Alamosa to Ignacio By Train

September 13, 2009

Ernie sent in this great story about his narrow gauge train rides:

This experience took place many years ago. I was 10 years old and I am now eighty two. My home was in Pueblo Colorado and I had an aunt and uncle who lived in Ignacio, Colorado.

To get to my destination I would catch the 11:30 P.M. D&RGW standard guage at Pueblo and ride that section to Alamosa, Colorado arriving about 2:30A.M. My mother would tell the conductor where I was going and he would tell the Alamosa Station Master, who would tell the Conductor of the narrow guage train to Ignacio.

The narrow gauge would leave Alamosa at 7:A.M..I was always handed off correctly and with a lot of tender loving care. I made this trip three or four times a year between my tenth and thirteenth year so I got to know the railroad crew on a personal basis.

The trip on the narrow gauge was long but interesting. The train had a conductor, a brakeman and a porter. The porter would make home made ice cream on the spring and summer trips. Hot chocolate on the fall aand winter trips. The trip from Alamosa to Ignacio would take until 3:30 P.M.

During the course of the trip I would enjoy beautiful scenery and a lot of wild life. There were times, going up Cumbres Pass, that the train would go so slow that I could get off and walk beside it. Other times we would drop off fishermen who were going to fish the high lakes and streams. On the afternoon return train they would pick the fishermen and return the to a stop down grade. These were experiences that I have never forgotten.