The Rio Grande Southern

[@johncouturie9710]

Wonderful video. Spectacular views. Thank you for your for sharing your work.

[@johnlofthouse6159]

Thank you Austin great photography, in particular the meadow shots; with the river in the center. My wife and I have been visiting Chama close to 30 years, we camp at Russ Patterson's Rio Chama RV campground. As an old brit train spotter! I love being down there. I also agree your editing really hits the spot! Thanks again

[@scvandy3129]

Great camera placement; clean, unobstructed views; fantastic assemblage of rolling stock; beautiful weather. I especially liked the coverage at 18:00 with the clean river flowing in the foreground. Bravo! I'm a previous rider who of course now feels, "I wanna to go back!" However I fully realize I could not recreate what's in these 22 minutes of awe, beauty and joy. Thank you for compiling 1) "the special" and 2) the video footage.

[@NarrowGauge1]

Great looking freight train ... I agree with other posters. Austin : Fantastic video from varying angles and brilliantly edited. Thanks for a terrific effort.

[@johnhirtle4300]

Beautiful train beautifully documented! Thank you for this treat!

[@njjeff201]

Great shots... good angles. Loved the cabooses. I could almost taste the black lung in my chest

[@paulsadowski7504]

Wow great job filming and editing. Thank you for posting it for all to enjoy. This some of the best footage I've seen.

[@petewahkoowah2652]

This video is simply perfect. The locomotive, it's gaggle of freight cars captured in various angles showing off why steam is so beautiful. Of course, the local scenery is gorgeous. Its a reminder of how this country once was. Simple, expansive. Yet, beautiful to look at. I love this video because it reminds me that life can be so beautiful and uncomplicated. Which may seem kinda funny considering the mechanics of that locomotive. Its driver arms alone, are like a finely tuned Swiss watch. Just wild country side and rolling mountain scenery and a train. Such scenes, like this, are very educational. People, of all ages, need to get off their cell phones and tablets and come watch this history being portrayed right before their very eyes. As rail fans, we love our trains. Whether it's a modern Tier IV GEVO pulling containers or A P-42-DC pulling Amtrak double deckers, we love our trains. However, it's the actual history of trains that must be preserved for all future generations. Its a daunting task. The revenue required to maintain such equipment as you see in this beautiful video is staggering. Many just volunteer. Putting muscle and brain together to create something everyone can enjoy. If you think you can afford the time, the expense and perhaps a few extra dollars, go see these beautiful trains. You will not be disappointed. For those of us who model railroad, this video is a dream come true. Every detail of every single car, crummy and locomotive can be observed. This is important as Many of us rack our brains and our wallets to replicate in near perfect detail what you are seeing in this video. I love simplicity. Nature. The way things were, during a time in our country when, one had to be tuff, independent, reliable, but most of all rugged. Looking at this train reminds me of that time. Our country is certainly not perfect. We make our mistakes and we hopefully learn from them and move forward in life. Seeing this video reminds me of that as well. Today, it's hard to figure out just how we got so far off track. Just look at that locomotive. Nothing but natural coal, water and fire to drive her thru the passes. No fancy gizmos, gadgets or electronics. Just meat and potatoes. A real testament to man's ability to create fantastic machines that are simple in operation, yet very powerful and reliable. The "Old West" was once a haven for for all kinds of people coming from Europe. They came by the hundreds, then thousands. Each with ideas to build a life based upon trust, faith and loyalty. Though some strayed and created their own brand, there was one constant, one thing everyone loved. The train. Its ability to get man and materials to and fro was remarkable. If not shear genius. When you watch this video, think about that. Think about how important these trains really were. Today, everyone has a car or truck or motorcycle. Back then, it was horses, walking and trains. My compliments to the videos author for sharing these beautiful scenes from days gone by. It actually drew a tear as I realized how much I miss the old days. 🚂

[@TrainChamber]

I was in the Chama yard when they were setting up the freight consist. 455 was to depart to Antonito the in the morning earlier before I rode the train. Great Job!

[@maegscale]

Hi from Norway ! Love the video. My like made the likes 455

[@stephensfarms7165]

Great footage of train. Thanks 🙏👍👍👍

[@eduardorodrigues5009]

Wonderful !!! Perfect train !!!

[@marklewis298]

Great video Austin, of an amazing railroad. Thanks for sharing.

[@44492611]

That is the best looking photo freight I have ever seen. Great video.

[@crapthisisalongusern]

love the sound of this little loco

[@nathancorcoran5347]

They are cool RGS steam locomotives.

[@dcwarr14]

Nice micro wheelslip captures, and I'd love it if one of these days I'd find a photography special that didn't put on a smoke show.

[@AustinGoodwin1]

Photographers love the smoke but most don't understand how to fire a locomotive

[@TucsonBillD]

One of the issues of high altitude steam operation is that at higher elevations while coal will burn, it doesn’t burn efficiently, leading to pretty much constant black smoke. This was a problem back in the “old days” as well… check out period photographs. Also, the coal quality was not the best. All of these factors, as well as the zigzag profiles of the road lead to black smoke. It would be a mistake to blame engine crews for “poor firing techniques”.

