Chama Steam VIII - 2009
October 17-25, 2009
Trip Report
Day 4 - Tuesday
Santa Fe - Durango
I left Chama just before 0500 and headed for Santa Fe. In case you're curious, it's DARK south of Chama at 5 in the morning. And, the deer have absolutely no fear of you. I spotted 7-8 doe next to the Trackside Emporium and a very large buck (the largest I've ever seen) just south of town. None of them seemed bothered by me in the least. I, on the other hand, kept my speed down and my eyes open for more of their buddies.
I got to Santa Fe around 7 and got the truck checked into the dealership. It took 'em an hour to figure out that the problem wasn't the rear differential at all. Instead the passenger side rear axel had a gnarly looking groove in it about 2 inches wide and about an 8th of an inch deep. Not good. To make matters worse they didn't have one in stock. So, I cleaned out my gear, got a rental, and headed back to Chama. As soon as I started heading north I noticed the dark clouds. The local weather on the radio predicted rain, sleet, hail, snow, anarchy, chaos, rioting in the streets, and all sorts of hype. So, I headed back to Chama to check the radar.
I got back to Chama at noon. The radar looked pretty quiet to me, despite the darkening clouds. So, I grabbed my cameras and headed for Durango. |
Heading west from Chama to Durango... into the storm |
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Durango Yard It's raining and cold |
I took the shop tour and it's well worth the $5 dollars... quite a bit more actually. |
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Machine Shop |
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K36 486 was the first NG Locomotive I ever laid eyes on. I saw her in 1994 at the Royal Gorge while on a high school band trip. |
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This is the first time I've seen 486 since that 1994 trip |
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Sand Tower |
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Turntable |
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Roundhouse and Turntable |
Car Repair Shop |
Paint Shop |
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Our tour guide (Andy) in the Car Shop |
Wood Shop |
DRGW Boxcars used as storage and as a view block on the south (RR east) end of the yard |
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Uintah Water Car #0470 now owned by the DRHS (the group that restored 315) |
Looking west around the balloon loop from the south |
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West end of track where boxcars are stored. No connection to the loop |
Looking east along boxcar storage track |
Looking east around balloon loop from south (same spot as above) |
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K37 498 |
Looking east towards Chama. This is roughly the spot where the main line left the yard and headed south to Carbon Junction, then east to Chama or south to Farmington. Durango Yard is a mere shadow of what it once was, so you have to really use some imagination to see things as they were. I envy Otto Perry, Bob Richardson, John West, and others that were lucky enough to see this area in it's heyday as the "Narrow Gauge Capitol of the World" |
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486 on the turntable |
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D&RG Class 70 #420 RGS #42 |
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K28 #476 |
K28 #473 at the 15th Street bridge |
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Heading into Durango 1920 meets 2009 |
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I left the D&S Museum in time to catch the last train of the day heading south through Hermosa. But, it was still raining hard, so I stayed in the rental car and ran the video camera through the window. I didn't have enough hands to run the video camera and get still shots. I got ahead of the train again a few miles south and got a more video. Then headed back to Durango. Fortunately the rain stopped as I hit the city limit. I set up the video camera up on the tripod at the 15th street bridge. This freed my hands to get pictures. Had I had more time to scout the area I would've set up on the jogging trail near the bridge. I'll do that next time.
As soon as the train cleared the crossing I headed east, stopping at Wal-Mart for supplies and gas. East of Durango I drove back into the rain and it came down pretty steady all the way "home." Once I got east of Pagosa Springs I started seeing deer again and had to slow down to 80. I made it back to Chama about 2000 (8 PM) thoroughly exhausted after 15 hours of being on the move. Fosters provided some much needed dinner. Dang, those red chilis are awesome!
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