A water tower, steam engine, and tender at tiny Osier, Colorado, station about midway on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic (C&TS) Railroad trains' route between Antonito in Conejos County, Colorado, and the New Mexico town of Chama.
A water tower, steam engine, and tender at tiny Osier, Colorado, station about midway on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic (C&TS) Railroad trains' route between Antonito in Conejos County, Colorado, and the New Mexico town of Chama.
The narrow-gauge trains run over 10,015-foot Cumbres Pass and through Toltec Gorge, from which it takes its name. As of 2015, the railroad was the highest and longest narrow-gauge steam railroad in the United States, with a track length of 64 miles. The train crosses back and forth between the two states 11 times when it makes its full journey. The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad has been jointly owned by the states of Colorado and New Mexico since 1970 when it was purchased from the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway, saving it from the scrap yards. Early railroad buildings at Osier included a depot, section house, bunkhouse, and coaling platform. Most of the railroad structures were still standing as of 2015, but the rest of the town has disappeared. Original image from Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress collection. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.