Cumbres Pass

The railroad outlived its purpose and was bought anyway. Eastbound out of Chama the narrow-gauge line climbs a four percent grade, steep enough that trains have long needed a second engine. In 1969 the Denver & Rio Grande Western won permission to abandon its last narrow-gauge main line, ending steam in general freight service in the United States, and in 1970 Colorado and New Mexico bought the sixty-four miles from Antonito to Chama with nine locomotives and the Chama yard for $547,120. The bronze's 10,022 feet is the road; the rails top out at 10,015.

What the plaque says

This memorial is the property of the State of Colorado Cumbres Pass Near Continental Divide between the waters of the Rio Grande and the San Juan "Cumbres" is Spanish for "Summits" Altitude 10,022 feet Railroad built 1880 Toll road built 1881 Improved highway opened 1923 Erected by the State Historical Society of Colorado from the Mrs. J. N. Hall Foundation and by the State Highway Department and the U.S. Forest Service 1929

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad — 11 mi
  A narrow-gauge steam railroad from Chama over 10,015-foot Cumbres Pass to Antonito, kept narrow because nobody ever thought it worth converting.

More markers nearby

• Our Lady of Guadalupe — 24 mi