Cumbres & Toltec Scenic RR

[landnrailroader]

As I have mentioned, probably many times, I volunteered as a docent, basically a tour guide, at the C&TS starting in 2019. Through 2023, I had amassed 31 trips over the line either as a paying passenger or a docent, or perhaps 21 trips since in 2020 during the Covid, no trains operated out of Chama until Sept. 15, and all of my trips that year were round trips from Antonito to Osier which covers the same real estate twice each day. My wife voted against further trips to the narrow gauge land after 2023, i.e. until her sister wanted to do it and then the boss relented to allow one more trip. When the docent manager heard I was coming, he asked me to do one trip, so on 9-26-25 I did a paying trip on the parlor car, and then a docent trip on 9-28-25. This pushes me to do the route. There is a early version of the C&TS in the library which was done several years ago and Ron Picardi created many of the authentic structures for the line. It is an excellent work, given the limitations of 15 years or so ago. Now we have more accurate scenery to use, though we still are pretty limited in the track area, so it is difficult if not impossible to exactly create the track but we can come very close. For example there are a few 24 degree curves which would be 72.7 meter radius. In the Global shapes we have 72 meter radius curves, or 24.25 degree curves. I have added it to my "to do" list and I have digitized the whole 64 miles and I have created the route's terrain including distant mountains. There are no profiles available but we know that the westbound ruling grade is about 1.5% and eastbound about 4.5% and we can take measurements off of Google Earth that are probably accurate within a few feet. I maybe able to use Chama and Antonito from the old route as the author got the yard tracks pretty close.

On last week's trips, the Aspine were almost at full color. Most of the ones that turn yellow, had. Maybe 50% of those that turn orange, had. The small group east of Sublet that turns red had not started yet. I would guess that we were about a week before peak color - it is like the Blue Ridge Parkway, just Russian Roulette. For those that do not know, the Aspine is a peculiar tree. First a tree starts from a seed and grows into a mature tree. This is the "Mother" tree. But as it puts out roots, other trees spring up from those roots and those are call the "daughter" trees. Thus an entire grove, perhaps 10 or more acres are genetically identical. So when mama changes color, they all do which is why you may see acres of yellow and orange trees, with patches of green here and there. Those have not got mama's signal yet.

Jerry Sullivan

[Coonskin]

Jerry: I have some of the previous versions of the Cumbres & Toltec route. I would love for a Jerry Sullivan version to be created. If nothing else, track and bridges only.

If you do this, would you consider adding any tracks that existed prior to the C&TS? Those that want a pure C&TS route can had by simply deleting the tracks that are not currently in place, those that want the earlier version create a copy of the route and delete the C&TS specific tracks: Win-win!

Also, bear in mind that you will have to lower the DEM's by about -1500m in order to avoid drastic scenery "pop". This was learned by this chap that has several high elevation Colorado route projects on his hard drive.

Andre

[landnrailroader]

Andre, Others,

I really don't know what was there prior to the C&TS although most of the yard tracks at Chama have not been altered or changed and I don't think any have been removed either. The only questionable item there is the two tracks that angle off to the northwest from the area just north of the depot. I have been to Chama many times, the last being 2 weeks ago and I have never walked up to the far end of those tracks to see if they dead end, or tie back into the siding they take off from. The original version that I have, stubbed them off. The version in the library is pretty good and the most serious omission is the loop track at Osier which predates the C&TS and was used to turn the snow plows. Some more custom structures would be nice, especially the shop buildings at Antonito, the lunch room at Osier, and the old roundhouse/new shop at Chama. I would also challenge someone to do the old house at the corner of 3rd & Maple which has the sign "Victorian B&B". This is our preferred place to stay when in Chama. As for elevation issues, I didn't l ower the floor, though I considered it and when I generated the terrain (1/3 Dem, with DEMEX using my XP machine) I did not have any unusual pops or drops. If any of you go to ride, try to stay at the Victorian B&B. It is owned by John & Veronica Bush and he was the GM of the railroad for 8 years before retiring in the fall of 2020. Railfan extrodinaire too.

I do know of one siding that has been removed. At Big Horn, there was a siding, some of which is in place but the turnouts at the ends have been removed. A reasonable guess as to their location is possible, so I will plan to add it. Sidings exist, unchanged, at Osier, and Sublet. There was once a section house in the lower loop at WhipLash Curve and we can make a reasonable guess as to the location.

