PUEBLO, Colo. — Litigation challenging the enforcement of the contract to operate the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad has been dismissed, the Pueblo Chieftain reported.
In a joint statement Tuesday, Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar and New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid announced that states’ railroad commission and the former operator of the railroad, the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad Corporation, agreed upon the dismissal.
Last Friday in district court in Santa Fe, N.M., all claims against the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Commission were dropped in exchange for its agreement not to pursue counterclaims against the former railroad operator.
Under the terms of the settlement, all claims are dismissed with prejudice — meaning they can’t be filed again — and each side agreed to pay its own costs.
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is an historic narrow gauge steam railroad that operates on a 64-mile route between Chama, N. M., and Antonito.
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Corporation sued in October 1999 after the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad Commission ended its contract to operate the railroad for several alleged breaches of contract, including failure to perform proper maintenance and failure to make proper financial reports to the commission.
The corporation alleged in its lawsuit that the contract to operate the railroad had been wrongfully ended. The railroad operator sought $2.2 million in lost profits, plus other unspecified damages.
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad was required to shut down during much of the summer season this year pursuant to orders of the U.S. Forest Service that its coal-burning steam locomotives might start fires in extremely dry forests. It is now operating daily and will continue to operate into late October.