John West Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In addition to the rail going to Farmington I al-
> so noticed a lot of what looked like new ties
> scattered along the right of way in one or two
> pix. In those bad old days of regulation strange
> things were the norm. It was not uncommon for
> railroads to increase maintenance on lines im-
> mediately before abandonment for two reasons
:
> (1) the cost helped inflate the losses they could
> show the ICC, and (2) it made it more difficult
> for the ICC to claim the railroad had downgraded
> service to discourage business.
Right On, John -
A rather naive young Roosso Loco noticed some new ties, fresh ballast and what appeared to be fill work on the r.o.w. just below Windy Point back in the Fall of 1966, and thought
"Oh, they're improving the track — maybe they're not going to abandon the line after all." Silly me. Just a few weeks later, IIRC, the D&RGW announced that the Kolor Karavan I was riding that day had been the very last of the three-day Alamosa to Silverton and back excursions, and that no more chartered passenger trains would be run on the San Juan extension
. . .
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi.
- GRAMP
S