Expedition for fall colors and out of the way branchlines....
| October 01, 2009 10:05PM |
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The wife and I took a bit of a roadtrip the other day to scope out fall colors and explore some branchlines we've never had time to delve into. The first stop is Rico where we poked around the remains of the RGS' Enterprise Branch.
The Enterprise Branch diverted from the RGS mainline a mile or so north of Rico yard and switchbacked it's way up the hill behind town. The branch only existed for a few years when mine closures and difficulties with keeping the line open in the winter forced it's abandonment.
Looking north up the 5% grade from the upper switchback...
From here we headed north to Montrose for the night. Tomorrow we will head for Baldwin, Ohio Pass and Crested Butte.
Much the Enterprise Branch had been graded into a road to access the mines in the area. Here a spur diverted from the main branch to serve the Black Hawk Mines. The colors were great, but the winds were taking thier toll on the leaves....
Just around the corner is an ore bin from the Union Carbonate mine. The tramway cables are still in place.....
High in the mountainside across Silver Creek, you can see the upper tramway station of the Union Carbonate Mine.
Nice Colors.....
The Black Hawk mines were later taken over by the Rico-Argentine Mining Co., which was the last mining operation in Rico. They shipped ore out by the RGS until the railroads demise in 1951, and continued in business until the early 1970's. This is Rico-Argentine's last mill...
The end of the branch at the Enterprise Mine was a bit of a disappointment, as there was little there except for some waste piles. Every stick of wood from the mine and mill had been removed...
From Rico we motored over Lizard Head Pass and down to Telluride. I hadn't been there for a few years and I don't think I've missed much. Telluride is a great example of how to ruin a neat old mining town. The RGS depot is surrounded by condo's and houses. This is only clear pic I could get....
While in the area we wandered up to Pandora (which is really East Telluride now) for a view of the old Smuggler-Union mill which is now owned by Idarado Mining Co.
The Enterprise Branch diverted from the RGS mainline a mile or so north of Rico yard and switchbacked it's way up the hill behind town. The branch only existed for a few years when mine closures and difficulties with keeping the line open in the winter forced it's abandonment.
Looking north up the 5% grade from the upper switchback...
From here we headed north to Montrose for the night. Tomorrow we will head for Baldwin, Ohio Pass and Crested Butte.
Much the Enterprise Branch had been graded into a road to access the mines in the area. Here a spur diverted from the main branch to serve the Black Hawk Mines. The colors were great, but the winds were taking thier toll on the leaves....
Just around the corner is an ore bin from the Union Carbonate mine. The tramway cables are still in place.....
High in the mountainside across Silver Creek, you can see the upper tramway station of the Union Carbonate Mine.
Nice Colors.....
The Black Hawk mines were later taken over by the Rico-Argentine Mining Co., which was the last mining operation in Rico. They shipped ore out by the RGS until the railroads demise in 1951, and continued in business until the early 1970's. This is Rico-Argentine's last mill...
The end of the branch at the Enterprise Mine was a bit of a disappointment, as there was little there except for some waste piles. Every stick of wood from the mine and mill had been removed...
From Rico we motored over Lizard Head Pass and down to Telluride. I hadn't been there for a few years and I don't think I've missed much. Telluride is a great example of how to ruin a neat old mining town. The RGS depot is surrounded by condo's and houses. This is only clear pic I could get....
While in the area we wandered up to Pandora (which is really East Telluride now) for a view of the old Smuggler-Union mill which is now owned by Idarado Mining Co.
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488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
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