Cameras from Diverging Clear Productions traveled through six states shooting steam locomotives in action in 2012. Highlights from each of those operations are together in this new DVD, “Steamin’ In 2012.”
We open the program in Chama, New Mexico, on the Cumbers & Toltec Scenic Railroad. We follow a pair of trains headed up by K-36 Mikados, numbers 484 and 488. First we follow a train out of Chama, as it climbs the four percent grades of Cumbres Pass. Once the outbound train reaches the summit at Cumbres, we head to Los Pinos and pick up a train bound for Chama. The little Mikes sure put on a great show in the Big Country!
We move from one icon of Western railroading to another, as we find Union Pacific 4-8-4 #844 heading up The Shiloh Limited through Missouri and Illinois. The train was operated in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the Civil War Battle of Shiloh, and featured a sizeable train carrying reenactors and a flatcar loaded with Civil War cannons. The 844 put on quite a show, making track speed with a long passenger train.
From a late model, high drivered passenger locomotive, we move to the smallest standard gauge Pacific ever built: Little River Railroad #110. The tiny 4-6-2 was the pride of the Little River Lumber Company in eastern Tennessee when she was built in 1911, and currently hauls passengers on excursions between Coldwater and Quincy, Michigan. We filmed the locomotive operating over the course of three days in May.
From southern Michigan we head to central Illinois, where another early 20th Century Baldwin is in operation. The Monticello Railway Museum operates 1907 built Southern Railway 2-8-0 #401 on selected weekends from May through October, and in 2012 turned the locomotive to operate facing north. While this was done to equalize wear to the running gear, it also served to give new views of the locomotive pulling trains over the museum’s three mile mainline. #401 never looked better, pulling trains away from the Wabash depot in downtown Monticello and barking up Camp Creek Hill.
From Illinois, we head back out west to find another 2-8-0 running on the Rio Grande Scenic over La Veta Pass from Alamosa, Colorado. #18 is a well known locomotive, having gained fame pulling trains for the Grand Canyon Railway from 1989 through 2002. We catch locomotive hauling a five car train eastbound out of Alamosa in August. Just as she did on the Grand Canyon, #18 gets to stretch her legs on a lengthy run.
We end the program back on the mainline, as Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 #765 returned to work for the Norfolk Southern. Running over the old Wabash from Fort Wayne to St. Louis, the locomotive was bound for the Gateway City to haul employee appreciation specials as part of the railroad’s 21st Century Steam program. We see highlights from the deadhead run to St. Louis, along with highlights from the employee specials. The 765 has never looked or sounded better, and put on quite a show for all who came trackside.
