1. The Lead FP-40 The Alamosa Station Over the engineer’s shoulder

2. View From the Cab View From the front porch of the FP-40 The conductor, Paul

3. The summit at Fir is 9242 feet, making the Rio Grande Scenic RR the highest standard gauge Railroad operating in the US. It’s definitely a mountain railroad

4. With 2 tunnels, sharp 16 degree curves and 3% grades

5. Beautiful mountain views

6. And there’s quite a bit of wildlife for the sharp eye to spot

7. Cattle chutes from a much earlier time and the hand laid roadbed from the narrow gauge era of over 100 years ago and a lot of history of railroading from the past.

8. Over the pass, down the grade to LaVeta and a stop for lunch The restored LaVeta station.

9. On the LaVeta siding after the Wye turnaround for the locomotive, ready to head back to Alamosa

10. On the way back to Alamosa, on the passing siding at Fir, a 3 unit heavy freight waited for us to clear the track so he could proceed to Walsenburg.

11. Yesterday’s train headed home