Trip Report – Snow Fighting on the Cumbres & Toltec

Hwy17 Crossing

The last time the rotary was used to remove snow on the Cumbres & Toltec was May of 1997, so when I saw the announcement over Easter weekend of 2019 that the railroad was planning to run the rotary again in 2020, I instantly emailed to get on the ticket waiting list. This was going to be the charter to attend in 2020!

For those not familiar with snow fighting operations on a railroad, small to medium amounts of snow are typically removed with pilot mounted snow plows or larger plows pushed by locomotives. Often spreaders are used to widen the clearances between the rolling stock and the walls of snow on either side of the tracks. Flangers are used to clear the snow from between the rails. When the snow is too deep for plows, flangers and spreaders, you call the rotary; a snow blower on rails.

During the common carrier days of the D&RGW, rotary plows were strategically stationed four rotary snow plows, OO, ON, OM & OY where heavy snow frequently occurred. Today only OM & OY survive. Rotary OY was typically based out of Alamosa and cleared snow east of Cumbers Pass. For this trip, it was running out of Chama, traditionally Rotary OM’s territory.

Less than a week after this event occurred, the world shut down due to the COVID 19 pandemic. How lucky we were to get to see the greatest show on rails!

The rotary exits the narrows on the way to Lobato Trestle:

The Narrows

Stopped momentarily at Hwy 17 Crossing:

Hwy 17 Crossing

The photoline observes the rotary in action:

The Photoline

Rounding Orgasm Curve:

Orgasm Curve

Cresting the top of Cumbres Pass:

Cumbres Pass

Trip Report – Steam Railroading Institute Part 2

Continuing where we left off in Part One, one of the hallmarks of a railroad photo shoot is the night photo session. In the case of my trip to the Steam Railroading Institute, there were two, one out on the line at Carland Elevator and a second, smaller Rosie the Riveter themed shoot back at the yard in Owosso. Both were bitter cold nights, but the cold makes for better images of a steam train. A few favorites in no particular order:

Pere Marquette 1225 Crew Portrait

Crew Portrait

3rd Shift Lunch Break

Lunch on the third shift

Greasing the Rods

Cleaning the headlight

The Engineer

The Engineer

Carland Elevator

Carland

It was a great two days on the railroad and I look forward to visiting Steam Railroading Institute again.

Through The Lens 173 – Carland Elevator

Carland Elevator

Pere Marquette 1225 storms past Carland Elevator in Elsie, MI on a late evening run west. More to come Tuesday in Part 2 of my Steam Railroading Institute Trip Report. Check out Part One here.

Happy Friday!

Trip Report – Steam Railroading Institute Part 1

West Riley Road

With all of my photo plans cancelled by the restrictions on gatherings and closure of state and national parks, I’ve been working on my backlog of images that need to be edited. First up in that group were images from a Lerro Photography charter at the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso, Michigan in January 2019. This was a two day charter featuring Pere Marquette 1225. For those who have seen the Polar Express, this is the locomotive that they used as inspiration for the animated locomotive in the movie. They even went so far as to have Skywalker Sound record Pere Marquette 1225 for use as sound effects for the movie.

Over the course of two days, we covered a number of locations over the 15 miles between Owosso and Elsie. The following are a few of my favorites in no particular order:

West Wilkinson Road Sunrise

West Wilkinson Road Sunrise

North Smith Road Farm

North Smith Road Farm

King Road Crossing

King Road Crossing

Carland Elevator

Carland Elevator

South Woodbridge Road Crossing

South Woodbridge Road Crossing

West Wilkinson Road Sunset

West Wilkinson Road Sunset

Check back next Tuesday for Part 2, including images from the night sessions.

Through The Lens 172 – Steam Railroading Institute Sunset

West Wilkinson Road Sunset

Pere Marquette 1225 runs past the photo line at West Wilkensen Road outside Owosso, MI on a Lerro Photography charter. I’m almost finished my photos from this trip. Look for part one of the trip report on Tuesday.

Happy Friday!

Through The Lens 170 – Garibaldi Sunrise and Steam

7th St Crossing, Garibaldi

McCloud River Railroad #25 puts on a show leaving approaching 7th St Crossing in Garibaldi. Taken during the Trains Magazine Skookum Charter in March 2019.

Happy Friday!

Through The Lens 168 – Raven’s Roost Milky Way

Working on my backlog of miscellaneous images. I was in Fishersville Virginia last November for the Virginia Woodturning Symposium. The weather was good so I stopped by Raven’s Roost Overlook in search of the Milky Way.

Through The Lens 167 – Mesa Arch

Hard to believe it has been 8 years since I took this photo of Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park. If you’ve heard the stories about this place, there is often dozens of photographers jockeying for position at sunrise. On this particular morning, I was the only one there. Sometimes you just get lucky.

Through The Lens 163 – Shield Spring


Reaching way back into the archives for this one. This photo of Shield Spring taken during a winter trip to Yellowstone many years ago has always been one of my favorites. I’ve always liked the contrast between the color of the bacteria in the runoff around the spring vs. the snow and trees.