//------------------------------//
// An Apple on the Pass 
// Story: Big World! Big Adventures! 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

It  was a glorious morning in Chama, New Mexico. The sun shone overhead as  the gentle hiss of steam and clanging of bells could be heard. And who  should be down there in the yard already but the Apple family, looking  around the yard. 

“Well, there’s 497,” Applejack pointed out, to a rather rusty K-37 sitting over on a siding. 

Apple Bloom took a snap, and walked over to another machine sitting there. “And there’s OY!” 

Grand Pear smiled. “Yes indeed, the very one our snowblower is based on.” He indicated deeper into the yard. “So much stuff here, just waitin’ ta be restored.” 

Applejack laughed. “Well, Ah’ll be. Restorin’ locos just happens ta be yer specialty Sugarcube!” With those words, she reached down and patted Apple Bloom’s head. 

Apple Bloom looked up at her sister. “Seriously?” she said. “That was a small loco. Ah don’t think mah team could handle a three-foot tender loco!” 

“Well, you got five steam locos and a diesel up an’ runnin’,”  Bright Mac added, joining the conversation as he walked over to the  group looking at the collection of locomotives scattered across the  yard. “So, Ah think you girls can handle anythin’.” 

Apple Bloom grinned. “Thanks Pa,” she replied. 

Bright simply laughed. “Now, who wants a picture in front of that engine?” 

The  family member assembled scrambled to stand in front of 497, with Granny  Smith and Pear Butter coming over to join the family momentarily. 

“Say ‘Apples to the Core’!” Mac called. 

“Apples to the Core!” the family chorused, although Apple Bloom blinked at just the wrong moment-when the flash bulb engaged. 



Moments later, the station megaphone fired up. “Good  morning ladies and gentlemen,” announced the station master. “We would  like to inform you that the 8:30 to Antonito is about to arrive in the  platform, so if you could all please assemble on the platform ready for  boarding, it would make the process a lot smoother. Thank you, and  welcome to the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad.” The system shut off with a loud click. 

“Sounds like we better get goin’!” Grand Pear said to the others. “Scoot yer boot, folks!” 

“Ain’t that Applejack’s catchphrase?” Big Mac asked, confused, as they walked back over to the platform. 

“Where do ya think she got it from?” Grand Pear asked, rhetorically. 

Big Mac’s facial reaction, and indeed what he said next, confirmed all that was needed to know. “Eeyup,” he said, in his trademark one-word answer to most questions. 



When  they had all assembled on the platform, a loud whistle suddenly rocked  the area. Granny Smith reached up to stop her false teeth falling out. 

“What in tarnation’ was that?” she asked, as she looked around. 

“That was a Denver and Rio Grande Western five-chime, Granny,” Apple Bloom informed her. 

“It’s a type of whistle,” Applejack added, before adding to Apple Bloom, “do keep in mind not everybody here speaks this here railbuff language.” 

Apple Bloom sighed. “Ah may be repeatin’ mahself a lot then,” she replied. 

The  whistle echoed through the terrain again, as a Denver and Rio Grande  Western K-36 rolled into the platform with a train of 10 coaches, plus  an open-air car, of course. The drop ramps were deployed, and the  passengers started boarding. The family walked forward through the train  and sat down in the carriage right behind the open-air car. Just then,  the conductor arrived, and began to speak to the assembled passengers. 

“Good  morning ladies and gentlemen!” he called. “We are currently getting  ready to depart for Antonito. We will be stopping on the journey at  Osier for lunch. Once we have arrived at Antonito, a motor coach will  take us back to Chama. You may now head out to the open-air car if you  so wish.” 

As  soon as he had left the car, Apple Bloom and Grand Pear hopped out of  their seats, and headed forward to the open-air car positioned right  behind the train. Granny Smith surveyed the interior of the coach with a  smile. 

“Reminds me of the old days,” she said, with a smile. 

“Did ya travel by train much, Granny?” Applejack asked. 

“Long before those new-fangled automobiles came along, the train was the only way to travel. Ah can remember travellin’ ta New York many years ago on the mainline. Ah can remember exactly which car Ah sat in.” 

