Cumbres Pass was on the mainline of the Denver and Rio Grande railroad between
the cities of Alamosa and Durango. The southern route around the San Juan
mountains spends time in both of Colorado and New Mexico as it winds through the
mountains. In fact the
wandering track crosses the state line around 10 times along the way.
Animals made the original trails across the pass as they migrated from summer to winter ranges in their
constant search for food. Today Elk and Deer still use the area as
calving grounds. Native Americans lived in the area for thousands
of years and may have been following the animals. The Utes and Apaches
were forced onto reservations in the1850's.
Mexican, Spanish and eventually American explorers
all scoped out the region. In 1874 Lt. Anderson of the Sixth Cavalry performed
the first surveys and published a report in 1876 for
the Army Engineers recommending a trail to Fort Garland. In the report
Anderson recommended a different southern path following an old Indian
trail be adopted, not the Cumbres Pass route. A settlement just south of
Chama was laid out in 1876 by a Chicago and Santa Fe company. This town
was called Park View and was intended to be the gate for a toll road to
Fort Garland using the southern route recommended by Lt. Anderson.
Not until 1876 is there any reference to vehicle
travel over the Cumbres Pass route to the Chama
valley. Families had to lower wagons down the steep slopes with ropes or
drag trees behind them to keep from moving too fast. A crude road
eventually scoured into the mountain side as more and more settlers
tried their luck. However, this was not the place to be when winter
unleashed its fury. Snowfall can get over 10 feet deep on the pass. Settlers began to arrive in the 1870's when miners
were already poking holes and stripping timber all over the mountains. In 1880 some maps showed a toll road across Cumbres
Pass.
New
Mexico was still a Territory when the D&RG railroad arrived from Colorado.
The area was rough and tough. This is truly part of the wild west and may be one
of the last areas in the continental United States that has escaped most of the modern
tourist industry. It could be that the remoteness and
difficulties of getting to the site has been responsible for preserving it.
The
mainline railroad scales Cumbres Pass, a 10,000 foot high rocky mountain wilderness. Locals
like to claim the route laid out by the railroad surveyors along Toltec Gorge was
selected by following the path his mule took over the mountains. However
the tracks got there, the ride through Toltec Gorge and across Cumbres
Pass has spectacular scenery all the way
to Chama.
Most of the original San Juan extension of the Denver
and Rio Grande railroad from Antonito to Chama was
constructed in 1880. In the next year work continued towards Animas City on the
Rio de las Animas (Animas river). Durango Colorado was a major new town on the
line and the tracks reached there in July 1881. The following year a branch line
was added from Durango to the Silverton mines.
Cumbres
& Toltec Scenic Railroad
Cumbres
and Toltec Scenic Railroad is the current name for the last fully operational
main line section of the mighty Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Its 64 mile path
of 431 twisting turns, hanging cliffs and spectacular views are the same today
as when first blasted and molded into existence in 1880. Most of the original
buildings and equipment have managed to survive the modern age of development.
The
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad (C&TS) is easily one of the most
fantastic and magical routes still operating in the world. Best of all, you can ride the line and experience its pleasures for
yourself today. This train travels
though scenery that is right out of your imagination with tall pointed rock
formations, widely varied plant life and a rainbow of earth colors that change
with the seasons.
Cumbres & Toltec Map
Daily
excursions in the summer months let you ride the train over sites like the
Lobato Creek bridge and thrill to the engines whistle as it echoes through the
canyons. In the yards you can watch as a double header of historic locomotives
is assembled in the morning to transport a long trainload of glary-eyed
passengers through the mountains.
The
rail yard at Chama is still maintained and exhibits some of the finest historic
narrow gauge D&RG structures left in the world. Furthermore, an extensive
collection of the remaining rolling stock is on display in the yard.
See Also:
C&TS
Passenger Cars
References:
18, 19, 20, 21, 49, 50, 51
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