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New railroad toys

Local train group seeks $170,00 for railcar restorations

It’s not the biggest undertaking of the Durango Railroad Historical Society, but it will keep members busy for some time to come.

As part of its continuing contribution to the creation of a railroad historical park in Silverton, the society has committed to buy seven railcars last on display at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden.

“All the cars were used on the narrow-gauge circle in Southwest Colorado,” society president George Niederauer said Thursday. “Many date to before 1900, but we’ll restore them to what they looked like in the 1920s and 1930s, which was the heyday of railroading in the region.”

The narrow-gauge circuit involved the Denver & Rio Grande Western and the Rio Grande Southern railroad lines linking Salida, Gunnison, Ridgway, Ouray, Alamosa, Chama and Durango, he said.

The Silverton branch of the Denver & Rio Grande Western was sold to a private party and became the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, owned today by Al Harper.

Five of the seven cars the society plans to buy are sitting on tracks in Silverton near the engine house of the long-gone Silverton Northern Railroad.

The list of recent acquisitions includes two livestock cars and a – boxcar, bunk car, tool car, flat car and flanger. A flanger is a car with “wings” that follows a locomotive to push snow further from the tracks.

One car is at San Juan Timberwrights near Arboles for roof repair, and a single-deck stock car that belongs to society member Randy Babcock is currently at his home in Bayfield. Eventually, it will be transferred to the planned Silverton Railroad Historical Park.

Babcock, assistant roundhouse foreman for the D&SNG, won’t be left without rolling stock. He has two boxcars and two gondolas in his backyard.

The cost of buying, restoring and providing interpretive signs for the seven pieces is around $170,000, Niederauer said.

“In the fall, we’ll apply to the Colorado Historical Fund for the cost,” Niederauer said. “But right now, we’re trying to get them on the State Historical Register, which is required to apply for funding.”

Niederauer said inclusion of the cars on the San Juan County historical register will bolster chances with the state registry.

The Durango Railroad Historical Society already owns three pieces of restored rolling stock that are in Silverton awaiting the opening of the railroad park.

There are two gondolas and the society’s pride and joy – Engine No. 315. Niederauer estimated the society has $500,000 invested in the engine.

No. 315 was built in Philadelphia in 1895, one of 12 identical pieces. In 1917, it became the property of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, reorganized four years later as the Denver & Rio Grande Western.

After decades of workhorse duty in Alamosa, Chama, Durango and Montrose, No. 315 was retired in 1949 and was scheduled to be scrapped.

The city of Durango and the Rotary Club came to the rescue, leasing Engine No. 315 free of charge from the D&RGW for display.

The engine subsequently passed through several hands and starred in movies, including “Colorado Territory” and “Around the World in 80 Days.” Vandals, weather and movie modifications left the engine in dire condition. When it had to operate, it was propelled by a diesel engine disguised as a railcar.

The Durango Railroad Historical Society, founded in 1999, stripped the engine of its movie props, disassembled it and began restoration in 2001. Work continued until 2007. On Aug. 24, 2007, No. 315 steamed out of the roundhouse under its own power for the first time in 58 years.

When the Silverton Railroad Historical Park opens, Engine No. 315 will be housed in the Silverton Northern engine house.

The seven railcars will be on display under a protective roof on a pair of parallel 200-foot tracks between the engine house and the D&SNG depot.

The railroad historical park is a joint venture between the Durango group and the San Juan Historical Society, which has several railcars restored or in the process of being restored.

The most notable is the oldest caboose in Colorado, an 1880 car belonging to the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, said Bev Rich of the San Juan County Historical Society. The caboose was rented for 30 cents a day by pioneer investor and founder of the Silverton Northern Railroad Otto Mears who eventually bought the caboose for $350.

“The historical railroad park is a work in progress,” Rich said. “The goal is to have one of each type of car that ran Silverton in the park.”

daler@durangoherald.com



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