The standard gauge yard at Antonito is pretty much what the original multi-gauge yard was in pre-C&TS days, and you can see marks on the ground where the original mainline went toward the southwest, and aligned with the present narrow gauge. Since I have the Chili Line, as well as Chama to Durango in the "hope to do" list I will probably have two versions of the current C&TS, even if the only difference is at Antonito. The big issue with the Chili Line is just how did it get into Santa Fe. Can only make a reasonable guess there but we know it passed across the street from a church that is still extant.

I would challenge someone to do the combination 3-stall roundhouse and 2-stall engine house at Chama which are both of brick construction. Originally there were 7 stalls in the roundhouse and a turntable. The turntable was removed around 1937, and between then and 1968 or so the roundhouse was reduced to 3 stalls. I do not know if the engine house (2 stalls) at Chama was done before the C&TS or after but it should not be hard for someone to recreate the combination from aerial imagery such as Google Earth.

Ron Picardi did most of the custom structures in the original version and I will reuse those. I need to do a new truss bridge for the Chama River but the Cascade & Lobato trestles look correct and will be reused. The signage that was used in the original version is the correct font & shape but in some cases may be a bit large.

We do not have much variety in the narrow gauge track, so there is no way this can be done precisely correct but I'll do the best I can. Smoothness is most important although I am using .2% variations on 10 meter pieces for grade changes, whereas I would normally use .1%. Originally the line was laid with 40lb. rail, and by the end of D&RGW operation it was mostly 60lb. rail. Now that is being replaced with 2nd hand 90lb. rail. Thousands of ties have been replaced this year and the C&TS has a very modern optical liner-tamper, same type that is used on the wide gauge. They also have a modern ballast regulator and a few tampers.

I first rode the line in 9/2014 and have been back in 2016 through 2023 and then 2 weeks ago which may be my last. The plan was to ride the parlor car on Friday and then buy a coach ticket for Sunday while my wife and her sister did some girl things but at the last minute I was asked to "unretire" as a docent and work the eastbound on Sunday, 9/28. So I did and it never gets old. Counting 2020 when I made 10 trips, Antonito to Osier & back (covid issues shutdown Chama to Osier most of that season) which I count as 20 trips since they were repeats. With that and other docent runs, or paid trips, Sept. 28 was #33 and it NEVER GETS OLD. The Aspens were not quite at peak color. Most of the yellow/gold ones had changed and some of the orange colored groves but the red grove east of Sublet was still green.

The westbound on 9/25 had an engine issue. It was first reported that a spring broke and it limped into Cumbres but when the mechanical folks got there it was found to be a broken spring hanger which is easier to repair. The train arrived in Chama 2 hours late but the engine was held in Chama for a few days for further inspections, while another was fired up and used on our train of the 26th. On Sunday, we had a double header, Chama to Cumbres and on arrival there, the helper cut off and ran light to Osier & turned on the loop. There being no engine at Antonito, the new diesel made it's first revenue run to Osier where it turned and returned light to Antonito while our former helper handled the train on to Chama. On Friday the new diesel was on a work train picking up old ties at Cumbres.

Jerry

[wwhall]

One correction: There was no loop at Osier to turn snowplows in the years prior to the C&TS.. The loop was built in 1991, specifically to turn C&TS locomotives or trains at Osier. The construction of the loop in 1991 involved making a huge fill at the "fat" part of the loop. The amount of fill needed was actually underestimated, so the actual loop, as constructed, has much sharper curvature that was specified in the original plan. Yet today, the locomotives turning on the loop do so very slowly because of the sharper than "normal" curvature. Back in the D&RGW days, once a westbound plow train passed the wye at Big Horn, it was go for broke until it reached Cumbres to reach a place to turn. Since there was usually relatively little snow east of Big Horn, eastbound plow trains would often turn on the wye at Big Horn or via the connecting track at the horseshoe curve at Lava, then return to Chama. Check out John Norwood's writings about the snow blockades in his books or in his article that appeared in a 1969 issue of Trains magazine.

During the D&RGW days, there were snow blockades on Cumbres, and those actually got worse after the San Juan passenger train got discontinued in February 1951--the daily eastbound and westbound relatively lightweight passenger trains would clear off moderate snow accumulations. Once those were gone, the heavy freights operating on less regular schedules would struggle in heavy snow, sometimes bogging down or derailing. Then a real blockade would result. By the way, the passenger train was known as the "San Juan," not the "San Juan Express," as railfans often mistakenly call it. Its predecessor passenger train was the Colorado-New Mexico Express, but "Express" was never part of the latter passenger train's name.

