K27 463 and K37 497 performs a runby at “Weed City” (an old movie set built for the 1970 Gregory Peck western movie Shootout) during Jay Wimer’s first “Chama Steam” photo freight excursion in October 2002. The misty rain made for nostalgic photos, especially with the high grain of 35mm Tri-X pushed to ISO 1250 used here. GREG MONROE PHOTO
ic’s 1944 Alco 4-8-4 No. 8444 (since renum- bered 844). These and other early photo excursions
were generally passenger trains or, as in the case with the RGS excursions, a hob-nob mix of open gondolas or passenger coaches and sev- eral cabooses for riders. Photo ops, if any, on the early excursions were usually staged with the train at a scenic location, not as a runby. The notion of putting together a steam
freight on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic for railfan photographers all began shortly after the tourist line was formed following the ac- quisition in 1970 of the just-abandoned Den- ver & Rio Grande Western’s Antonito, Colo., to Chama, N.M., portion of its narrow gauge lines built in 1880-82 in southwestern Colora- do. Rocky Mountain area railfans were quick to appreciate this renewed opportunity to photograph the fast-disappearing Rio Grande narrow gauge, and the first doubleheader on the C&TS in October 1971, while not a for- mal photographers’ event, brought out a lot of chasers. A year later the very first photo freight
train ran on the C&TS, the “Toltec Rattler” (named after the rattling sound of old train cars on a line high above the railroad’s name- sake Toltec Gorge), a joint venture between the C&TS and the Narrow Gauge Railroad Association. Several specials were run in 1971 and 1972, including some for members of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club. The first flanger train ran in 1973, again not a for- mal event but lots of railfans showed up. Scenic Railways, then the operator of the
C&TS, was not interested in running more charter trains, so none were run until 1977 when Bill Peter of PBL Locomotive Works convinced Scenic Railways to run a photo freight just for the 131
/2 miles from Chama to
Cumbres Pass around the time of the Nation- al Model Railroad Association convention in Denver. All previous excursions had carried the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic lettering on the tenders, but Peter had this train relettered in the historic “Flying Rio Grande” logo, done with white shelf paper that he cut out and stuck on the tender. Peter organized six other charters between 1979 and 1987, including some two-day runs, doubleheaders, a stock train, and two work trains with a Jordan spreader or steam derrick. When Kyle Railways and new General Manager Dan Ranger took over the C&TS operation in 1982, there was a renewed inter-
est by management in charters. The Rocky Club resumed char- ters for a trip in September 1983, with trip captain Jim Trowbridge in charge but coordinating with C&TS Trainmaster Earl Knoob for the best way to run an excur- sion. The first National Narrow Gauge Model Club trip was a long mixed train in September 1984. From this point on photo freight excursions started to be organized each year by the Rocky or the Na- tional Narrow Gauge Modelers clubs, usually in September with a few in June. These trips nor- mally ran out of Chama and back, covering just a short portion of the railroad, rather than going into Antonito. These trains started out being mixed trains with a few rid- er boxcars on the rear, then Trow- bridge began to fit everyone in the caboose, a gon, and an outfit car
on the rear. In September 1990 Trowbridge put togeth-
er a photo excursion named the San Juan Ex- press, recreating a train that originally ran on this route, running the entire 64-mile length of the railroad from Chama to Antonito. In October 1992 John Craft organized a double- headed train of 33 freight cars plus a pusher engine that ran two excursions in three days, plus another two-day excursion on the follow- ing weekend when the first excursions quick- ly sold out. Trowbridge didn’t start asking the railroad
to reletter the tender Rio Grande until about 1987 or so, as this was before vinyl lettering and required painting. As 483’s tender was sitting in the yard unused, Earl Knoob let- tered it up in the “flying” Rio Grande style, and simply stuck that tender behind whatev- er was pulling Jim’s trains. After 1991 C&TS used the vinyl lettering that was relatively easy to change. It also seemed there was al- ways at least one engine with the Rio Grande name on the tender running the daily passen- ger trains. In August 1997, “The Return of RGS 455” excursion staged by Bill Lund and members of the Rio Grande Southern Modelers Club recreated a fabled narrow gauge railroad that, between 1892 and 1952, created such a legend of uniqueness and originality that it is still a favorite of a legion of fans. The excur- sion used C&TS 2-8-2 No. 463 relettered as the identical original 455.
The Second Dream
Fast forward a few years to 2002 and enter Jay Wimer of Chama, who started organiz- ing charters. Trains Unlimited has operated several charters since 2002, and Lerro Pro- ductions ran an elaborate five-day charter designed for the general hobby photographer (not just railfans) in 2012. A few individu- als including John West, Michael Allen, and John Craft have run some “private” trains that were not advertised to the public. Jay claims that “Chama Steam [the name
of his multi-day event] started with a dream that I had on December 10, 2001.” Despite, in Jay’s words, “horrific resistance” due to his inexperience in organizing a photo freight, Jay and friend Bob Manthey-Zorn formed an informal partnership and ran Chama Steam 1 on October 26, 2002. It was a dreary, wet day that finally brought some snow, making for stunning photos.
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