“Which one was that, ma?” Bright Mac asked, not familiar with this story. 

“Ah was in the observation car fer most of the trip, and Ah can recall the trip served amazin’ food from the dinin’ car.” Granny Smith smiled as the memories flowed into her mind like fine wine. 

It  is a well-known fact amongst the Apple family that although Granny  Smith was not as active as she used to be, one aspect of her that had  not diminished due to her age was her memory, which was a sharp as a  finely-kept knife. It was this memory that led to one of the family’s  favourite games. 

“What did ya eat?” Big Mac asked. 

“Eggs,” Granny replied. 

“How?” Applejack asked also. 

“Scrambled,” Granny replied in turn. 

“What colour were ya wearin’?” Pear Butter enquired in turn. 

“Blue.” 

Just then, an almighty shout echoed up the train. 



“ALLLLLL ABBBOOOAAAARDDDDDD!” 



Following  the words of the conductor, he shone his green lamp up the train. The  engineer leaned out of the cab and saw the light, and leaned back in. He  reached up to the whistle chord and let out three short, sharp blasts  that echoed loudly and rolled across the mountains of New Mexico. 

He  then pulled back a lever marked ‘cylinder cocks’ and released the  brakes, pulling open the regulator as he did so. The engine began to  move forward, steam shooting from its cylinders and puffing loudly as  the heavy train got underway. The steam shot into the sky as Apple Bloom  leaned over the side of the open-air car with a grin the size of  Arizona on her face. 

“Watch yer head!” Grand Pear reminded her. “Ya may have those goggles on, but watch out fer soot and smoke.” 

“Got it, Grandpa!” Apple Bloom replied, pulling back and simply looking at the scenery moving around her. 

With a few minutes passing by, a water tower was passed on their right. Grand Pear pointed it out. “That was built fer one of the Indiana Jones movies!” he explained. “They had to put it back up after it fell over due to wind in 2006!” 

“Did somebody eat too many beans?” Apple Bloom asked, a smirk on her face. 

Grand Pear laughed at the joke. “Good one!” 

Just  then, the engine began to make even more noise. “Here we go,” Grand  Pear smiled, as he took out his camera and started to record. Apple  Bloom did the same. 

The  speed began to fall, as the engine rolled into the 4% grade up Windy  Point. This was the second steepest regularly operated gradient in the  United States, after Saluda  in North Carolina (which came in at an insane 5.3%). It was here the  engine began to particularly work hard, snorting loudly as it pulled the  heavy train into the grade. 

Loud  barks from the chimney echoed over the hills and down the valleys.  Smoke and steam shot into the air, clouds of ash raining down upon the  landscape and the train. Hot cinders fell down, and hit Apple Bloom in  the arm. 

“Ouch!” she exclaimed, brushing the hot fragment off of her arm as the train continued to ascend. “Man, are they hot an’ all!” 

“Watch ya don’t burn yerself!” Grand Pear replied. 



After  a hard climb, and a relatively easy run to Osier, the family  disembarked for lunch. It was a buffet format, so they grabbed their items and sat down. Apple Bloom took Mac n’Cheese and then joined her family members. 

“So,  how was it up front?” Applejack asked, before suddenly noticing the  patch of red on her sister’s otherwise unblemished yellow skin. “What  happened?” she asked in shock. 

“A cinder landed there,” Apple Bloom replied simply. “It were a bit hot.” 

“Now why didn’t ya say anythin’?” Bright Mac asked. “We’d happily have helped ya with medicines and all.” 

Grand Pear leaned over. “Ah appreciate that they are yer kids Bright, but ya need ta stop babyin’ Apple Bloom all the time. She can take care of herself, and from what Ah saw took that fallin’ cinder very well.” He then leaned back and smiled. “And, ta answer yer question Applejack, the run were fantastic. Ah’m not fergettin’ that in a hurry!” 



The  rest of the journey proceeded without much incident, and upon the  return to Chama, the family headed out for dinner at a local diner  (which was superb, let me tell you). Apple Bloom was happy at having  experienced one of the most spectacular rail routes in North America,  though of course she was very tired, and fell into an easy and heavy  sleep at the end of the day.