A Hefty Hunk of Steamed History Canvas Print

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Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad.
This engine, #492, sits at its final rest at the narrow gauge train station yard in Chama, New Mexico.

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad was originally constructed in 1880 as part of the Rio Grande’s San Juan Extension, which served the silver mining district of the San Juan mountains in southwestern Colorado. Like all of the Rio Grande at the time, it was built to a gauge of 3 feet between the rails, instead of the more common 4 feet, 8-1/2 inches that became standard in the United States. The inability to interchange cars with other railroads led the Rio Grande to begin converting its tracks to standard gauge in 1890.

With the repeal of the Sherman Act in 1893 and its devastating effect on the silver mining industry, traffic over the San Juan Extension failed to warrant conversion to standard gauge. Over the ensuing decades it became an isolated anachronism, receiving its last major upgrades in equipment and infrastruc...

As a kid I was fascinated with photographs. Look. Life magazine. National Geographic. That well-captured interplay of light and shadow...the notion of people, places and moments - all suspended in time. My first "real" camera was a Minolta Srt101. I was seduced. As a teenager, I learned to develop film while working at Wyle Laboratories in El Segundo. I still recall the smell of the developer, my eyes adjusting to the red filter light, and the sheer magic and delight of watching images begin to emerge. Life, family and a career as a teacher and psychologist intervened, not to mention a few more film cameras. Eventually, there was digital. Liberation! Photography is the creative medium that has allowed me to share personal ...