Re: April 1 route and the C&TS Dispatch.

I also found the article in the current C&TS Dispatch to be quite interesting, though I'd be curious to learn more. According to the author, the proposed line via South Fork was to tunnel under South Fork Pass and connect to the East Fork of the San Juan River. I'm not certain this would have followed the same alignment as the current highway over Wolf Creek Pass, as Wolf Creek actually joins the West Fork of the San Juan River. Also, there is no South Fork Pass (though Wolf Creek certainly could have been known by that name back in the 1870s.). As Hank mentioned, there is a Railroad Pass on maps that is located slightly southeast of Wolf Creek Pass and the ski area. It looks like a tunnel in that area could reach the East Fork of the San Juan, though to further complicate things, US-160 actually leaves the South Fork of the Rio Grande at the turnoff to the Big Meadows Reservoir. So if South Fork Pass was at the headwaters of it's namesake river, it would be further northwest along the Continental Divide (compared to Wolf Creek).

And according the author, the route via the Upper Rio Grande was to cross Cunningham Pass and travel down Cunningham Gulch to Silverton (instead of via Stony Pass, which is the next drainage to the north). Weminuche Pass was also considered briefly before the decision to focus on Chama Summit (Cumbres Pass). Certainly interesting to ponder what could have been had they not decided on Cumbres Pass. It's hard to imagine any of those other routes would have been better, even with the 4% grade on the west side of Cumbres.

-James
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