wye at Big Horn, New Mexico. Built in 1880, the wye here was often used as a turning location for helper locomotives as well as snow-fighting equipment. The present-day Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad's passenger trains don't even stop here. The wye and the nearly 1,200 ft. long siding that exist here are used only by special trains, such as our photographic charter, as a place to allow the regular passenger trains to pass. As in days of old, this is also a spot where westbound flanger specials will turn their trains and head back to Antonito. Until recent years, some of these historic sidings and wyes were not given a lot of attention from a track maintenance standpoint, but with charters becoming popular, that's been changing....as evidenced by the recently removed ties in the foreground. In the past few years, the track standards on this railroad have been raised considerably. The old joke about D&RGW track running "through the weeds, not around them", no longer applies today.
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.
