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| Through the smoke and steam, the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad locomotive #463 is being oiled and watered at Cumbres Pass on its mountainous journey from Chama, New Mexico to Antonito, Colorado. If you enjoy photographing steam locomotives or railroading in general, this mostly still authentic railroad provides a plethora of opportunities for photography. Pentax 6X7; 90mm f/2.8 lens; Tri-X film. Exposure info not recorded. (click to enlarge) |
As many of you may know, I fell in love with all things railroading when I was a young boy. Three railroads operated in my hometown and one of them had a moderate sized railyard in the flats near the river. It would never happen today, but one of the engineers operating a yard engine would, on occasion, allow us guys to climb up into the cab with him and ride as he moved rail cars around the yard building a train. The impact of that simple action by the engineer made me a lifelong railfan.
Also, at times, a southbound Erie-Lackawanna passenger train would stop at the northern edge of the railyard and wait for a northbound freight train to pass before proceeding to the railroad station in town. As the crew was sitting there, a few times they invited us boys up into the EMD locomotives and explained how everything worked. Wow! What a treat for this kid.
Finally, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, the trains always traveled slowly up a grade as they proceeded north out of town. Many times the trains were traveling at 5-10mph. It was not unusual for us to 'hop' a train and ride home from junior high school (called middle school now) or ride to the next town. One time, the conductor in the caboose on a train that was stopped invited us guys up into the caboose. I remember him telling us that he couldn't stop us from being around the trains but he could do his best to teach us how to be as safe as possible. That day he taught us the proper way to get on and off a train.
As I said, those things would never happen today but those railroad employees left a legacy of a group of young boys who developed a lifelong appreciation of everything railroading.
If you like to photograph railroads, especially as authentic of a steam operation as possible, the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad in Chama, New Mexico is the place to go. Better yet, chase the train and photograph one day then ride the train the second day. The scenery is spectacular. I guarantee you will enjoy it.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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I just check and Union Pacific is going to run the steam locomotive this year. They do not have a schedule year but it will cover their coverage area.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information. It seems to me that the large steam locomotives run much more often out on the mainlines in the western half of the U.S. while, in the east, we have more smaller operations running on formerly abandoned track. I’d like to see the 4449 or the Big Boy or even the old Nickel Plate 765 run in the east. We do have Norfolk & Western’s 611, which I actually got to ride in the cab in the 80s, but a wider variety of large steam would be appreciated. ~Dennis
DeleteWonderful photo, and the steam adds a nice vintage touch to the photo. The Pentax 67 certainly works well for railroad photography but I was never able to "bond" with mine. It was a bear to handhold and slow to reload compared to the film inserts of my Bronicas and Mamiyas.
ReplyDeleteThank you. The 6X7 was a ‘beast’ for sure. I still have 2 sitting on my display shelf. I don’t think I ever found myself regretting it being slow to load versus just switching backs, however. I moved from 35mm to medium format relatively early in my photographic journey especially for my black & white work as well as when I knew I wanted large color prints. I only used 35mm cameras for slide film. I was never satisfied with the quality of negatives I made with 35mm film. I think I may have written this before but I know I’ve said it many times, but it seemed as though I couldn’t make a bad photograph with the Pentax. It just ticked all the boxes for me. ~Dennis
DeleteTerrific photo, wonderful atmosphere. Although it's not as well-known as the Durango and Silverton, the Cumbres and Toltec is much more scenic, especially during the fall color season. Stay in Chama and take the Antonito to Chama train. An extra bonus is unimpeded access to photograph the Chama yard while you're waiting for the bus in the morning and after the train arrives in the afternoon.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bob. Also, thanks for the additional information. Perfect! I’ve spent a few hours moseying around the shops and yard in Chama, with unfettered access, and have made some very memorable images. I continue to be surprised that they still allow photographers to roam around so freely. ~Dennis
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