Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec - FriendsOfCumbresToltec.org

It's the morning of the last day of the Friday-only Cumbres turns, and an engine is building up steam, think its 488. 488 is confirmed as she approaches the pit, no spark arrestor. Now that's a nice plume of smoke. 488 heads toward the tank with her backup light on for some reason.

Guys, does anyone know where 488 went? Can't see it anywhere at the moment.
OK, think I can see steam now from the south cam so 488 went down to the wye.

As of now 488 is back from the wye. One wonders what they were doing for all that time. I'm guessing the passengers were!

Jack, the south yard actually makes a fairly sharp right bend which obscures a view of it. 488 could have been doing some switching at the far end of the yard.

That sounds most likely.

The departure of the final Cumbres run a few minutes late because of the possible switching as noted by Sharon. The train stopped by the tank to allow 488 to top up her tender, also due to the switching. The train gets underway again.

488 brings in the last Cumbres journey of the 2021 season, possibly the last overall if they decide to make the normal schedule daily again next year. And with that, there are only 2 more days left to go. On the plus side, tomorrow's 216 is scheduled to be a double header! On the subject of 489's nickname, I personally think Whispering Whitney sounds better than Whispering Alice. Hope you agree!