CHAMA, N.M. — Business owners who rely heavily on summer tourists are concerned about their prospects after the New Mexico side of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad halted departures from Chama because of a fire on a 100-foot trestle.
The blaze that started late Wednesday night is believed to be human-caused. State fire marshal’s investigators were looking into it.
Railroad ties burned on the Lobato Trestle, 4 miles north of Chama, and a wildfire started after they fell into the ravine below. State Forestry Division spokesman Dan Ware said Friday that the 2-acre blaze was 80 percent contained.
The railroad, jointly owned by the governments of New Mexico and Colorado, is offering passengers the option of being bused to Antonito for a train trip on the line’s Colorado side. The railroad is celebrating its 40th year this summer.
Barbara Hogan, who runs The Hotel and Shops across from the Chama Depot, said her 10-room hotel ordinarily has 90 percent occupancy during the train’s late May to mid-October run, and she closes the rest of the year.
News of the fire was difficult to absorb.
In Chama, the train “is the economy,” she said. “Very simply, it is the economy.”
Said Patsy Gallegos, owner of Gallegos Video and Ice Cream Parlor, “Without the train, we can’t survive.”
Railroad spokesman Nick Quintana said the Cumbres & Toltec averages at least 200 passengers daily and sometimes carries 600 to 700.
Authorities have ruled out lightning or some other natural cause.
“It’s safe to say that we’re pretty certain it’s human-caused,” Ware said.
There was a fireworks display in Chama on Wednesday night. Ware said authorities aren’t ruling out fireworks as a possible cause but noted the display “came from in town and the bridge itself is a few miles out of town.”
Quintana said when the trestle can be used again depends on whether its steel superstructure was damaged.
He said an assessment team planned to inspect the trestle Friday and today, and results should be known by this evening.
“The best-case scenario is if the steel structure isn’t damaged, three weeks is what we’re probably looking at,” Quintana said.
“Worst case,” he said, “it could take several months, the rest of our season.”
