STEAM IN THE WILD, WILD WEST!

Many of us have a wish list or bucket list, featuring amongst other things the places we have longed to visit. I have been lucky to see steam in action all over the world, from China to Cuba and around the UK, to some preserved lines in the USA. One place had eluded me however, a big railway with a big reputation for being a very impressive line – the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad.

This 3ft narrow gauge line runs for 64 miles across the Colorado and New Mexico border, climbing to Cumbres summit, just over 10,000ft and passing Toltec Gorge, 600ft above the river below, a stunning challenge for steam.

So when I heard Bob Branch mention in 2017 that the following year he was planning to head west to go on some photographic charters at the railway in the autumn, or ‘fall’ of 2018, I just had to take this chance to visit the line I had always wanted to see.

I met up with Bob Branch and