Antonito

There is more to see in Antonito than murals. The most interesting to us is the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad which runs between Antonito and Chama, New Mexico.  The train is a joint tourism venture between the states of Colorado and New Mexico. We looked around the rail yards one day.

Much of the work on for this railroad is done by volunteers--train buffs who spend part of their summer improving the facilities and rolling stock.  They restore long-abandoned train cars like the one above so they are solid, good looking and well painted.  Below you see one of the women volunteers stenciling and car number or logo on this restored caboose.

We weren't as impressed by another activity in Antonito. As almost everyone knows, Colorado has legalized recreational marijuana. The population of Antonito was 777 in 2013, but it seemed to have as many marijuana outlets as liquor stores, maybe even more. Since Antonito is only 5 miles from New Mexico, we wondered if many of the customers of these businesses come across the state line to indulge. Since we didn't go inside to check it out, we will never know.