Colorado $ers for the C&TSRR

Colorado $ers for the C&TSRR


Gooood news from the Pueble Chieftain.

Published: January 20, 2010 12:06 am | No comments posted. Font Size:

Federal stimulus funds OK'd for Cumbres and Toltec line

Historic rail line will receive $1 million in federal money from Colorado, with New Mexico contributing a like amount.By PATRICK MALONE
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
DENVER - After hearing remarks that called the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad "the engine" that drives the economy of small San Luis Valley towns, the Colorado House Capital Development Committee on Tuesday devoted $1 million in federal stimulus funds to rail improvements on the historic line.

New Mexico will match that sum to fund long-awaited improvements to the track.

Money from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act account for Colorado’s share of the funding.

Rep. Ed Vigil, D-Alamosa, and Ed Nichols, president and chief executive officer of the Colorado Historical Society, said tourism dollars, direct employment and ancillary jobs that support the Cumbres and Toltec operation are vital to the San Luis Valley’s economy.

Vigil touted the historic railway as the source of about 50 jobs split evenly between the San Luis Valley and northern New Mexico. “I’ve heard some criticisms that the money to the Cumbres and Toltec was wasted,” Vigil said following the Capital Development Committee’s unanimous vote. “But without the funds that Colorado and New Mexico put into it, the towns of Antonito and Chama, (N.M.) could become ghost towns. The railroad is an important revenue stream to those communities.”

In the past, funding has eluded the project when lawmakers prioritized spending.

“We’ve had to eke out a few dollars over the years (for Cumbres and Toltec), and it always seems to fall off the page,” said Sen. Bob Bacon, R-Fort Collins. He said the federal contribution from stimulus funds made the difference this year.

Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, who serves on the Capital Development Committee, was caught in traffic Tuesday and missed the brief meeting where funding was approved. Still, she was content with the outcome.

“I’m especially pleased that this will benefit Conejos County, one of the poorest in the state,” McFadyen said.

She said the Cumbres and Toltec track has needed improvement for years, but funding it took a back seat to other projects under the auspices of higher education.

McFadyen also blamed New Mexico for delays in funding the track’s rehabilitation.

“I don’t know where New Mexico’s matching funds are coming from, but New Mexico has been holding up Cumbres and Toltec funding for years,” she said.

Because the stimulus dollars were earmarked for the project by Gov. Bill Ritter, work on the track could begin before this year’s final budget is adopted by the General Assembly.

The funds will pay for adding ballasts, leveling the track and making improvements to tunnels and trestles that Nichols said would permit and lure higher tourism traffic. The projects are the third phase of a five-phase planned rehabilitation of the railway’s 69 miles of track.

According to a capital construction request submitted by the Cumbres and Toltec, track conditions have deteriorated during the past 35 years due to erosion and inadequate funding to perform ongoing maintenance, posing a risk of derailment, accidents and delays.


pmalone@chieftain.com