Riding the Royal Gorge Railroad

Riding the Santa Express on the Royal Gorge Route Railroad in Cañon City, CO. A chilly late fall morning with some areas of snow still on the ground from an overnight front.
The Royal Gorge Route is an ex DRGW route which connects to Tennessee Pass. The only train service on this line at the moment is this tourist train, and an occasional freight train to a rock quarry in Parkdale, just past the turnaround point in this video. That rock quarry doesn’t seem to use trains at the moment, but it is able to and it is a certified railroad ballast producer. Beyond Parkdale the mainline is used as a storage track with hundreds of coal hoppers lining the valley.
Would be great to see this line open up to freight once again, as it would be a pleasure to hop. But I think those wishes won’t come true for many Christmases to come, if ever.
Please checkout the Royal Gorge Railroad if you are in southern Colorado, it would be a shame to lose this line for good if they went out of business. It’s very scenic and a good several hours of entertainment. They do offer dining on board as well as alcohol for purchase.