The "new" 2-stall engine house in Chama was built by the C&TS. The "old" engine house had been reduced to two stalls by the D&RGW long before the C&TS came along. Remember, during most of the latter decades of D&RGW ownership, Chama was just an "away" terminal for trains and crews. Durango and Alamosa were the main terminals. During those years, the engine house at Chama only served to do minor servicing and minor repairs on locomotives. In many of the photos of locomotives in Chama from the 1940's-1970, the locomotives weren't even spotted inside the engine house between runs--they just sat outside.

For those wishing to operate the Cumbres line "prototypically" for the, say, 1925-1968 era, it is notable that, beginning after the delivery of the K-37 locomotives in 1928 and 1930, almost that whole class was pretty much assigned to the Marshall Pass and Monarch lines until 1951--they were seen relatively seldom west of Alamosa. This was done by the D&RGW because the heavier trains (Crested Butte coal and limestone from Monarch) were operating out of Salida during that period before the oil and gas drilling boom got underway in Farmington, NM. In 1951 (via the "Valley Line" between Alamosa and Mears Jct. south of Salida), all of the K-37s were moved to Alamosa, and most of the K-36s were moved to Salida (either via the Valley Line until it was removed, or via transload onto standard gauge flatcars for the trip from Alamosa to Salida on the standard gauge via Pueblo). After 1951, 484, 486, and 488 were the only K-36s working between Alamosa, Durango and Farmington. In a trade carried out over the standard gauge via flatcars, engine 487 went to Alamosa in 1952 and 486 was sent to Salida. Between then and the end of Marshall Pass in 1955 and the standard-gauging of Monarch in 1956, the K-36s were slowly transferred via the standard gauge from Salida to Alamosa--except for 485, which, fresh out of overhaul in Salida, fell into turntable pit in Salida in 1953, breaking its frame. 485 was scrapped in Salida and many of its usable parts found their way to 489, the last locomotive overhauled at the Salida backshop. One last story about 487--during its last years working out of Salida, it was used often to run the coal trains to and from Gunnison and Crested Butte on the Crested Butte Branch. It was common practice for a locomotive assigned to that duty to have a "yard pilot" affixed to the front of the locomotive. When it was moved to Alamosa in 1952, its yard pilot ("cowcatcher") was lost, so when it emerged from the Alamosa shop, a snowplow pilot was affixed to it. As there was no longer a "regular" pilot for it, 487 just kept its snowplow pilot year-round well into the C&TS era. I believe that, unless the 487 is "masquerading" as another K-36 for a photo freight, it still keeps its snowplow pilot.

For the record, I'm a long-time Colorado narrow gauge historian (50 years worth), but--oddly enough--most all of my trainsimming is of modern mainline train operations.

[landnrailroader]

WWHall,

I stand corrected on the loop, and the rest of your comments are most welcome.. I would have to say then that the existing version is probably correct as far as the time before the C&TS. I'm also using the "CR" series of road pieces for the parallel highway. Streets in Chama are an issue. Most are paved but in very poor shape, so we may just have to imagine some of those.

Since the loop at Osier was a C&TS addition, as is the new yard area at Antonito, I will release only one version of this new attempt, one configured as the current C&TS. We also know that there was a siding at Bighorn in addition to the wye, which existed in 2014 when I first rode the line and as I recall it was still in place a few years later but now it is gone, although a little of the track is still there. The existing version in the library also shows a spur from near the Chama wye to some kind of power plant or perhaps a sawmill. We know that in the D&RGW days there was at least one lumber producing mill in Chama but I don't know the location of it, so maybe this facility in the current library version is correct, or? In any case it is not there now.

I'll include mileposts and some structures.

Funny, your historical interests are in Colorado. Mine are in KY, TN, VA, & NC historically but like D.P.Morgan put it, "the NG gets in the blood and will not out". That was in the Oct'69 issue. I have all issues back to 1/53 most now in binders.
Twinkyllamas2 has put some really good from the front of the engine video, several sections of it, in YouTube. I think I know who this individual is but I can't confirm it. There is a very good route in the library covering most of the RGS. While I cannot say as to the accuracy of the track, I am impressed by the level of detail. For example, where an engine is sitting at a terminal, little piles of sand appear under the sanding lines. In the real world of steam, you often saw this, especially if the lines were being cleaned. My personal experience was with the Southern 4501, now at the TVRM where those sloths have put a STOKER on it.

