Work trains picking up tree and brush cuttings

[Paul Davenport]

The railroad deployed two small work trains during D to pick up slash piled and marked trackside by the tree and brush crew. Most of the material was in the Narrows but there also was a fair amount between the Narrows and Highway 17 First Crossing. My "before" shot of Friday's train, taken from inside a doorway of the caboose carrying the dozen or so Friends volunteers from three different crews. shows the the train being assembled. We rode from Chama in a caboose pulled by a diesel to the Lobato siding where a flat car previously hauled there by the RR was waiting for us. The "after" photo shows the train back in the Chama yard. We'd loaded the flat with all the slash it could handle-- taking into consideration the clearance restrictions imposed by the Chama River bridge -- and I suspect it then went to the yard's south end to sit with the full flat from Wednesday's train. I didn't have my camera at hand during the loading (too busy) so hopefully somebody else can post a shot or two of the actual work. Members of the building crew working on Cumbres Pass loaded Wednesday's train. Those working on Friday's train came from that crew, the sign maintenance crew and the tree and brush crew. With only two flats between the two trains, some piles of slash were left along the line for later pickup. I think the planned next step is to ask the local power co-op to again provide its chipper to process the slash hauled into Chama. That's what was done last year.

[Paul Davenport]

I forgot that I took a couple shots of the Wednesday work train when it paused in Cresco as my crew took its lunch break. That's my brother, Tom Davenport, on the right and partly obscured by the ladder. He and others working on that train were part of the Cumbres building crew, and that train was assembled there before heading down the 4 percent grade to pick up slash in the Narrows and further west. I forgot to mention in the main post that Evan Martinez was the conductor for both trains.

[Craig Kumler]

Thanks Paul for the great photos!