Leadville, Colorado & Southern in winter

Colorado & Southern engine 641, a 2-8-0, the line's last operating standard gauge steam locomotive, used on the Climax-Leadville run until 1962 and now displayed close to the station in Leadville.

one of two GP-9 engines that are used for the sightseeing trains

what you see from the train.

Actually it was late spring, but it looked and felt like winter.  The LC&S takes passengers along the old Denver, South Park & Pacific and Colorado & Southern lines to the Continental Divide and has the distinction of being the highest standard gauge railroad in the U.S with the town being at an elevation of 10,200 ft (3100 metres).  The tracks climb another 1,000 ft (305 metres) above the starting point at the station in Leadville to the furthest point at 12.6 miles or 21 km away.  It was originally a narrow gauge operation, but was standard gauged in the 1940s.

The operation is a family affair and was bought from Burlington Northern for the sum of $10 in 1988.