Jerry

[landnrailroader]

Now the 2025 version of the track layers have reached just past Lobato siding & trestle and the NM road crew is catching up. Here is a scene near the north end of the area referred to as the "Narrows". The Chama River has cut through an area of glacial moraines making a rather narrow opening in the ridge that extends for a mile or more and originally the toll road referred to in histories of the San Juan Extension came through here. In later years it was considered a highway although it was a gravel, one lane road, as late as the end of D&RGW operation in 1968. But between then and the late summer of 1970, when the C&TS was started, workers were "improving" it to paved two lane. But this caused an early problem in that in several spots through this area, dirt & rocks from the highway work, buried the track. Not unreasonable because the highway folks at the time figured the railroad was abandoned or would soon be. We know that one of the first actions of the new entity was to move as much equipment to Chama as possible before winter because there it would be protected from vandalism. This issue is still prevalent in Antonito and the trains are no longer left on standby power at night because vandals were stealing the power cables. At the conclusion of my docent run, I had to take the PA speaker that contains the electronics into the station and put it's charger on in order that the next docent would not have a dead battery. There it was under lock and key at night.
In the area shown, modern retaining walls are used on the highway side of the track for many yards. These can be seen on Google Earth as a heavy black line and before the route goes up for grabs, I will put markers in to show the extents of these walls. I always told passengers that NO, those are not old, at least no older than 1970ish.

Jerry NARROWS.jpg

[Coonskin]

Jerry:

I see you're using TSRE. When finished, will the basic route load in MSTS RE? Or MUST it have TSRE for route modifications?

Andre

[landnrailroader]

Andre,

Honestly, I don't know. I haven't used MSTS/RE for anything but creating new routes in the past couple of years. I just use Geometry Extractor to do that, then I use DEMEX to shape terrain, and lastly, I do use MSTS and place one track, and one road piece way back in the scenery, far from any of the real route, just to create the database files. I have found that if they are not present, then TSRE will crash to desktop on opening the route. Now I have a later version of TSRE that includes the reload function for the marker files and that has helped a lot. Since there are no track charts that I know of, for the route, I make elevation points fairly close together. Now we read that the grade is 4% or more between Chama and Cumbres, well yes, and no. That is the compensated grade for curvature. The actual gradient, so far, has not exceeded 3.7%.

So the short answer is no. Any route that I create will be ass/u/med to be TSRE/ORTS only. I forced myself to learn TSRE but so far I have not been successful creating actiivities, so I use Track Viewer to be sure there are no real breaks in the route. Pseudo breaks occur when a vector is reversed and I don't know how to get past those, so I eyeball the location very close and then ignore it.

Jerry

[wwhall]

A couple of more notes about the D&RGW/C&TS/D&S. During the oil/gas drilling boom in the San Juan Basin (Farmington), 70-car trains of pipe and drilling mud were not uncommon. So, during the 1950's, the siding at Toltec was lengthened to accommodate them for meets. A long tail was also constructed at the Big Horn wye (not at the siding) for meets there. Similarly, the Cumbres siding was also lengthened. In Chama, what is now the "tail" of the wye used to be the main line to Durango. To this day, C&TS train crews will indicate when the wye switches are lined for the tail of wye by saying, "the switch is lined for Durango." The Skyline lumber mill was located next to the line to Durango. I saw all of that as a kid back in 1968, right before the Chama-Durango-Farmington segment was shut down in December 1968, then torn up in 1970. On September 5-6, 1970, the remnants of a Pacific tropical storm slammed SW Colorado, causing severe damage to 22 miles of the 45 mile-long Silverton Branch. (Similar late summer/fall tropical storms did severe flood damage in SW Colorado in 1909, 1911 and other years--one just hit SW Colorado in the last few days, causing some flooding of Vallecito Creek outside of Durango.) One of the D&RGW Division Engineers that I knew (who was, at that time, part of the rebuilding effort of the Silverton Branch over the 1970-71 winter) told me that the D&RGW would have likely filed to abandon the Silverton Branch had it not had about 50 miles worth of rail sitting in Durango that had been salvaged from the removal of the Farmington Branch earlier in 1970.

