(NOTE!  Our new web address is friendsofcumbrestoltec.org.  Please save the new address in you browser favoites.  The links below will take you to FIDO and the Registration pages on the new and improved site!  Be sure to sign up to receive our news feed here!)

We are pleased to announce the release of our new website!  NOTE the new address at www.friendsofcumbrestoltec.org!

Welcome to a fresh new look, updated logo and all the information you will need to renew, join, donate, purchase merchandise and stay up to date!  The Volunteer Forms and Registration page will be updated in early 2021 with registrations beginning in April 2021.

Be sure to register on the RSS FEED for News Page Postings as they appear!  Happy Browsing!!

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Ted Norcross, a 30-year devoted Friends volunteer and an outstanding leader. His team is known as The Square Nail Gang; a name given the team as everything they worked on was put together with square nails. For more than two decades Ted (AKA the Slave Driver) and his team were responsible for many outstanding accomplishments in the reconstruction and restoration of the section town at Osier.   These historic structures and reconstructions are now enjoyed by all who ride the rails.

You always know when Ted was on the job. You would see his pipe and coffee cup and know he was not far away. He would often misplace his coffee cup but never worried about it being taken as he never washed the cup as it “made the coffee taste funny”. The last projects that Ted was involved with was the structural roof replacement on the Lava Pump house in 2019. He will truly be missed, especially by those who have had the pleasure of working with him.

Obituary of Ted McKillip Norcross

It is with regret that that we announce the passing of Glenn Hall a long time Friends member and one of the original COS Work Site founders. Glenn chronicled from start to finish the restoration of Pile Driver OB and spent 9 years on the current restoration of sleeper Car 470 (MOW 0252). His engineering skills were called upon many times, one of the most important was the design of the six-segment gear that OB’s platform rotates on. During the 90’s Glenn provided chronicling in Chama at work sessions and assisted in conversion of several hundred 35mm project slides taken over the years to digital storage for archival.  

Glenn will be truly missed and those who had the pleasure of working with him will have a treasure of memories.

His wife, Carla, has asked that in leiu of flower, donations be sent to the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railraod, Inc. to support Work Session activities. 

His obituary can be found by following this link: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/colorado-springs-co/glenn-hall-9358498

Due to additional travel restrictions by the Governor of New Mexico, all work sessions scheduled for Chama, NM are cancelled for 2020.

Work Sessions based in Antonito remain active and available for registration and work. Please refer to 2020 Project Schedule for available Work Session details.

PLEASE BE ADVISE: ANY travel in any form into New Mexico requires a 14 day quarentine through at least July 15.  Anyone travelling into New Mexico would be required by the State of New Mexico to quarentine for 14 days before joining a Work Session Crew.

Please refer to the NewMexico.gov website for updated restrictions in New Mexico.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a great deal of uncertainty throughout our nation. As you are aware this has impacted the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and its 2020 operating season. An abbreviated train schedule during the summer has been approved which reduces the normal 14 trains per week to just 6. The Friends have also had to cancel May work sessions plus sessions C & D in June.

Needless to say, this has and continues to impact the Village of Chama and the Town of Antonito as their businesses rely on revenue generated from train riders and Friends members when they come for work sessions.

On top of this, the Village of Chama is also dealing with costly repairs required for their municipal waterworks. Chama ran out of water on Friday April 10th and restored service but only at 33% of capacity. Residents continue to boil water with the National Guard positioning a tanker truck with potable water daily.

With that said, we are making this appeal to Friends members to consider a donation that will go to these communities to help them through these tough times. We appreciate you giving this some thought and if you are able please make any gifts payable to.

Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Inc.
Chama/Antonito Relief Fund
4421 McLeod Road NE, Suite F
Albuquerque, NM 87109

Chama and Antonito Relief Fund

As you know we are in troubled times with COVID-19.

With regret the Friends must announce the cancelation of Work Session C scheduled (June15th–19th) and Work Session D scheduled (June 22nd-26th).

We have been faced with a 58% reduction in attendance and find we are without necessary support elements.

The requirements for our working during COVID-19 include the wearing of mask, gloves, and physical separation are very difficult to overcome. Furthermore there have been recent problems pertaining with the Chama Village water system. Therefore, we believe it prudent to postpone the Friends work.

We will be working to establish several special sessions for project work:
* Cumbres Pass, project 1005
* Antonito, projects 1250, 1317, 0735 and 0736
* Osier for project 1333

These sessions will be announced shortly and will require registration on Form R-2S.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused however, we are looking forward to sessions later in the year. Thank You for your continued support!

Thanks,
John S. Engs, Board Member
COS Site Leader / Projects Chair
Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad

Given the current state of affairs as it relates to the Coronavirus pandemic the Special Session scheduled in Antonito starting March 22 is cancelled.  Further, Colorado Springs work sessions are cancelled through April 1^st.  We’ll assess the overall situation as it relates to work sessions & events in April and early May.  We always want to error on the side of caution and be vigilant to the health of our members. 

Work for the cancelled sessions will be absorbed in later work sessions.  Cancelled work session fees will be refunded - or let us know, and we can convert them to donations.

Thank you as we work our way through some trying times.

Please be in touch with our office if you have photos you plan to submit for the 2021 Calendar.  We would like to start the selection process as soon as possible.

ATTENTION MEMBERS!

Calendar Photo Submissions: We invite our members to send us photos for future calendar consideration. Please limit your submissions to 10 of your favorite photos highlighting the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad that you have taken.

Please send the highest quality/largest size image possible.

The best capture setting is the highest-quality JPEG or TIFF. Only RAW, JPEG, and TIFF file formats are acceptable.

• Largest possible file sizes are always recommended to produce the best results.
• 300dpi Use this formula if you’re not sure: pixels divided by resolution = printable size. Thus, an image of 1600 by 1200 pixels – each divided by 300 dpi – gives a print size of about 5 by 4 inches. That would be just marginally large enough for our ‘Thumbnail’ spots, but unusable as a feature or cover. We prefer photos as large as your camera can take them, so even with 5- or 8-megapixel cameras, shoot at the highest possible resolution.
• Shoot at the highest possible resolution.

PHOTO FILE MUST BE NAMED AS INDICATED! Please rename each photo using the following format: Photographer Name, Date Taken, Location (or Subject) NOTE NAME MUST BE FIRST such as:

     John Smith_May 31 2018_463 Crossing Lobato Trestle on a sundrenched day with wildflowers

Be sure to include a brief bio (WE WILL NOT USE “LAST YEAR’S BIO” this is your personal statement and we will not rewrite or edit YOUR information!) and contact information in a Word Document (NO PDF FILES! We need to be able to copy and paste!) along with your captioned photos or a Word Document that includes your photo file name and providing captions on a CD to:                                                         

             Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Inc.
             4421 McLeod Rd NE, Suite F
             Albuquerque, NM 87109.

Electronic submissions will be accepted at katharina@cumbrestoltec.org. If you prefer, contact us for an online file sharing link to use to upload your photos.

All photos submitted become property of the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Inc. and may be used in other promotional materials with credit given to the photographer.

Photo submissions that do not adhere to the above requirements will not be considered as part of the selection process.