The San Juan Express was a narrow gauge train that ran on the 3ft Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad route from Durango, Colorado via Chama, NM, Cumbres Pass and Antonito, CO to Pueblo, Colorado. The Express ran until the early 1950s and most of the narrow gauge trackage has since been abandoned. The only surviving narrow gauge track from the San Juan route is the 64 mile long Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad between Antonito and Chama, which calls its westbound train the Colorado Limited and its eastbound the New Mexico Express.
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The most notable area of the trip is Cumbres Pass at an altitude of 3,046m above sea level. Nearby is the lunch house at Osier, CO where present-day Cumbres & Toltec trains stop for lunch.
One of the most frequently used engines on this route was and still is the D&RGW K-36. Other locomotives used on this route included the D&RGW K-27, the D&RGW K-28, and the D&RGW K-37, and occasionlly the D&RGW C-18. One K-27 and one K-37 are used on the Cumbres & Toltec, with C-18 D&RGW 315 periodically visiting both the Durango and Silverton and the Cumbres & Toltec.
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad uses the portion from Antonio, CO to Chama, NM. The portion from Durango to Silverton (not part of the San Juan Express) is run by the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The line from Antonito to Alamosa, CO is now standard gauge only and belongs to the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad.
Union Depot (Pueblo, Colorado)
List of Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad lines
Narrow gauge railroads in the United States