Dear Jake & Amelia,
We woke up to the sound of train whistles. We were camped near the tracks. We had driven from the desert through high green and rolling pasture land to Chama. We came to ride the narrow gauge Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. The line was built in the late 1800's to carry livestock, lumber, coal, oil, passengers and mail as part of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. 

After a pancake breakfast in camp, we drove into town. Several engines were running, black smoke rising from their stacks. We had forgotten the distinctive smell of coal powered steam engines. We wandered around the train yard admiring engines, tenders, boxcars, flatcars and snow plows. 

We boarded a passenger car and the train chugged off towards Osier, Colorado. The vintage locomotive belched smoke and steam. The train rocked, jerked and pulled as it moved along the tracks. We spent most of the ride standing outside in a roofless car, a flat bed with wooden sides. Cinders and steam blew past us as the train traveled through green valleys with river below and  mountains beyond. It was a fun ride, pure fun. We like old trains. Riding them is a trip into the past.

Nancy & Peter

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