A few more comments about locomotives. Until the end of D&RGW narrow-gauge operations in 1968, Alamosa was the main backshop for narrow-gauge locomotive overhauls. Starting in the early 1960's, as locomotives became due for heavy work (flues, running gear, staybolts, etc.), they were just set aside. In 1960, there were the 3 K-28s in service (473, 476, 478--the rest had gone to Alaska in World War II, never to return), 9 K-36s (480-484, 486-489--485 had been scrapped in Salida), and 9 K-37s (490-495, 497-499--496 was scrapped in the 1950's). As the 1960's wore on, more and more locos were sidelined. 490 was scrapped after being stripped for parts--it sat for several years as a hulk sitting on a flatcar. By the end of D&RGW operations, 480, 481, 482, 486, 489, 491, 492, 494, 495, and 499 were out of service, sitting in Alamosa. In fall 1968, with the end of D&RGW operations of the Alamosa-Durango-Farmington lines assured, the last locomotives were overhauled in Alamosa. 473, in such poor shape that it could not even pull a train, was run light from Durango to Alamosa for overhaul and K-36 481 was pulled from the dead line and overhauled. The last D&RGW train that ran from Alamosa to Durango before D&RGW abandonment occurred in early December 1968--overhauled 473 pulled the train of a few cars with the 481 dead-in-consist. At the end of D&RGW operations between Alamosa and Durango, only K-28s 473, 476, 478 and K-36 481; and K-37s 497 and 498 (K-37s which had been "trapped" in Durango at the end of Alamosa-Durango operations); and derelict K-27 464 were in Durango. The larger K-36s never operated north of Hermosa or Rockwood until after the D&RGW sold the Silverton Branch in1981--and were only used north of Durango a couple of times on work trains during the 1960's.

All of the various K-36s and K-37s that operated on the Silverton Branch other than 481, 497, and 498 were trucked there (498 was never restored to operation). As for the rest, 482, 483, 484, 487, 488, 489, 492, 494, and 495 went to the C&TS. Eventually, the C&TS traded 482 to the D&S for the 497. K-36 486 went to the Royal Gorge Park near Canon City, Colorado for display, but was eventually traded to the D&S for K-37 499. K-37 491 remained in Alamosa and eventually went to the Colorado Railroad Museum where it was restored to operating condition. The ex-D&RGW K-36 and K-37 locomotives likely represent two of most numerous single classes of steam locomotives still in existence in 2025 in the U.S, and likely are the largest two single classes of steam locomotives still in operation in the U.S. One last trivia note--the "original" locomotives transferred to the C&TS from the D&RGW in 1970 that remain on the C&TS--483, 484, 487, 488, 489, 492, 494 and 495--have been under C&TS ownership longer than their D&RGW ownership of them as narrow-gauge locomotives (the K-37s were converted from standard gauge locos in 1928 and 1930, but had been originally built as standard gauge 2-8-0 locos in the early 1900's).

[landnrailroader]

WW,

NG150R_ERRORS.png That is all very interesting. It appears that the C&TS currently in the library should more likely be renamed as the last piece of D&RGW around Chama. I note that as you say, there was no loop at Osier, and here you mention some other variances also. So I am going concentrate on making my effort as nearly as possible to what the C&TS is today, and then I will check the one in the library (from which I'll borrow some structures anyway) and see if anything needs to be changed.

On another subject, here is a image of some NG 150r 1 degree pieces. The gap between them is because on careful examination, the creator made the connect points slightly beyond the end of the shape. I have also noticed a few pieces where the connect point seems to be correct, but the bounding box (red box in TSRE) is much longer than the object. I am avoiding the use of those 2 or 3 pieces. A few other pieces have the correct gauge but the individual rails are much thicker than the rest. Those I also avoid. And finally, the NG pieces might reasonably represent track conditions on the D&RGW or RGS in the old days, but today's C&TS has very well maintained track although a few areas of old ties etc. remain but are being replaced at the rate of several thousand annually and the rail is being relaid with second hand 90lb. rail. To this old retired railroader, (Southern & CSX) it seems almost too smooth.

Jerry

[landnrailroader]

And so the track gang continues. Evidently they got their instructions mixed up since they are working west to east but I figured that Chama yard would be the most complex location and so far it is, by far. So this image is looking from a point just southwest of the grade crossing near Coxo where CO-17 crosses the track. In the not to far distance is Windy Point, a spot that amazes me every time I see it, especially when going east. For those not familiar with the spot, the lower level of markers is the highway and the upper level is the railroad.. The railroad will continue about a mile to the left and then turn 180 degrees on a 24 degree curve. Most curves on this line do not exceed 20 degrees in real life (they may in the simulation just because we have a very limited number of curve values) but here and on the Tangle Foot and Whip Lash crurves we have 24 degree or nearly 24 degrees. This is about 6 degrees tighter than you find on a really rugged wide gauge route. For example there was a 18 degree curve in the Natural Tunnel of VA but it was eased to 16 degrees years ago to accomodate the new U-30C engines acquired around 1968 by SR. and there are a few 18 degree curves on the Old Fort Loops each of Asheville, NC.
Past Windy Point toward the upper right corner is Cumbres Pass which is the highest point on the C&TS.

