Re: Snow and the Silverton Branch

During heavy avalanche activity the train would only run as far as Elk Park where the wye was used to turn the locomotive. From there the vital supplies (whiskey, roulette wheels, garter belts,etc) would be loaded on mules for the final few miles into Silverton. And avalanches are still very much a problem in the Upper Narrows. On a "good year" for opening day during the 1980s before global warning and the drought took hold the train would run through narrow slots and the river would be completely beneath the avalanche remains. We may think its 2016 with all of our fancy technology but so far as the San Juans are concerned its still Year Zero.


The Other Hank
Durango CO