BY ROBERT STRUCKMAN

Norway has held a mythic placein my mind for most of my life. Ingrade school in Billings, Mont., Iread everything I could find aboutNorse mythology and history.Once, I asked my father if ourNorwegian ancestors had been Vi-kings. He dashed my hope fortoughness by ancestral connec-tion by explaining that our familyhad been bonded farmers, likeserfs. One of our surnames fromNorway was Bonde, after all,which means “farmer.”

Most of my Norwegian associa-tions were through my great-auntCorinne Bonde Ackley, a matri-arch of my family, who preparedlefse, meatballs and gravy, lutefiskand other traditional Norwegianfare for every holiday. I heard hertalk about her friendship with hersecond cousin, Kjell Nilsson, whowas a hero of the Norwegian resis-

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Recapturing a summer in Provence without leaving home. F6

Digging deep into the Norwegian root system

BY JUSTIN FRANZ

tain scenery it traverses between Chama, N.M.,and Antonito, Colo. But for history buffs andrailroad enthusiasts, it’s the dozens of vintage railcars, smoke-spewing steam locomotives and orig-inal buildings that make the journey to theSouthwest worthwhile.

What makes the spectacular railroad evenmore amazing is that it was almost lost for good ahalf-century ago.

The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroadfirst put down rails in 1870, under the commandof Brig. Gen. William Palmer, a Union officerbrevetted during the Civil War. Looking to savemoney, Palmer decided to build a narrow-gaugerailroad with rails just three feet apart, asopposed to a standard-gauge railroad with railsbuilt 4 feet, 81/2 inches from each other. Therailroad reached Chama in 1880. Soon after, it wasbusy moving people, livestock and minerals toeastern markets.

While narrow gauge railroads were cheaper tobuild, there was one major downside to a three-foot-gauge railroad: it was incompatible withmost other railroads. Whenever a Denver & Rio

RAILROAD CONTINUED ON F4

In the Southwest, it’s still

full steam ahead‘Best train ride in North America’ traverses mountainsbetween New Mexico and Colorado on vintage rail cars

JUSTIN FRANZ FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

KERIN FORSTMANIS/STOCKIMO/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

The sun sets over Oslo. Norway has a population of about 5.3 million — and there are about 4.5 million Norwegian Americans.

T here are hundreds of railroad museumsand scenic train rides all across theUnited States. Many of them offer theopportunity to “step back in time” or

“relive yesteryear.” But few can truly deliver on that promise quite

like the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad — a64-mile, narrow-gauge route across the ruggedSan Juan Mountains of New Mexico and Coloradothat has gone nearly unchanged since the lastfreight train rumbled over Cumbres Pass 50 yearsago this summer. Unlike other museums that area hodgepodge of old trains from different places,nearly all of the locomotives and cars of theCumbres & Toltec Scenic are original to therailroad they run on today.

“This place is the real deal,” says Stathi Pappas,the assistant general manager of the railroad,who spends most of his days restoring locomo-tives and passenger cars built more than acentury ago. “There really is no place like this onEarth.”

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic was voted the“best train ride in North America” by USA Todayreaders in 2016 thanks to the spectacular moun-

A pair of steam engines on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad pull a passenger train near Chama, N.M.

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barking on one of its biggestprojects ever: restoring a steamlocomotive built in 1883 and waslast used in the 1930s. Pappas saysrebuilding a 135-year-old locomo-tive is a time-consuming processthat requires every part to bedisabled, cleaned, repaired andreassembled. If everything goesaccording to plan, locomotive No.168 will be rolling down thetracks again in the next few years,just as it was when PresidentChester A. Arthur was in office.Pappas says projects such as therestoration of old 168 make theCumbres & Toltec Scenic such aunique place.

“It’s been generations sincethese artifacts were used regular-ly,” he says, “and yet we get to turnback the clock here.”

travel@washpost.com

Franz is a writer based in Montana. His website is justinfranz.com. Find him on Twitter: @jfranz88 and Instagram @justinfranz.

to make replacement parts ontheir own.

