Pat and I drove to Chama, New Mexico, for the Cumbes&Toltec train ride to enjoy the fall color.
We drove through Santa Fe on the way to Chama, which was coincidental for me. I took that same route when I drove to Moab, Utah, and when I passed Camel Rock, I wished I had stopped for a picture. Well, this time I took one. We even stopped to look at it and enjoy colorful flowers all around the area.
We arrived in Chama in late afternoon, no traffic and not much town. We speed limit was posted at 20 mph, but we were about the only vehicle in sight to go any speed! Deer ambled across the highway without a care in the world, and we drove around equally unconcerned about traffic.
We had to drive up and down the main street, the highway, twice, to finally see the hotel sign! The Iron Rail was printed rather small in that circle on the banner hanging from the balcony. The whole town wasn’t real big on obvious signs.
This wasn’t a real big hotel, but rather an old one in the process of being renovated, as we found out when we got to our room. The new owners are committed to putting it back like it used to be back in the day, but our room, as it turned out, is still a work in progress. Here’s the lobby restroom.
This was the furniture in our room.
The bathroom had a nice new shower, but the room itself was small and narrow. I don’t think you can tell from the picture, but the sink was mounted on a treadle sewing machine stand, an interesting antique touch.
The next morning we walked across the highway from the hotel to the train station. The narrow gauge railroad was built in 1880 to serve the lumber mills in the area. Narrow gauge railroad was chosen because it was cheaper to build than the standard railway, and it also could accommodate tighter radius curves as the railroad wound its way around the mountains and such. The railroad went on to Silverton, Colorado, to transport mineral resources. After World War II, an oil boom in Farmington, New Mexico, saved the line when it provided service for oil companies using it then. But in September 1968, the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad filed for abandonment of the narrow gauge line. Then in April 1969, legislation in New Mexico allowed the state to buy the track, and in 1970 Colorado passed similar legislation and bought their end of the track. In 1971 they formed joint ownership, and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad was formed. A similar scenic railroad also now runs in Silverton, Colorado, on those same rail lines.
When tickets are bought, you are assigned seats in a specific train car. Pat located our car.
Depending on how fancy you want your accommodations, other cars are available with tables and served snacks. We were happy with seats and large windows.
An open car was also available which I discovered was the better place to be for taking pictures. I spent more time outside standing in the open car than inside.for most of my pictures.
We were there early, but the seats finally filled up and we were off. Most of the color in this area is the aspens becoming bright yellow. They also offer interest with what looks likes eyes where they have lost small branches. I think I took almost as many pictures of tree trunks as I did the trees.
But here are some of the aspens from afar that are showing their fall color amid the other green trees. And I took tons of pictures, but you get the idea.
I missed a picture of the sign telling us we had passed into Colorado, but when we arrived at Osier, Colorado, we stopped for lunch at a modern cafeteria full of a wide variety of food. It was also at this point that the other train coming from the Antonito, Colorado, station arrived. One ticket option is to ride to Osier from either station at Chama or Antonito, enjoy lunch, and then go back to the station you came from.
We got back on our train going to Antonito.
The closer we got to Antonito, the flatter the landscape became. No fall color here!
We had just enough time to get off the train and mill around a bit before boarding buses that would take us back to Chama. It took all day on the train to travel the 64 mile track from Chama to Antonito; about an hour to get from Antonito to Chama in the buses!
We passed lots of fall color on the bus ride, but it had started to sprinkle, so the windows were polka-dotted, and I was sitting in an aisle seat with no good shot of the trees, so I just enjoyed the color without worrying about pictures.
When we got back, we tried to do a little shopping, but not many places were still open by then. We had planned on eating again at the hotel restaurant, but it was closed. So we loaded up and drove around looking for a place to eat. Signage, as I mentioned when we were looking for the hotel, was not the greatest, and we had a hard time deciding if we were even looking at a place to eat or not. Turns out there weren’t that many eating places in the first place, and the one we finally stopped at was just closing-at 7 o’clock! There was nothing like a McDonald’s, and we wanted a bit more than snacks from one of the two gas stations. We had stumbled upon the only grocery store in town earlier, so we rushed back to it, scared to death they closed early, too.
They were still open, so we wandered around looking for something for supper, hoping they might have a hot food counter sort of like we were accustomed to at home at United. They didn’t, so crackers, cheese, summer sausage, and grapes filled us up just fine.
The next morning, we feasted on a Coke and blueberry muffin we had also bought at the grocery store for breakfast, and then were on our way home. I don’t remember where on the way home I took this picture, but it was pretty landscape, too, even if it didn’t have fall color.
The train runs from May to October, so they are closed now. We went in September, and it was a pleasant excursion. It’s a road trip to get there from Muleshoe, but still close enough for a little short vacation. You might want to try it next year.
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