Steam

Lotsa railroad talk going on over at Lou’s place today. So, in honor of that railroad thing… which is waaay cool, doncha know… here’s a lil two minute vid I shot of the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic railway back in June, 2004. And the video IS little, literally. My camera (like most digital cameras these days) has video capability, but it’s very basic and the output is quite small in size and lacking in quality. But…it works, and this will give you some idea of what the C&TRR is all about. (I’ve posted about the C&TRR before.)

Just a brief aside… Being “of a certain age,” I can lay claim to have ridden as a paying passenger on a steam train. The year was 1968 and the place was Japan. I was en route to Wakkanai Air Station, which is on the extreme northern tip of Hokkaido, the northernmost of the Japanese Home Islands. The normal mode of transport up to Wakkanai was via “Scare America” from Yokota AB direct to Wakkanai. Fortunately for me, Air America was otherwise occupied at the time I had to get to Wakkanai, so the nice folks at Yokota scheduled me on commercial air from Haneda to Sapporo and via train from Sapporo to Wakkanai (there was no commercial air service into Wakkanai back then; there is now). Little did I know that I was going to ride a steam train…

My journey took place in the summer and it was spectacular. Hokkaido is a lot like New England when it comes to topography…mountainous, forested, and green, green, green. Summers are mild and winters brutal up that way, so it’s a very good thing my encounter with steam trains took place in the summer. The trip took about eight hours, if memory serves, and was further enhanced by the fact that one could open the windows up (wide! wide enough to receive repeated warnings from the conductor to quit hanging out of them...) and take in the air. Which was a mixed blessing…what with the cinders and smoke from the engine swirling in constantly. But Hey! That was part of the experience. And what an experience it was…