Thanks for posting,Bob. I enjoyed the videos,also many of your others,especially "Cumbres and Toltec","Glacier Bay" and "White Pass and Yukon" videos. 'Looks like you were really on the go in 2006.
Mike
If you go to www.Railpictures.net and put in "Peru" for the country in the search section,there are more shots of this...thanks -E-C-Mills.
Thanks yeah, I thought, wow...
Those are from Peru. Click on them and go to railpictures.net. There are some real great photos of the D&S from photographers specials as well. (Nice pics form all over actually).
I Live in Farmington south of Durango. Most of the primary economy in the entire area is oil, gas, and coal extraction. Thats number one. Then I would have to say tourism, the college, then ranching / agriculture. I beleive metals mining in this area is pretty much idle right now. Fort Lewis College in Durango is a 4 year liberal arts college which I interact with regularly. I'm meeting with a fellow chemistry prof today in fact.
There is a lot of coal here in the four corners (and uranium as well). There is planning going on to build a rail line up from Gallup New Mexico to haul out coal mainly. I think 50/50 it might be built. This would be the ironic culmination of the original line that ran from Farmington to Durango to keep the Santa Fe at bay (IIRC or was it the Soutern Pacific?) away from the coal fields (which for some reason, the Rio Grande did not end up exploiting). The Farmington branch was originally standard gauge then converted to narrow gauge. My avatar shows an engine at the Colorado New Mexico border on the Farmington branch heading north to Durango. At first the Farmington branch hauled a lot of apples (called the red apple express). Then, oil, and pipeline supplies as Mike L. could probably tell you. The oil found in the San Juan Basin pretty much kept the narrow gauge alive from Alamosa, to Chama, to Durango, to Farmington back in the 1950s to 60s.
Regards,
Eric
Threads merged.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Steven Otte Threads merged.
Yes, the threads have been merged; but, placed where my comment was, did not follow the continuity of this thread. So the comment that I made on October 20th was removed as it was out of context here in this thread.
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
Hmm, threads merged, I guess, oh well?
I cant resist posting these from railpictures.net. Call it 1:1 modelling inspiration? I dug these out so you dont have to. Back to the D&S!
Another great bunch of photos e-c-mills, I like photo # 7, as it shows loco #486, the loco that pulled my train.
I noticed when seeing my own and the other trains being pulled that the D&S seems to use idler cars in front of every train to put the loco farther ahead on the passenger cars. I wondered if this was to get the passenger cars a little farther away from the smoke and cinders and/or is freight actually being shipped to Silverton?
I did not see a Rio Grande Southern Goose anywhere along the D&S right of way. the photo of the goose must have been a special event.
What great photographers who took those...
Yeah the goose is a special thing. I believe it lives in Delores CO?
I think in the photo special trains the extra boxcars are probably so the passengers get a feel for freight action. Some of the photo specials are all freight cars. In the regular service trains (IIRC) there is a boxcar for backpacks. Could be they are hauling something else though. We have used the train on a couple backpack trips. You can flag down any train and they will pick you up (after you pay of course). Throw your backpack in the boxcar and go. LOL its been awhile but I remember tossing our backpacks somewhere! I think they do drop off and pick up a number of people who backpack into Chicago Basin and climb Mt Eolus, Sunshine, and Windom, 14,000 ft peaks.
It could be that is what the box cars are for, hauling peoples back packs and other gear.
Next time I'm in the area, I will be riding the Cumbres & Toltec and likely take the D&S from Durango to Silverton, to hear the loco work a bit harder. I also hope to follow the RGS right of way from Durango to Ridgeway. I have ordered the book "Chasing the Rio Grande" by Robert Richardson. I look forward to studying this railroad. I would laso love to spend a night or two in Ouray.
Sounds like a great trip. People like us, we can spot where the old RR beds are! Most normal people dont even give it a thought. I have checked out some of the Ophir loop high line. But we're always in a rush to get through somewhere. One of these days I'll spend a day or so there climbing around and photographing the grade through there, spectacular!
Cheers,
e
When we were on the bus trip, I got south of Ridgeway and could see abandoned road bed. I wasn't sure at the time if this was narrow or standard gauged track as I wasn't sure that the narrow gauge went to Ouray. I can also see road bed for the RGS in Google Earth, which is fun to follow.
Oh cool. Yeah, all the rail lines in the San Juans were narrow gauge, the Farmington Branch being a temporary exception (after it was built standard it was soon converted to narrow). The Rio Grande had a line from Montrose into Ouray. That was likely the bed you saw. As you probably know, Ridgway was the northern end of the Rio Grande Southern, and had its own shops there. The RGS connected to the rest of the Rio Grande there back in the day (as well as in Durango).
LOL probably safe to say, most of the rail lines in the colorado mountains were narrow gauge except the Denver and Salt Lake (which Rollins Pass is so cool), the Colorado Midland (IIRC), and the Rio Grande from Pueblo to Salida to Grand Junction/Salt Lake. Salida was the Rio Grande's conversion point from standard to narrow and had that famous three track stuff you have probably seen on Mike Lehman's excellent layout.