Releasing Steam

by Donna Kennedy

Title

Releasing Steam

Artist

Donna Kennedy

Medium

Photograph - Photographers

Description

Original Fine Art Photography and digital artwork by Donna Kennedy..

As the black smoke and steam blasts into the air the Durango Silverton vintage train clicks and clacks along the narrow gauge rails, the cars swaying heavily back and forth, along the placid waters of the lower Animas River past green and golden meadows. As the train chugs higher into the vertical landscape, the land gets more radical although the rail parallels the river the entire journey, mirroring the water's curves and gradient. While the water flows effortlessly downhill, the train labors uphill, firebox roaring, smoke billowing into the sky.
When the wind changes, the cinders blow back over the passenger cars, swirl in the windows, land like whispers on cheeks, settle coal taste on tongues. If the experience feels authentic, it's because it is the real thing, providing nearly the exact same experience as in times past. Along the High Line, you can lean over the side of the car and look hundreds of feet straight down into the river below. Here in the steep mountains, the Animas is no longer peaceful and placid, but squeezed tight between narrow canyon walls, laced with challenging rapids and tinged glacial blue. Such a beautiful and exciting experience I will never forget..
UPDATE: In June 2018, the railroad shut down for several weeks due to a wildfire, named the "416 Fire”, which was fought by two air tankers, six helicopters and some 400 firefighters on the ground. An estimated 54,129 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 their steam locomotives and acquire two new 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 2018. The railroad is currently aiming to have at least half of their operational steam locomotives converted to oil-power.

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October 24th, 2016

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