For Mikado Dave

[MikeCh]

Hi Dave,

I saw this today on Facebook and immediately thought of you. Probably old hat in your circle, but I found it to be a cool capture regardless.

Cheers!

Mikados.JPG

[brad225]

Thanks for posting. I never knew where Dave's moniker came from.

That is an impressive photo.

[mep]

Thanks for posting. I never knew where Dave's moniker came from.

That is an impressive photo.

The Green Police will need therapy after looking at that photo.

[Mikado463]

Sorry for the late reply Mike, love it !

Yes the C&T is one of my favorites, ridden behind the mighty 'Mikes' many times and while I have experience a dbl header, I've never a triple ! The stack talk as they ascend the 4 % ruling grade up to 'windy point' (14 miles from Chama) must be tremendous !

Brad, you are correct, Mikado463. #463 a K27 is one of my favorites and for those interested the 'K' indicates a Mikado class(2-8-2 wheel configuration) and the '27' indicates the tractive effort in thousands of pounds.

[MikeCh]

No worries Dave! I just thought maybe I was on your ignore list ha ha.

[Barry]

Sorry for the late reply Mike, love it !

Yes the C&T is one of my favorites, ridden behind the mighty 'Mikes' many times and while I have experience a dbl header, I've never a triple ! The stack talk as they ascend the 4 % ruling grade up to 'windy point' (14 miles from Chama) must be tremendous !

Brad, you are correct, Mikado463. #463 a K27 is one of my favorites and for those interested the 'K' indicates a Mikado class(2-8-2 wheel configuration) and the '27' indicates the tractive effort in thousands of pounds.

Didn't do a triple header - what a pic! That brings back many great memories of riding The C&T railroad to the summit. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

[Mikado463]

Barry, the first time I rode the C & T many years back I did so all the way to Antonito, spent the night and returned back the next day. Without question the best ride is out of Chama to Antonio for the locomotive(s) are really working on that tough grade. Subsequent trips I've either bussed back from Antonito or made the turn at Osier.

Have you experience the other portion of the famed DRG&W narrow gauge, Durango to Silverton ?

[brad225]

I did the Durango to Silverton when I was 16. I probably would appreciate it more now for the sheer beauty of the surroundings.

[Mikado463]

Brad, while still steam powered, the days of coal fired locomotives on the D&S have come to an end. To the best of my knowledge the conversion to oil fired is complete. Regardless, a great ride up along the Anamas river as you know !

[slowgeezr]

Durango to Silverton you say? Now that sounds like a great ride with some spectacular views! I think I'll look into that.

[Mikado463]

Steve, Both the D&S and C&T are superb their own right.Going to Chama, NM and riding the Cumbres & Toltec is like going back in a time capsule, I never grow tired of it. That combined with the 14 mile journey as you leave Chana and climb the 4% grade to the summit is spectacular.

[Barry]

Barry, the first time I rode the C & T many years back I did so all the way to Antonito, spent the night and returned back the next day. Without question the best ride is out of Chama to Antonio for the locomotive(s) are really working on that tough grade. Subsequent trips I've either bussed back from Antonito or made the turn at Osier.

Have you experience the other portion of the famed DRG&W narrow gauge, Durango to Silverton ?

My wife and I drove through Durango and stopped at the train station to look around , but did not take the train ride.

I have taken a few other train rides. The Skunk Train out of Willits through the California redwoods was pretty memorable, but you're in a heavily forested area and there's nowhere near the elevation of C&T so it's less dramatic. I also took the Royal Hudson steam train out of Vancouver BC to Squamish up along Howe Sound which was pretty spectacular. It stopped running around 2015 as they no longer could get parts. Many years ago I took the Strasburg Railroad in Lancaster PA which maybe you've done as you live nearby?

I've taken many trains rides. I'm not a train buff, I just like to get the sights from a different point of view and sometime the high speed trains especially are the best way to get around.

Thanks again for the pic. I'd love to do the C&T again,

[Mikado463]

Mike was kind enough to send me pics of some fantastic engineering drawings of a DRG&W Consolidation (2-8-0) steam locomotive. I commented that I had live steam working model that I run on my garden railroad.

A couple of pics ........

[MikeCh]

Now that is cool Dave! Wow!!

[brad225]

Was it you, Dave, or someone else with the larger scale that you gave rides to grandkids on?

[Mikado463]

Not me Brad, must have been someone else .......