Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad - 100 Years of K-36s

In August of 1925, the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Eddystone, Pennsylvania, completed producing ten powerful narrow gauge 2-8-2 Mikado type steam locomotives for the Denver & Rio Grande Western for use on their extensive narrow gauge system traversing the states of Colorado and New Mexico. For the next 40 years, the K-36s became the favorites of crews and railfans alike, complementing the smaller K-27 and K-28 locomotives and the larger K-37s. By 1968, the majority of the class had all been withdrawn and retired from service by the D&RGW, except #485, which was scrapped in 1955 after an incident involving the locomotive falling into a turntable pit. However, by the 1970s, the K-36s became a regular sight again on the former D&RGW right of way. The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad started its operations in 1970, and now rostering five K-36s, four of which continue to be in service to this day. The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad roster has operated at one point the other four surviving K-36s. All of these locomotives have enjoyed extensive lives as excursion pieces, pulling trains almost every year, with one or the other going in and out of service for maintenance. 2025 marks the K-36 Class' Centennial, and both railroads want to go big or go home for these iconic locomotives. We attended the Durango & Silverton's first event back in February, which led to a K-28 stealing the show due to the K-36 having bearing issues. Regardless, fans were anticipating and excited for events on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. Dak Dillon Photography hosted the first set of events, which were held for a whole week in August, filled with events such as yard tours, special train rides, photo specials, and many more. I decided to attend the first two days of the celebration and to capture as much as we could with our limited time. On August 13th, 2025, the first day started off with the opening ceremony, and the three operational K-36s, #487, #484, and #488, were all lined up in Chama, New Mexico, to kickstart the events. The railroad still has regular trains to operate, and shortly after the opening ceremony, #488 departed with the regular 10:00 am train bound for Antonito, Colorado, which is showcased in the first part of the video. After chasing #488 up the infamous 4% of Cumbres Pass, we headed back to Chama to attend a yard tour and the whistle salute event, the second part of the video. This allowed attendees to sound off a real steam locomotive whistle on both #487, with a D&RGW 5 Chime, and #484, with a recently repaired D&RGW 5 Chime. The third part of the video shows the following day, August 14th, with #487 hauling a freight train up Cumbres Pass in a spectacular show of force. The fourth part covers #488 once again, as it returned to Chama with the daily train out of Antonito. The railroad was only able to operate one train a day during these events, as it only had one locomotive to spare from the events. The fifth and final part showcases the great steam parade with all three locomotives performing runbys in the Chama yard individually, before coupling all together to perform tripleheader runbys with whistle shows. This was a fantastic event, and I had a great time seeing all the familiar and new faces. Thanks again to Dak Dillon for putting together all this, and the hard-working crews for doing their best work in keeping this railroad alive. I hope you all enjoy my production of the Cumbres & Toltec's K-36 100th Anniversary Specials! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 0:22 - Part One: Opening Ceremony and 488 up Cumbres 0:30 - #484 leaves the engine house in Chama 1:00 - #484 joins #487 and #488 at the depot 1:37 - The three stars 2:15 - #488 prepares to board passengers 3:11 - #488 at the Rio Chama Bridge 3:57 - Start 4% Grade 4:58 - Milepost 341 5:30 - Lobato 6:09 - Lobo Lodge 7:03 - Dalton 8:15 - Hurley's Curve 8:46 - Highway #17 Crossing 9:38 - NM-CO State Border 10:44 - Milepost 333 11:45 - Arriving Cumbres Pass 13:10 - Departing Cumbres 14:11 - Milepost 326 15:10 - Part Two: The Whistle Salute 15:18 - #484 and #487 getting prepared at the engine house 15:51 - #484 leaves the engine house for water 16:40 - #487 arrives in the yard 17:06 - #484 arrives in the yard 17:49 - The whistles salute 19:50 - Cake and brass models 20:12 - #484 leaves the yard 20:45 - Part Three: #487 up Cumbres with freight 20:53 - #487 gets prepared 23:27 - #487 departs Chama 24:22 - Highway #17 Crossing 24:45 - Chama Valley 25:15 - Lake Lobato 26:02 - Dalton 26:43 - Hurley's Curve 27:23 - Stateline Curve 28:32 - Hamilton's Point 29:16 - Cumbres Pass 30:20 - Turning around 32:05 - Idling at Cumbres 32:18 - Departing Cumbres 34:01 - #488 down Cumbres 34:11 - Apache 35:06 - Cumbres Pass 37:19 - Milepost 333 38:01 - Cresco 38:37 - Highway #17 Crossing 39:17 - Dalton 39:46 - Chama 40:26 - Part Five: The Great Steam Parade 40:34 - #488 solo 41:21 - #487 solo 42:13 - #484 solo 42:57 - Tripleheader Runbys 45:25 - Credits © JEF 2025