Nothing like a train ride in the Colorado Rockies on a cool fall day. along the Animas River at about 7,200 FT above Sea Level
Who owns the D&S now? The fellow who first acquired, was named Bradshaw? Didn't he sell? Does anyone remember- There was a magazine article when the post-D&RGW operations were first started. I recall that it mentioned them having to move rocks and boulders out of the way to get the equipment in. Was this in Trains? Or Railfan? Boxcab E50
All that I can recall, is that it was a very good article. But I have never been able to find it again. Perhaps it was just a dream. Boxcab E50
Based on their web site (Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad & Museum) under the Train History they do state: They later state: But it's hard to say who the actual owner is. The About section talks about Gateway Reservations but not claiming ownership.
I do remember that after they restored #497, they ran it to Silverton. It was one of the K-37s and that class was never used on that track, spending their life running between Alamosa and Durango. It was a larger engine than the K-36s and had clearance problems so they had to make room for it. Perhaps this is what you are thinking of? They finally traded it to the Cumbres and Toltec for a smaller engine. It is now happy running in its old territory.
Here is 497 in D&S paint outside of Silverton after they shoehorned it between the rocks on the way up.
Russell- Nice photo! I'm fairly certain that what I read, was about the original line reopening after Bradshaw acquired the line. Guess we'll know if someone can ever track down the article! Boxcab E50
Number on the cab appears to be that of K28 number 473. Here is what that loco was doing one day in late 1957: There were also a couple of K36 class working that night at Chama, New Mexico. Boxcab E50
Yes, I would like to read it too, I may have missed something. All the books and accounts I have do not indicate that the line was ever shut down and that Rio Grande kept the line running until it found a buyer and sold it. The information I have shows the last time the line was shut down for an extended period (other than for winter snow and forest fires) was in September 1970 when major flooding washed out large sections of track. One book I have says that when Bradsaw took over the line, he had to do a lot of work because of deferred maintenance but that it was still operating. So, the story may need a little fleshing out yet with more detail.
As this topic has kind of turned into a photofest about K-37 497, here are two more I found digging in my box-o-slides. This was taken in June of 1971 when both the 481 and 497 were sitting derelict next to the round house in Durango. Both engines were eventually restored by the D&S. Here it is under steam in Chama in June of 1998. They had repainted it back to the Rio Grande lettering.
It could also be that when Bradshaw took over the operations he started up after the spring thaw and found a lot of debris on the track from snow and rock slides. This was common for the Rio Grande also as they did not operate year round in the last decades that they ran it.
