Chasing Trains: Chama, New Mexico ~ September/October 2023

If you Google "chasing trains," you will find page after page of books, videos, music videos, and the like written by and about the wacky, wonderful world of people who like to ... well ... chase trains. Jeff is one of those fine folks, and I am his faithful sidekick, riding shotgun and reminding him to keep his eyes on the road. You know ... just so we don't die. We have - quite literally - several thousand photographs of the Cumbres and Toltec and close to a thousand of the Durango and Silverton. Yet here we are again in Chama, and yes, we've been out to chase trains twice together, and Jeff has gone once by himself. He returns each time and stares at the fruits of his labors for an hour or more, plotting and planning how he might improve the lighting, the F stops, and the angle. He often finds it necessary to regale me with the fine details. (I try valiantly not to let my eyes glaze over, but I'm lost when he starts with the F-stop thing.)  To be fair, I have my own collection of iPhone snaps of said trains taken at various times of the year. This year, I pay homage to the "railfan foto fanatics" - how's that for alliteration? There are, in my humble opinion, a variety of them. They range from the iPhone casual "foto fan" to the tripod-toting, big lens-lugging, and videography vagabonds. Some are quite harmless - loveable even. And then there are the shot hogs - the people who cruise in moments before the train is to pass on by and step in front of you after you have carefully lined up your shot.

Take this guy, for example. I was on the opposite side of the street with my iPhone in hand, ready to capture a shot of my favorite fanatic (along with a few others) photographing the train as it passed by. It was going to be great. I mean really great. And then that green car swooped in, he jumped out, and totally wrecked my shot. I said nothing but gave him my evil eye for the rest of the morning. But ... I don't think he noticed.

The photos above were taken on Thursday, September 28th. I wasn't able to capture the drone that one guy was using, nor did I capture the fellow with a stepladder in the back of his pickup truck. The photos below came from our jaunt on Sunday, October 1st. There was a whole gang of gaga guys up and down the highway. Even when Jeff took us "off-roading" to some hidden away spot, danged if some of them showed up there too! In fact, one of them nearly ran over me as he tried to jockey for position. I'm telling 'ya - it's the wild wild west of wailwoad photogwaphy out here!

We finally took our last photos together and headed to Antonito (where Jeff took some shots of artifacts on display), with a stop at a little place we have been to over the years - sometimes it's open; sometimes it's closed, and then reopens another year under new management. We were delighted to find it open with a fellow grilling hamburger, cheeseburgers, and the "loaded cheeseburger," which turned out to be an open-faced hamburger topped with cheese and then smothered in hatch green chili "gravy" - messy but very good.

As we waited for our order, Jeff, ever vigilant, began to scroll through his photographic booty for the day. I did not, however, have to listen to the running commentary.

We made one last stop to take in one of the most gorgeous vistas I have ever seen. We met a couple from Connecticut towing one of those teardrop campers. When we admired it, they invited us to take a look. It was the larger of the nuCamp models and had a double bed in the back and a bunk bed in the front with a tiny kitchenette (complete with a 2 burner cooktop and tiny sink) and a full bath with shower opposite the kitchenette. It's a really great setup.

The aspens are not in full color as they were six years ago at this time, but each time we go for a drive, we notice more and more color.  We even saw some pinks on our excursion today!

What a lovely part of the world!