Some of these areas never saw a forest fire, including I think Windy Point. It was the practice of the railroads to do clearing of brush and trees next to the right-of-way, plus the timbering of trees for firewood, mine supports, etc., and at one point, most of the forest was up for grabs. The national forests post date most of the rail lines in Colorado.
When I was assisting on the Trout Lake Trestle restoration on the RGS several years ago, we found a great picture with a RGS train crossing the trestle that clearly showed timber and brush removal for about 100 feet on either side of the trestle. Up to that point, the forest service was going to limit brush and tree removal only in the immediate vacinity of the trestle, and subsequently they allowed removal for about 50 feet. Trees and brush contribute to snow buildup in the winter, traps snow and moisture in and about the structure, and with an operating railroad, contribute to significant fire hazard.
Back in the Bradshaw days, the D&S crews were assigned the duty to clean brush away from next to the line both for fire reasons and to keep branches from hitting the cars, which could cause injury to the passengers. The crews had made it up past Tacoma, and perhaps were doing too good a job when Bradshaw rode the train and was quite upset at how aggressive the guys had been working, so he called a halt to the work. I recall riding the train shortly afterwards and seeing the abrupt wall of greenery that started where the work was called off. Scott Jackson, who was working for the D&S on that crew, related that story to me--Scotty is spending the winter in Silverton for a change this year instead of working at the South Pole because of recent heart surgery.
The aspen growing between the track and the river at the Needleton Tank are another example of vegetation that never existed during the D&RGW days. Numerous photos show this, and it has only been in recent years that this stuff has been allowed to encroach the tracks--aspens were always considered as being weeds and thus expendable, but now we have to deal with too many regulating agencies and a knee-jerk reaction about cutting down any growing thing. The line through the Animas Valley once had willows crowding the tracks back in the 50s, and that happened after the railroad stopped clearing this stuff away. Then, especially when Bradshaw started rebuilding that stretch of track and raising its height above the surrounding flood plain that most of those willows were removed. Now willows are benchmark vegatation indicating the existence of a wetlands and have almost assumed a protected status--the presence of willows will trigger a wetlands designation from the Corps of Engineers, so one conclusion might be to get rid of them well in advance of any work.
