Nine months after a mysterious night fire that knocked the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad’s 1883-built Lobato rail trestle out of service, a major rebuild is set to start shortly.

March 10th is the day the selected contractor’s bid will be announced by the New Mexico Department of Transportation project manager, as of Time Table press time.

The $2 million fix involves replacing the 310-foot bridge’s six warped metal spans and charred narrow gauge track spanning a creek outside Chama, New Mexico, the usual west terminal of the C&TS, deprived of service since the fire last June.

The barely-surviving small town has seen over a dozen businesses close, with normally-visiting train riders bussed instead to distant Cumbres Pass, where the railroad has temporarily terminated shortened service to mid-route lunch stop Osier and to east end destination Antonito, Colorado.

C&TS management hopes to have the structure ready to resume carrying trains on the line’s full 64 miles to and from Chama by the season-opening Memorial Day weekend. Last year’s Lobato-less trips omitted dramatic, locomotive-straining 4-percent climbs up to 10,000-foot Cumbres Pass, resulting in a sharp ridership loss.

The original bid date, April 15th, would have seriously compressed needed bridge work time, casting doubt that the antique, rebuilt structure would be ready. For unknown reasons, Lobato was hastily added to NMDOT’s February 18th bid opening, shared with five statewide highway jobs.

An emergency $2 million federal stimulus grant, together with private funds raised by the auxiliary Friends of the C&TS, funded the project.

To save time, replacement, custom-welded plate girder spans and track materials were pre-ordered.

Essential access negotiations with owners of Lobo Lodge, resort land surrounding the Lobato site, were part of work preparations.

Current work replicating as far as possible the appearance of the 128 year-old iron bridge has been approved by the NM State Preservation Office.