Re: Narrow Gauge to Denver and Grand Junction

Bill:
Even before 1910, the tunnel was often closed for long periods during the winters. The C&S turned over the Baldwin and Pitkin traffic to the D&RG at Gunnison or Parlin for movement over Marshall Pass. The C&S borrowed D&RG gons many times as they could not get enough of their own to support the Baldwin mines.

February 21, 1901, Thursday
The Alpine Mine at Baldwin is filling about 45 D&RG coal cars with coal daily. This output goes over the Rio Grande to points on the eastern side of the range. The CF&I mines at Crested Butte are mining and shipping about 100 cars of coal daily.

Of course a Telluride car COULD have gone over Alpine, but as the RGS was so closely linked to the D&RG, it is more likely that it would have gone D&RG as far as Leadville. Prior to 1910, it could have even been torn over to the C&S at Dillon on the Blue River branch.