The Durango Railroad Historical Society has received an $84,799 state grant to preserve several rail cars that will be displayed in Silverton.
The grant will help buy and restore several narrow-gauge cars that once served the Durango & Rio Grande Western Railroad, the historical society said in a news release on Tuesday; this project requires matching cash of $28,266.
The historical society will buy five narrow-gauge cars: a double-deck stock car, a flatcar, a bunk car, a tool car and a flanger.
The grant also will allow the society to restore the double-deck stock car and the bunk car (as well as a single-deck stock car the organization recently purchased) to their 1930s appearance and the flanger to its post-1943 appearance.
Once preserved, the cars will be displayed in Silverton, each with its own interpretive sign, and be featured as a part of the exhibit Trails to Rails, which will detail the development of transportation in the region.
The grant comes from History Colorado’s State Historical Fund, which last week announced 24 grants worth a total of $3 million. A grant of $160,800 went to Mountain Studies Institute to help rehabilitate the Sound Democrat Mill, located at 12,000 feet in Placer Gulch northeast of Silverton.
The Durango Railroad Historical Society has done several similar restorations. In 2007, it completed work on the 1895 D&RGW steam locomotive No. 315 and has been operating it on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad since then. In a joint project with the San Juan County Historical Society, the society began to restore the 1912 Silverton Northern engine house in Silverton to store locomotive No. 315 and support its maintenance and the restoration of railcars by both societies.
The Durango group also reconstructed three blocks of Silverton Northern track for displaying restored railcars. The State Historical Fund has supported all these projects.
The Durango Railroad Historical Society also is restoring the full-size model locomotive Emma Sweeny, the star in the 1950 movie “A Ticket to Tomahawk.” The movie, filmed in Durango and Silverton, is credited with helping save the Silverton branch of the D&RGW by attracting more tourists to ride the train.
Donations can be sent to the Durango Railroad Historical Society, P.O. Box 654, Durango, CO 81302 or via PayPal on its website www.drhs315.org.
johnp@durangoherald.com
