Rio Grande Narrow Gauge, Then and Now

The “Then and Now” series takes a look at the same railroad or locations with vintage film or video and then contrasting the “then” footage with modern “now” footage. In this series entry we look at the narrow-gauge lines of the Denver, Rio Grande & Western from the second World War to today’s operations on the Cumbres & Toltec and Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge railroads. This is a 2-disc set.

Our look begins with black & white film footage shot in the forties and fifties. These films look at freight operations, the San Juan passenger train, and a ride on The Silverton when it was operated as a mixed train. Next we move to color films in the sixties, shot during Rocky Mountain Railroad Club three-day excursions that covered the line from Alamosa to Silverton and return. Photographer Jim Adams was a steam-loving railroad employee from Illinois, and rode these excursions four times with his movie camera and reel-to-reel recorder. His original sound recordings accompany his films. Then we see several scenes as we chase a 1962 Illini Railroad Club excursion between Alamosa and Cumbres Pass, before moving on to freight operations in the waning years of the Rio Grande’s narrow-gauge operations.

Then it’s onto the seventies and scenes of Rio Grande trains on the Silverton Branch, which was disconnected from the rest of the railroad after the removal of the rails between Durango and Chama, along with the Farmington Branch. In 1981, the Silverton Branch was sold to become the Durango & Silverton and we see scenes on the D&S between 1992 and the early 21st Century. Next we move to Chama, New Mexico, where the states of Colorado and New Mexico teamed up to preserve the 64 miles of track between Chama and Antonito, Colorado. Video footage between 1992 and the early 21st Century present day-to-day operations on the C&T, including doubleheaders and even a tripleheader.

Disc Two begins with special operations on the Cumbres & Toltec in the first decades of the 21st Century, beginning with scenes of Rio Grande Southern “Galloping Goose” #5 in operation, before moving on to a number of photo freights filmed over the years. The final two-thirds of Disc Two present the Cumbres & Toltec and Durango & Silverton as they were in September of 2023. We spent eight days filming the two railroads, filming the daily operations on these well-traveled lines. Highlights of our visit included a Saturday doubleheader on Cumbres Pass and a steam-powered work train on the Durango & Silverton. As always, we took extra care to capture the awesome sounds of steam in the mountains along with the sights. It’s nearly four hours of action on some of America’s most famous locations.