Travels With Winnie - By Train

Almost as soon as Winnie and Wayne arrived, Winnie arranged for us to ride a pair of trains, separated by a lunch buffet. These were on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad.

We had to be at Antonio, at 9:30 so were up early eating breakfast and packing water and snacks. We enjoyed the almost an hour drive through ranch lands and small towns.

Ready to board

We were allowed to board the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and started our trip that would go through mountains and flatlands, forests and prairies,  and deserts and riparian valleys in both Colorado and New Mexico.  We paid for a particular seat in a  coach car but found we could move through the train, including an open car where the scenery was unimpeded by the windows but where there were so many people, I could get few good shots. I think there was a higher priced car at the end that was not accessible to the hoi polloii. I got good pictures by shooting out of a window that  was across from the bathroom or from an empty seat.

Our train was steam driven and heated by coal so we needed lots of water

This cow seemed bemused by us

There were lots of rocky views

I was mostly riding about two cars behind the engine and tender car so got lots of views of the engine in curves

A look back showing the open car.  There was a little snack shop in the car just in front of it. 

Winnie is known for disappearing.  Here I could usually find her popping out of a window to catch a picture. 

We stopped here for water and to check our train. 

This car was completely empty on the first train - on the second, our assigned car turned up missing.
The train itself is an antique. 

View

We had a lot of long views through valleys to other mountains

Going round one of many bends

Mountainside

This little car followed us to put out any fires we started. A train is believed to have started a huge wildfire last year. 

We shared out buffet lunch with the riders of the train from Charma. Lunch consisted of a turkey dinner, meatloaf dinner, a salad bar, a soup bar, and a desert bar.  People could go through all of the lines and pick what they wanted. I had a serving of turkey and a huge salad.

Coming in to our lunch stop.  The train from Chama was already there

Wayne on his way to lunch

These structures to serve the train were also at our lunch stop.  I took them after we left. 

Sometimes the wind blew the dark smoke low and ruined my picture 

We had a huge straightaway, then a hairpin turn to another small straight away, followed by a climb. We could watch where we had come from. 

Winnie in the open car

Blowing out sediment from the boiler - needed because the water comes from rivers or ponds and contains sediment

Why it's a good idea to stop using coal

We stopped once in the afternoon to let people that needed a shorter ride catch buses back to Antonito.  We rode another hour or so and finally got to Charma where two busses were waiting to haul us back to our cars.

The scenery varied from long meadow views - occasionally punctuated by a pronghorn antelope, to views of rocky mountains, often at very close range as, in places,  the track was built on the sides of mountains. We also got great views into deep canyons, that held rivers and ranches. 

The end of the line - buses will be our ride back 

Winnie in transition from train to bus

It took us about six hours to get to Chama, but only an hour to get back by highway. We  got  back to the house after 6:00 P.M. We had eaten so much at lunch that we were all still full.  So I made a salad, cold cuts, cheese and crackers before we had an early night. Winnie and I had either stood or walked around for most of the trip, so we probably had several miles of walking under out belts on the sixty-four mile ride. And we had to sway with the train and brace to take pictures so we were worn out.

Here is the map of our trip.  We also got to visit two states.

On a personal note: I've been rehabbing my "yard" without a lot of success, but I do have some wildflowers sprouting. Hopefully next summer I'll have something to look at besides invasive plants. My 300 square foot vegetable garden is growing great but I'm seeing ways to make it better next year. I'm going to plant lettuce for the fall early next week - as soon as the burlap I ordered comes in. I didn't get a good start of lettuce because my soil is so hard to keep damp. But I still am begging people to come cut lettuce. My star crop is Swiss chard.  I'm planning to look up recipes for it so I can eat it five times a week without getting bored. It and beet greens are my favorite greens but I can't find any takers for it. I have my first peppers and I think I have a fertilized zucchini. I got no bees to fertilize my first two zucchini flowers so I hand pollinated the next two.  I'm about to buy a little brush so I can fertilize all of my squash and cucumbers. I'll let you know how that goes.  I spent several hours clearing weeds away from my crops.  I still need to clear the paths and then put down straw.  Next year I'll be better prepared.