Durango Yard/Coal Tower *LINK*

Among the late Allen Nossaman's papers was a photo I sent him back in 1967 and that was recently returned to me. It was taken on October 19, 1965, early in the morning, and shows the 493 on the turntable lined for the coal tower. To the 493's left is the out of service 464 and then the car shop. There is steam rising from another engine hidden by the ramp leading up to the coal tower. This is one of my favorite photos, and it was used on a long ago Sundance calendar.
I was on my way to Ft. Eustis, Virginia for the start of my active duty Army service, and Durango and Silverton were always on the direct path, for me anyway, between the Bay Area and the eastern reaches of the country.
Within a very short time, this scene changed forever as the coal tower came down and the new reversing loop was built. I just came across a Durango Herald clipping where this all came about as part of a contract between the D&RGW and the Colorado Department of Highways. As the article states: "The highway department will remove the railroad turn-around loop near the present highway building and relocate it at the railroad roundhouse. All negotiations are complete on this project. 'There are no problems here,' says Casey [District Highway Engineer]."
The article also says "Meanwhile, the department is negotiating with local firms who have access to 13 Denver & Rio Grande railroad spurs where the track will have to be removed for the new highway." It also contains this: "recently there have been many rumors the routing might be changed due to the threatened abandonment of the D&RGW tracks south of town."
And this was all because of the new highway then being planned that would run along the river to the south of town, taking out the squatter setlement of Santa Rita in the process. And this is the highway we all use and enjoy to get through Durango today, so realize that it came at the expense of the railroad. The draconian changes to the yard that I think we all dislike can be attributed to one of our most dearly loved state institutions, the now named CDOT, Colorado Department of Transportation.