Plowing the deep stuff at Coxo. As the Cumbres & Toltec's Rotary Outfit approaches the Highway 17 crossing at Coxo, the game begins to change. For most of the run from Chama to this location, the train has been plowing snow that was perhaps 1-2 feet deep at most. Here in the high country the snow depth ratchets up even more, with perhaps 3 feet or more in the stretch between where you see the train and the actual road crossing. The stuff is dense too. Note the effect of the discharge plume on the pine tree to the left. Yeah, it's getting pummeled. About here, the railroad Safety Officer....and this photographer...are beginning to hold their collective breaths. The discharge is pointed in my direction, and I'm just a few feet beyond the 50 foot safety line that has been established. As the train gets a little closer and I begin to feel the veil of light snow ahead of the plume on the back of my neck, I decide that a photo of the interior of that plume is not worth the risk.....so I turn and depart my post for safer ground.
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.
