In His Hand

On one of the days Brian and I were staying in Taos, we drove just over an hour to Antonito, Colorado to ride the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad.

 

This railroad was construction in 1880 as part of the Rio Grande's San Juan Extension.

Today, the age-old locomotive still operates on coal and steam on a narrow gauge track of 3 feet, just like it did many years ago.

The trip was 64 miles long and it took six and a half hours to complete, as it travelled along the two neighbouring states of Colorado and New Mexico.

 

These two state lines were crossed a total of eleven times during the excursion.

 



 

In an abandoned town called Sublette in New Mexico, the train stopped for a short period of time to supply the necessary water for the steam locomotive.



 

 

At midway, the train stopped again at a rustic town called Osier in Colorado for us to have lunch in an old train station.

  

On route, the Cumbres and Toltec train entered three tunnels. The first one was Mud Tunnel (pictured below). Then Phantom Curve, and Rock Tunnel came next.

 

 

The train worked very hard trekking through Cumbres Pass because it had an elevation of 10,015 feet. 

 



 

Cumbres Pass is actually the highest mountain pass reached by rail in the United States

 



 

As the train started its deep decent, the sweeping views of the Chama Valley began to unfold.

 

 

The beauty of the Colorado and New Mexico earth depths and mountain peaks reminded me they  really all belong to God and are in His hand. 

 

"In His hand

are the depths of the earth,

and the mountain peaks

belong to Him."

Psalm 95:4 (NIV)