Re: Yes, Virginia - There WAS a Tiffany Mercantile!! 
| July 21, 2018 06:43PM |
|
Stewart Rhine Wrote:
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> Thanks for posting the other photo, Russo.
>
> Yep, these are the first shots I've seen of a
> train in front of the store. What I like about
> the two images is that they are the perfect view
> of narrow gauge railroading in small town America.
> It really doesn't get much better than that.
I don't think Tiffany qualifies as a small town these days, Stewart -
In fact I'm not sure that it ever did. When I was there in '08 the former Tiffany Merc. and the adjacent house sported the only semi-fresh paint in many miles. IIRC, all that was left of "downtown" was a derelict auto repair shop in a barn that had probably started life as a livery stable a century and a quarter previously, three or four houses that may or may not have been occupied, and an old church that appeared unused for decades. It's in a beautiful area, though – there's rolling farm country and ranchland, much of it irrigated, for most of the way west from Arboles almost into Durango, with views of the distant mountains from the tops of the higher hills – not quite lush, but certainly not arid (at least by western standards). Here's another of Ernie's photos, this one of an eastbound freight climbing the hill from La Boca to Tiffany in July of 1967:
Photo copyright 1967, 2016 by Ernest W. Robart - All Rights Reserved.
- El Abuelo Histœrico, Greengo y Curmudgeoño de los Locomoturas Viejos y Verdes,
aka Der Grossväterlich DünkelOlivGrünDampfKesselMantelLiebHabender
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> Thanks for posting the other photo, Russo.
>
> Yep, these are the first shots I've seen of a
> train in front of the store. What I like about
> the two images is that they are the perfect view
> of narrow gauge railroading in small town America.
> It really doesn't get much better than that.
I don't think Tiffany qualifies as a small town these days, Stewart -
In fact I'm not sure that it ever did. When I was there in '08 the former Tiffany Merc. and the adjacent house sported the only semi-fresh paint in many miles. IIRC, all that was left of "downtown" was a derelict auto repair shop in a barn that had probably started life as a livery stable a century and a quarter previously, three or four houses that may or may not have been occupied, and an old church that appeared unused for decades. It's in a beautiful area, though – there's rolling farm country and ranchland, much of it irrigated, for most of the way west from Arboles almost into Durango, with views of the distant mountains from the tops of the higher hills – not quite lush, but certainly not arid (at least by western standards). Here's another of Ernie's photos, this one of an eastbound freight climbing the hill from La Boca to Tiffany in July of 1967:
Photo copyright 1967, 2016 by Ernest W. Robart - All Rights Reserved.
- El Abuelo Histœrico, Greengo y Curmudgeoño de los Locomoturas Viejos y Verdes,
aka Der Grossväterlich DünkelOlivGrünDampfKesselMantelLiebHabender
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488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
The NGDF was started by Don Richter and is currently operated in his memory by Nathan Holmes and others. Others who have contributed to the upkeep of this board are (in no particular order): Charles McCandless, Everett Lueck, Ted Wilton, Cole Adams, James Bane, John Moellmer, Jon Bentz, Linn Moedinger, lloyd lehrer, Rod Jensen, John Craft, Steven Forney, Herb Kelsey, Bill Ramaley, Russ Sperry (El Russo Loco), Josh McNeal, John West, Jim Armstrong, Bob Bergstrom, Greg Scholl, Blake Forbes Doug van Veelen and Mark Fuller.