Antonito, CO

Main Street 2000

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This lovely town is located on the southern edge of the San Luis Valley about 30 miles south of Alamosa near the New Mexico border. It is flat in Antonito, a semi-arid region of Colorado and New Mexico. Although the location is in Colorado the culture is an extension of northern New Mexico and the people there are of Spanish and Mexican decent.

In Antonito you will find a true "Company Town" founded by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG). The town was formed in 1880 just two miles from the town of Conejos, the site of the oldest church in Colorado. It was common for the expanding railroad to create these railroad towns near towns like Conejos. If the existing townsfolk would not meet the railroad's demands, the railroad would simply start a new town a few miles away.

During the days of full operations on the D&RG Antonito was the connection between the narrow gauge tracks west to Chama and the standard gauge tracks east to Alamosa Colorado. Starting in 1901, much of the yard was made dual gauge track consisting of three rails. The second and third rail were spaced for standard or narrow gauge equipment. This allowed both types of equipment to run on the same track. Even trains of both standard and narrow gauge cars could be connected using an idler car with three possible types of coupling.

The original depot, built in 1882, is still standing east of main street. This is a remarkable cut lava stone structure with fine wood detailing. The old Depot is still used by the railroad to house radio equipment.

Directly north of the old depot was the original D&RG yard and engine service facilities. The the original water tank is still visible along with the old filler pipe. Most of the track in the area around the old water tank was dual gauge at one time. Dual gauge track had three rails that allowed both the narrow and standard gauge equipment to operate on the same ties and embankment.

The new Antonito Depot was constructed in 1978. It houses the restrooms, ticket office and waiting area for the current passenger operations of the Cumbres & Toltec railroad. There is a two bedroom apartment on the second floor for the a night watch-person. The night person makes sure things are secure and has the honor of periodically stoking the locomotives during the night to keep up the minimum level of steam (the locomotive boilers are fired with coal continually when they are in daily operation).

A new 20,000 gallon water tank was constructed in the new narrow gauge yard in 1977. The new tank is a made of redwood on a heavy timber base.

This water stop on the railroad is in an arid region that borders the more forested areas to the west. As the name suggests, Lava is located on top of an old lava flow that forms a plateau along the Los Pinos River valley. Lava still sports a restored water tank and the original pump house located on the Los Pinos River several hundred feet from the tracks.