Chama today is essentially a tourist town in Northern New Mexico. It is the New Mexican terminius of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. The railroad runs through northern New Mexico to Antonito, Colorado. It is a section of the old Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, a narrow-gauge railroad that ran from Denver, Colorado to Santa Fe, New Mexico with many extentions serving other communities as far away as Salt Lake City, Utah. (Tomasita's New Mexico Restaurant in Santa Fe was the railroad station at the end of that branch of the railroad.) If you drive through the Rio Grande gorge to Taos from Velarde on USHwy-68 you can see where parts of the old route ran through the gorge before leaving it to go north to the San Luis Valley. In Embudo you can still see some of the old buildings and a water tank that were in use when the railroad was operational before its closure in 1941. At that time the tracks were pulled up and sold as scrap metal leaving a road for locals to use to get to their property. The railroad is part of what was called the 'Chili Line.' (Another section of the old Denver & Rio Grande Railroad that is also a tourist railroad is the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado.)

You can book a ride on the old railroad. Of the several options available, we have found is that it is best to spend the night in Chama and ride the bus in the morning to Antonito and the train back to Chama. The train stops midway in Osier, Colorado where lunch is served. There is beautiful scenery through the mountains and passes along the way. The best time to ride the train is in October when the aspen trees are turning from green to gold!

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Gallery

Riding the train