Jerry WINDYPT01.jpg

[landnrailroader]

Here is another interesting place on the C&TS. It has been called Cumbres Loop over the early years but the name became "Tanglefoot Curve" after a sort of accident many years ago. It was the practice for a brakeman to get off the train, probably the engine, as it was going left to right over the near part of the curve at the location where the track levels are close together, about 60ft. horizontal and a little less vertical. He would then go to the lower level and do a roll by inspection, hopping back on to the caboose. But one day, a brakeman tripped on a plant of some kind and landed near the lower track. The train stopped and the engine crew finding that he was more embarrassed than hurt joked that he got his foot tangled up, hence the name, Tanglefoot Curve. The reason it is here is that holding the ruling grade to around 1.5% all the way from Antonito, the track still needed about 60 feet in a short distance to reach Cumbres Pass, so this loop was created to achieve that within the required distance. Such a curve in survey terms is a development (or envelopment, I forget which) curve and a similar arrangement is at the "Big Ten" curves on the approach to Moffat Tunnel a few miles west of Denver.

After taking several more looks at the C&TS that is in the library, we really ought to rename the zip file of that route because what it really is, is a very good rendering of the Denver & Rio Grande Western line over Cumbres, prior to the abandonment of 1968, several years prior. I noted that most of the roads are done as dirt or gravel and what is now CO-17 takes the old route from the last road crossing west of Cumbres to the summit. Another point on these long curves is that we don't have exact curvature pieces for them. For example, the more than 180 degree turn in the distance measures 85 meters radius on Google Earth which would be 20.5 degrees. We have a choice of 72 meter (24 degree) or 90 meter (19.4 degree) and complete use of either would throw the line of track off the center of fills which are visible in the terrain generated by 1/3 arc-res. data. So the curve is a mixtureof 72 & 90 meter pieces that will keep the path as close as possible to the center of the fills.

Jerry TANGLEFOOT.jpg

[Coonskin]

Hello Jerry!

Yes, the narrow gauge track set is definitely an "after thought". Example: I have no idea why the 40m narrow gauge straight has large rails, nor why he did not include diverging routes for the switches. It's sort of like Okrasa threw us NG fans a bone to keep us quiet, then returned to developing more and more std gauge pieces.

A modeler by the name of Jared Singletary created an add-on pack for narrow gauge that included diverging route switches for both the points switches and the stub switches. Those have proven invaluable for me in my narrow gauge route building. However, to my knowledge, he never got those new track pieces added to the T-section dat system, so all of my narrow gauge routes have to use a custom T-section dat file. That means my narrow routes truly need a be lumped into a mini-install for MSTS. I do not know how Open Rails handles T-section dat files, so I can't comment on that.

All fer now!

Andre

[landnrailroader]

As the track gang proceeds east, they have dropped into the Los Pinos valley and rounded the sharp curve at the upper end of that, next to the CO-17 highway. Andre, you are right and there is one other itty bitty thing and that is that the lowest increment of curve is 1 degree, so it is impossible exactly line up tangents as they should be and this is noticeable as one rounds this curve and continue eastward on the route. I will not tolerate a deviation in standard gauge, but then I have .5 and in some cases .25 degree increment pieces. Anyway, here is what a buzzard sees flying over the area. The solitary trees are just to mark elevation points and should be deleted in the upload version.

By the way, the river is called the Rio de los Pinos which at this point is a small creek. The locals pronounce the name with a soft "o" so it sounds like a part of anatomy. My sweet daughter-in-law who is from Mexico says it should be a hard "O" and translates as "River of Pines" or just Pine River.

Jerry LOS_PINOS01.jpg

[landnrailroader]

Andre,

I think there is a limit to what can go in the tsection.dat, i.e. limit to quantity, so it may be maxed out. I suspect the TSRE & ORTS use it pretty much like MSTS did since it is basically a index to pieces that may be common to any number of created routes.

Jerry