Day 5 - Monday 8/30/2021 - A Visit to RGS 20 and Heading Home
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Cumbres & Toltec was running a slightly modified scheduled which meant there were not any regular passenger trains scheduled on Monday. Without anything moving on the railroad, I decided to head over to Antonito to see if anything was going on there. The following day, the RGS 20 and the 463 dressed as RGS 455 were scheduled to have a charter out of Antonito. So I checked out of The Hotel and headed over, arriving at 9:00am.
Sure enough the RGS 20 was out of the Antontio engine house being fired up. The 168 was there as well from her all night run as well, simmering next to the 20. The 'RGS 455' was also outside beside RGS 20 but wasn't hot yet. It was neat to see the RGS 20 and RGS 455 (463) side by side so I took it in for a good hour and got a few shots. It was hard to leave the RGS 20 but a little before 10am I pulled out. I drove through Antonito a bit before heading down the Chili Line back to Albuquerque which was roughly a 3 hr drive. I was able to get a few grab shots of the Tres Piedras water tank that was still standing along the way.
Sure enough the RGS 20 was out of the Antontio engine house being fired up. The 168 was there as well from her all night run as well, simmering next to the 20. The 'RGS 455' was also outside beside RGS 20 but wasn't hot yet. It was neat to see the RGS 20 and RGS 455 (463) side by side so I took it in for a good hour and got a few shots. It was hard to leave the RGS 20 but a little before 10am I pulled out. I drove through Antonito a bit before heading down the Chili Line back to Albuquerque which was roughly a 3 hr drive. I was able to get a few grab shots of the Tres Piedras water tank that was still standing along the way.
I arrived at the Albuquerque airport and was able to return the car just fine. There was a shuttle over to the airport but the security line was very light so I easily was at the gate for my 2:50pm flight. I grabbed a smoothie before the flight and had an uneventful flight back to Houston, with my scheduled arrival time of 6:00pm. I don’t recall but seem to remember the plane being 45 minutes or so late. None the less, it was good to be back home.