Hello again -
1) I think Charlie had SouthParkLine's handle in mind when he posted the above; the town at
the south end of the line toward Creede is South Fork, not South Park. I spent a very enjoyable
day last September riding the Silver Streak and photographing the Denver & Rio Grande from
South Fork to a mile or so beyond Wagon Wheel Gap, and highly recommend this trip to any-
one visiting southwest Colorado next summer or fall. See [
ngdiscussion.net] et seq.
2) IIRC, the line is owned by one or both of the Shank brothers, who also own(s) the equipment currently stored in Monte Vista, awaiting restoration. Also IIRC, relations between the SL&RG and the Shanks are very good, but they
are separate operations. I am not sure which of these parties owns the line between Del Norte and South Fork. (IMHO, the ex-FEC 4-6-2 stored in Monte Vista would be an excellent candidate for restoration to pull a Del Norte - Monte Vista - Alamosa - Antonito commuter train
... )
3) The Denver & Rio Grande operated last summer only to the wooden trestle over its namesake river a mile or so beyond Wagon Wheel Gap. The track from there to just south of Creede needs some work before regular service can be extended to the end of the line. The tracks within the city limits of Creede have been removed at the instigation of the Mayor and other local residents, who apparently fear that an invasion of bubble gum chewing, rubber tomahawk wielding 'flatland touristers' would disrupt the artsy-craftsy serenity of this former wide-open mining town. (The afternoon train on the day I rode in the morning was chartered by a group of senior artists; none of them appeared to be chewing bubble gum, and only one carried the head of a rubber tomahawk. OOOoops, my mistake - it was an eraser which she used on portions of her pencil sketches.)
4) Upgrading existing, in-use lines to allow heavier freight trains and new or improved passenger service is a far cry from rebuilding a line that was abandoned more than fifty years ago and is now a public road through a National Forest. Even re-installing the third rail from Antonito to Alamosa would be a piece of cake compared to rebuilding the
Monarch Marshall Pass line.
- Russo
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2009 01:31PM by Russo Loco.