Article by Steve Voynick
C&TS RR – September 1999 – Colorado Central Magazine
I ADMIT THAT I ENVY Tom Atkinson’s job. He begins work by climbing into the cab of No. 497, a huge, black, 96-year-old Baldwin steam locomotive. Coupled to a six-car train, the K-37 Mikado-type locomotive has been building steam for two hours. At 10:30 a.m. sharp, Atkinson pulls an overhead cord and sends two wailing blasts of the steam whistle echoing across the little town of Chama, New Mexico. Then he nudges open the throttle and No. 497 pulls slowly away from the Chama station, accompanied by a cloud of black coal smoke and the rhythmical hiss of escaping steam.
