The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad will resume service to Silverton beginning Friday morning, said General Manager Jeff Johnson.
The route to Silverton has been closed since Saturday, June 22, because of a rockslide north of Needleton. After six days of removing rock debris from the tracks, Johnson said he was pleased to discover limited damage to the tracks.
Railroad crews were working on reballasting the train track on Thursday afternoon.
“Most of the damage was fairly minimal,” Johnson said. “They're inspecting to make sure no rails were bent. And no ties were busted,” Johnson said.
Johnson said railroad crews will remain vigilant heading into the monsoon season for more rock slides. D&SNG will conduct warning patrols on a regular basis, and in some instances, patrols will be completed before each train leaves the station if there is a weather concern.
It is believed rainfall from last week’s storms caused the rockslide.
National Weather Service meteorologist Tom Renwick said the San Juan Mountains north of Durango had already received about an inch of rain from Thursday morning showers, but it doesn’t look like the storm will produce more substantial rainfall.
He said it is difficult to measure how much rain could be falling in certain areas. The Durango-La Plata County Airport received about 0.3 inches in 15 minutes Thursday morning while other areas in the county had none at all.
The train to Silverton was scheduled to depart at 9 a.m. Friday.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