Bush and his team also have thehelp of hundreds of volunteerswho are members the Friends ofthe Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Rail-road. The nonprofit group wasestablished to rebuild and main-tain equipment that is not criticalto the railroad’s day-to-day opera-tion but is important to maintain-ing the historical character thatgot it listed as a National HistoricLandmark in 2012. Tim Tennant,president of the Friends group,says volunteers dedicate thou-sands of hours a year rebuildingvintage freight cars and paintingold buildings. During the sum-mer, the group hosts week-longwork sessions that can attract wellover 100 members.

“It’s a chance for people to getaway from the day-to-day grind ofnormal life,” Tennant says. “[Weall share] a passion for keepingthis history alive.”

This year, the railroad is em-

Bush is the man who makessure everything runs smoothly— no easy task for a railroad forwhich the newest steam locomo-tive was built 93 years ago, hesays. Because the companiesthat built the Cumbres & ToltecScenic’s steam locomotives wentout of business decades ago, therailroad’s employees often have

first dozen or so miles out ofChama, after that, the train isalone on the rugged southwest-ern landscape.

“Most of this territory doesn’thave paved roads or telephone lines and so once the train pulls outof town and you’re looking out the window, you’re seeing the country as it was a century ago,” Bush says.

for trains to get stuck here ingigantic snow drifts that can sur-vive well into spring; the Cum-bres & Toltec Scenic has needed touse a vintage rotary snowplow —essentially the railroad version ofa massive snowblower — to openthe line for the first train of theseason.

From Cumbres Pass, the traincontinues east downgradethrough the rugged Toltec Gorge,which features rocks from theProterozoic Era that are morethan a billion years old, and cross-es over tall trestles and throughtunnels. Trains stop at Osier sopassengers can disembark for lunch at a nearby mess hall andthe locomotives can get morewater. From there, trains enterthe desert of southwestern Colo-rado for the final stretch to An-tonito. During the 64-mile trip,the train crosses the Colorado-New Mexico state line nearly adozen times. While a nearby high-way follows the railroad for the

Grande Western train reachedthe junction with another rail-road, the freight had to be unload-ed from the narrow gauge carsand reloaded onto standardgauge cars for the rest of itsjourney. By 1890, Palmer beganwidening parts of his railroad.However, the route through theSan Juan Mountains kept its nar-row track because the railroad’sexecutives didn’t see a lot of po-tential for the line, says JohnBush, president and general man-ager of the Cumbres & ToltecScenic.

“It made just enough moneythat it was worth keeping around,but it didn’t make enough moneyto justify upgrading it to standardgauge,” he says.

By the 1950s, the old Denver &Rio Grande Western’s narrow-gauge lines had become a histori-cal oddity and the railroad start-ed to look at abandoning it. How-ever, the line got a brief reprieve.Thanks to a boom in natural-gasproduction near Farmington,N.M., the Denver & Rio GrandeWestern was called upon to movepipes and other materials to theregion. Realizing the need forpipeline materials would only betemporary, railroad officials de-cided to put just enough money tokeep the narrow-gauge route op-erating — and not a cent more.The decision to squeeze every bitof usefulness out of the old rail-road helped it survive into the1960s, when the idea of preserv-ing old rail lines for scenic excur-sions was gaining traction.

The end finally came in thesummer of 1968. The last freighttrain ran over Cumbres Pass inAugust and the railroad was final-ly able to move forward with itsplan to rid itself of its unusualnarrow-gauge operation. TheDenver & Rio Grande Westernasked the government to let it toabandon almost all of the track,except for the 45-mile stretchbetween Durango and Silverton,Colo., which had become a popu-lar destination for tourists.

The tracks between Chamaand Antonito were about to beripped up when historians andrailroad enthusiasts began look-ing at ways to save the line. Theirefforts to convince the states thatthey were worthy of saving paidoff: Officials saw the potential forturning the railroad, which tra-versed some of the region’s mostspectacular scenery, into a touristattraction. In 1970, Colorado andNew Mexico came together topurchase the 64-mile section be-tween Chama and Antonito for$541,120. The states formed ajoint board to oversee the rail-road; the following year, the Cum-bres & Toltec Scenic began run-ning passenger excursions. Near-ly a half-century later, the invest-ment has paid off for the states: A2014 report found that the excur-sion trains support 147 jobs in thearea and bring more than $14.8million annually to the remoteregion.

