Another picture from my Colorado trip.

Narrow gauge railroads have a special place in my heart. They even have a bigger spot in my uncles heart, who also loves trains. During my vacation to Colorado, my uncle and I took it upon ourselves to have a "Narrow Gauge Day" of our own. The morning began with a trip to the Cumbres and Toltec Narrow Gauge Railroad, based in Chama, New Mexico. To our surprise, they had ten cars together, requiring a second locomotive on the head-end for the uphill portion of the journey. This is the departing shot as they left Chama for the midpoint lunch at Osier, and then downhill to Antonito, Colorado.

This route was one of, if not, the final narrow gauge steam route in North America to haul freight. Rio Grande trains ran until 1963, when the Gramps Oil Refinery in Antonito burned down and wasn't rebuilt. The final years of freight service also included a lot of pipe going to Farmington, NM, where the oil was extracted from. Locomotives like these were the norm on shorter freight trains such as this one

If you'd Like to take a trip along an iconic stretch of narrow gauge railroad, then this is the railroad to do it on. The C&TSRR is by far the best narrow gauge tourist operation in the United States. I had a wonderful time riding the train in 2016, and I'm sure you'll love it too.

But what most people don't know is that a group of volunteers hosts work sessions in the summer. The Friends of the Cumbres and Toltec organization has plenty of volunteer opportunities that last up to a week at a time. Things like cleaning the property to restoring an entire box car are available to hard working people like you! Just check out their website and sign up. It'll cost ya some cash, but it's worth it! Me and my uncle got out there to help restore a maintenance-of-way boxcar, painting and adding benches. I had a blast that time and I hope to make it out there this summer to do more amazing volunteer work!