CHIEFTAIN PHOTO/ERIN SMITH The San Luis and Rio Grande tourist train leans around a curve Thursday on its inaugural three-hour run from Alamosa to La Veta.

Train ride over La Veta Pass imparts nostalgic feelings

By ERIN SMITH
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

ALAMOSA - The thrill of riding a well-appointed passenger train over La Veta Pass was evident on the faces of happy passengers Thursday.

The debut of the new seasonal passenger train from Alamosa to La Veta was special for Debra Goodman, manager of the Alamosa County Chamber of Commerce, who climbed aboard a Pullman sleeper car built in 1948.

Also on board was Stephen Rasmussen, who wrote “The Rio Grande’s La Veta Pass Route: Gateway to the San Luis Valley.”

Passionate about trains since he could crawl, Rasmussen wrote the tome “because he is a rebel and no one else knew about the line,” his wife Pam explained.

There was hoopla at the historic Alamosa station. Following a brief ceremony, the train pulled out of the station, which will be the location of departures during the season that will run from mid-May to mid-October, to coincide with the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad's runs out of Antonito. There also will be a run from Alamosa to Antonito to link passengers with the narrow gauge.

From Alamosa east to La Veta, the train tracks parallel U.S. 160 through Blanca and Fort Garland, giving passengers a slightly different view of the Sand Dunes, Mount Blanca and the mountains. East of Fort Garland, the train meanders through the Sangre de Cristos, still south of the highway.

The train travels through two tunnels and goes around a horseshoe turn on the 60-mile run. Every foot of track presents a new view.

Ed Ellis, president of the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad, explained that his company, Iowa Pacific Holdings, bought the train from Rail America. Originally the Rio Grande Western Railroad, the train later belonged to Southern Pacific and then the Union Pacific before Rail America. The line handles more than 6,000 freight car loads each year.

Ellis said the freight trains hauling potatoes, barley and perlite out of the San Luis Valley are what make his company money. The trains will continue to run, but won’t interfere with the passenger trains.

Ellis said he and Don Shank, head of the Denver-Rio Grande Historical Foundation, put the passenger run together shortly after Iowa Pacific bought the line in December.

“I had to buy the railroad in order to ride the train,” Ed said.

Mile after mile of wonderful scenery on the sun-bright day passed before the train pulled into La Veta about 1 p.m. There the train was greeted by an estimated 400 people and scores of schoolchildren. Most of the crowd was wearing red for what was indeed a red-letter day.

Although there have been special trains over the route throughout the years, the last regular passenger train chugged down the tracks June 1, 1953, Steve Rasmussen said.