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenicruns every day from May untilOctober. Although passengers can start from either Chama orAntonito, the ride up the westslope of Cumbres Pass is a mustfor die-hard railroad enthusiasts.Trains departing Chama often re-quire a second locomotive — whatrailroaders call a “helper” — toclimb the four-percent grade.Over the course of the 14-mile tripto Cumbres, the locomotive willuse 2 to 3 tons of coal and 3,500gallons of water. The backbreak-ing work of shoveling that coalfalls to people such as Evan Marti-nez, a 20-year-old whose job is tomaintain the locomotive’s fire.Martinez is a fifth generationrailroader and started working atthe Cumbres & Toltec Scenic inhigh school.

“It’s a lot of cardio,” Martinezsays of shoveling three tons ofcoal in one hour. “It’s probablyone of the dirtiest jobs in theworld but once you get over all thesoot, dust and grease, it’s a prettycool job.”

Cumbres Pass sits at 10,015 feetabove sea level and is the highestmountain pass reached by a rail-road in the United States. Thelocation gets its name from theSpanish word for summit. Dec-ades ago, it was not uncommon

RAILROAD FROM F1

Railroad o≠ers a trip back in time

If you goWHERE TO STAYChama Station Inn423 Terrace Ave., Chama, N.M.

888-726-8150

chamastationinn.com

A small hotel in downtown Chama, directly across the street from the train station. The inn was opened in 1926 and each room is furnished with vintage furniture and historical photos of the railroad. Rooms start at $95 a night.

Chama River Bend Lodge2625 Hwy. 84, Chama, N.M.

800-288-1371

chamariverbendlodge.com

Located on five acres of land right along the Chama River, the lodge offers rooms in a large lodge as well as cabins. Rooms start at $89 and cabins start at $119.

1911 Steam Train Hotel402 Main St., Antonito, Colo.

719-298-8908

steamtrainhotel.com

The hotel is just a few minutes from the train station in downtown Antonito. It offers “marijuana friendly” rooms that are separated from the main hotel to not disturb “guests who are not as enthusiastic about a toke or two.” Rooms start at $119 a night.

WHERE TO EATBoxcar Cafe425 Terrace Ave., Chama, N.M.

575-756-2706

facebook.com/boxcarcafechama

Across the street from the railroad, the cafe serves traditional Southwestern and American cuisine. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner; entrees start at $7.

High Country Restaurant and Saloon2289 Hwy. 17, Chama, N.M.

575-756-2384

The restaurant and bar offers casual dining with a wide variety of food options, including Southwestern and Italian. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner; entrees start at $9.

Dos Hermanas Steakhouse435 Main St., Antonito, Colo.

719-376-5589

The downtown restaurant offers Southwestern cuisine, including a local favorite: green chilies. Open for lunch and dinner; entrees start at $9.

WHAT TO DOCumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad500 Terrace Ave., Chama, N.M.

5234 B Hwy. 285, Antonito, Colo.

888-286-2737

cumbrestoltec.com

The railroad offers day-long excursions through the mountains of New Mexico and Colorado. Trips begin in either Chama or Antonito and start at $100 for adults and $50 for children. Passengers can ride the train from one end to the other and take a motor coach back or ride the train partway across the route and return aboard another train.

INFORMATIONcumbrestoltec.com

J.F.

PHOTOS BY JUSTIN FRANZ FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

A Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad passenger train, top, rolls down the east slope near Cumbres Pass, Colo. A pair of railroad workers, above, prepare a locomotive for the day’s run in Chama, N.M. “This place is the real deal,” says Stathi Pappas, the railroad’s assistant general manager, who spends most of his days restoring equipment built more than a century ago. “There really is no place like this on Earth.” The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic runs daily from May until October.

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