Here's more steam, this time from Colorado, the Durango & Silverton Mine Train...
Fascinating video, esp. the caboose snow plow. I had no idea that train even ran in the winter, thought it to be a summers only venue. That part of Colorado used to get a lot of snow- pre-drought anyway.
Here's an interesting tidbit on its recent operations:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durango_and_Silverton_Narrow_Gauge_RailroadIn June 2018, the railroad shut down for several weeks due to a wildfire, dubbed the 416 fire, which was fought by two airtankers, six helicopters and some 400 firefighters on the ground.An estimated 54,000 acres of the San Juan National Forest were burned, with losses estimated at more than $31 million. Given the fire risk from coal cinder-sparked wildfires, the railroad's owner plans to invest several million dollars to replace coal-power with oil-power for the locomotives and acquire diesel-powered locomotives.The railroad was suspected of sparking the blaze and some area businesses and residents filed a civil lawsuit against the railroad and its owner in mid-September.
In March 1997 Bradshaw sold the D&SNG to First American Railways, Inc., located in Hollywood, Florida. Then in July 1998 the railroad was sold again to American Heritage Railways. At the time American Heritage Railways was headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida. Since then their headquarters have been moved to Durango, Colorado. The D&SNGRR has two museums, one each in Durango and Silverton.I'm presuming the sale and subsequent move to abandon coal must be efforts to blunt that lawsuit. Be interesting to know where that lawsuit is on the docket these days. By any measure it's good the line soldiers on but a real shame to see steam power lost.