Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is a narrow gauge heritage railway with 914.4 mm (= 3 feet) gauge in the Rocky Mountains. She was formerly part of a large narrow gauge railway network of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad around Chama (New Mexico). Following closure of the railway network, the leg could be saved from demolition by railway enthusiasts (64 miles) to Antonito (Colorado ) with a length of 103 kilometers.

According to self-promotion, it is the highest narrow gauge railway in the United States. Are used almost exclusively Schlepptenderloks, but the museum also has train diesel locomotives.

Route

The route begins at the former hub in Chama, where among other things, used to be a route to Durango led.

It runs with steep gradients, which often require biasing further locomotives, up to Cumbres Pass, at 3053 meters altitude. With a stopover in Osier it rises slightly to the plateau of Colorado. The route meanders strong and exceeds by Osier 11 times the limit of the states of New Mexico and Colorado until it finally reaches the end point Antonito.

The route crosses a total of 3 large steel bridges smaller rivers, has many small wooden bridges and two tunnels.