Back in the days when the rotary was used to open the line in May, it was easy to chase because the road pretty much follows the railroad to Cumbres and on the Los Pinos. Moreover the April snow usually has a good crust on it so that you could walk on the snow without snowshoes. The rotary moved slowly through the icy and hard packed spring snow so there was little danger in shooting head on views like this. The only real danger was the plume included chunks of ice and occasionally rocks, so it was good to stay out of the plume. The bad news is the icy hard packed snow was tough on men and machinery, and the railroad found that backhoes were a cheaper way to dig out the cuts that a locomotive plow couldn't handle, so regular use of the rotary came to an end ub 1997. But it was such a spectacle and generated national news exposure for the railroad that perhaps the C&TS will find an excuse to do it again somehow.

For anyone interested, my C&TS rotary pix are HERE.



JBWX