Chama, NM: Preserved Wood Coal Tower

(Satellite)

Rick Denton posted
COALING TOWER
SAND BLDG
Chama new mexico
Still standing.

At first, I thought this wood tower was a testament to the dryness of the southwestern air. Then I remembered that Chama is at one end of a preserved Denver & Rio Grande narrow gauge route. So its preservation is probably a combination of dry weather and some maintenance.

Nadine Clouse, Aug 2015

Burnett Crispell posted
K-36 No. 487 with a pilot plow sits by the coaling tower in Chama on the C&TS RR 8-31-2011

Andy Why posted, cropped
Coal tipple at Chama Yard, NM. The steam trains still run on coal here, but the tipple is no longer used. A front-end loader tips the coal into the tender.

 

Dennis DeBruler commented on Andy's post
They also have a wood water tower.
36°54'15.0"N 106°34'40.0"W

Looking at a satellite image, I noticed that they also preserved the wooden water tower. They have painted it yellow.

Kenneth E. Goff, Jul 2017

Andres Montoya, Jun 2018

Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Inc. posted

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is a National Historic Landmark. The railroad and the Friends have done an excellent job of keeping the 64 miles of the line as close to historically accurate as possible. 

The top photo shows the Chama yard looking north towards the coal tipple. The depot can be seen on the far left, with a boxcar on the track closest to the platform. In the distance, at the center, you can see the coal tipple and water tank. To the right is the still intact roundhouse. This photo was taken in 1940 by John W. Barriger, III. It can be found in the Friends’ Historic Photo Collection. RD010-094. 

The bottom photo, taken 83 years later, shows the railyard looking very much the same. The Cumbres & Toltec Passenger cars can be seen blocking the view of what is left of the roundhouse.

Shelby Burkhardt provided two photos from the 1970s as comments on the above post.

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