[@southweststeamscenes7668]

great , thanks for sharing , liked and subscribed

[@Sugarmountaincondo]

Great Video, so nice to see the freight cars looking so healthy too, but the cattle car that was not looking so good disappeared later in the video, did they have to cut it out? Another boxcar, i think 3rd from the end had 1 side painted a pale yellow but it's other side was red, still in a repainting process? The Lava Water Tank i think at 5:00 needs a new coat of Yellow paint. Water Tank at about 10:00 also needs some preservation wood preservative or a coat of paint also. I only point these things out because America has lost so many railroad treasures in the past 70 years since steam was replaced with diesels. Still a great video in color on a crystal day of steam freight in action. 110%

[@chrisweiser6522]

Eric In Thailand Lava tank, a few miles west of Antonito, is no longer operational. The pump house is much lower than the tank, and only gets the occasional cosmetic care. These days a steel water car is usually posted there, on the adjacent siding.

[@drgw489productions]

Nice work on 455, or should I say 463

[@TDDrummer2]

It has disguised itself

[@rockislandred]

It's too bad in a way that Stan Midgley's Travelogue films of the RGS in the late 40's are not available to the public. I know at least some are preserved at the UCLA film school and library.

[@farmerdave7965]

Best video ever !!!

[@Jen-m1q]

Rio Grande!

[@phatboy3718]

Hey austin! How are you? 463 was re-lettered and re-numbered as 455 isn't it?

[@ryanfrost3669]

How do you find out about these events?

[@pauljw7697]

Question: I see several water towers in the old Rio Grande Southern videos, but I don't see any way of pumping water up into tower. Years ago, we used wind mill water pumps to keep toughs full for livestock. Many of the water towers I see in these videos are on top of a hill, so gravity flow like I've seen on the Durango & Silverton is out of the question. Please advise how the water gets to the towers.

[@AustinGoodwin1]

Most of the water towers on the railroad are gravity fed by streams that are nearby and while they seem like they are on top of a hill, the mountains surrounding provide more than enough water for them. The exception being Lava tank (first tower in the video) that is currently inoperable due to the pump house down the hill being out of service.

[@jamessims446]

The tanks higher than the stand pipe. Pretty simple

[@steffenrosmus9177]

@@jamessims446 does not answet the question how the tank was filmes.

[@1TruNub]

For the grander good

[@jonathancordovaceo]

good job

[@achuammukunjuspecialvinod2335]

I think 455 and 463 are twin sisters . 315 is cute I love her very much 😊😘

[@mumumaaaah]

Achu Ammu Kunju special Vinod 455 is a really great engine

[@phatboy3718]

What are you talking about? 315 isn't so cute

[@lescobrandon3047]

Someone please tell this Noo Yawker who loves NG why two apparently work cars and the caboose are orange. I always thought the RGS hacks were the same color red as the D&RGW. Also, the caboose is sporting what looks like an ancient light housing on its cupola, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a RR video so much as this one - no voices and great filming.

[@AustinGoodwin1]

From what I've been able to find, most RGS owned cars had a slightly lighter shade of boxcar red than the D&RGW and that seems to be evident on most of their freight equipment. Even the reefers had a more pale shade of yellow than The Grande reefers. Also the light light box on top of the cupola serves a very similar purpose as the marker lights on the sides of the caboose. At night this would be lit to signal the engine crew from the rear end of the train.

[@lescobrandon3047]

Austin Goodwin - thank you. I recently bought an On30 RGS “short caboose” which Accucraft had painted exactly like the D&RGW version. I will try to find old color photo’s so I can adjust the hue.

[@Mas4449]

Is there a difference between D&RGW and Rio Grande Southern?

[@drgw4883]

Mas4449 the RGS was a short line between Durango and Ridgeway, CO. The D&RGW was a huge class 1 railroad that had standard, narrow, and fuel gauge track. No rail survives of the RGS as for it was abandoned in 1951.

[@Mas4449]

DRGW 488 oh ok, thanks for the info!

[@drgw4883]

Mas4449 no problem, also, the final rails for the RGS were ripped up in 1953 (it's narrow gauge by the way)

[@chrisweiser6522]

The Chama folks re-lettered the engine as RGS 455, as part of an RGS excursion. The original 455 infamously rolled upsidedown a few miles west of the RGS main depot, back in the day. After it was fixed, it sported a "standard gauge" cab. My partner Karl and I got to run the "new" 455 for three days, as part of the advanced engineering course. A great time.

[@Mas4449]

Chris Weiser ep wow that sounds awesome!

[@empirecarpentry]

Go mudhen go!

[@Just_Another_Railfan]

Omg there are three operating k27s!!I thought there were only 2!

[@AustinGoodwin1]

There's still only two. This one is just 463 in movie paint

[@Just_Another_Railfan]

Austin Goodwin ok thanks for letting me know!

[@TrainChamber]

I actually think she looks better as 455

[@LMR78]

463 has sneak 100

[@drgw489productions]

They took 463 and re painted the decals to 455

[@mpcsp079]

あざっす！

[@therookie9276]

She is not that loud.

[@jacquesblaque7728]

They wouldn't have to carry so much coal if they turned less of it into their smokescreen. (Secondary combustion is the key.)

[@gregsmith1719]

Why so much black smoke? Poor fireing. Beautiful, otherwise.