Re: Alamosa January 27 1945

lbiemiller Wrote:
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> Thanks for the details, Jerry. But it sure as heck
> sounds like a slow business if there were
> passengers on the train. As I understand it, the
> spreader wings on the flanger that's in Durango
> now -- is it OF? -- are operated by air from the
> cupola of the work caboose that runs behind it,
> while the flanger mechanism itself is operated
> from the locomotive cab. But the air mechanism for
> the wings is comparatively recent, if I understood
> what I was being told, and before that the wings
> had to be set by hand? On a Silverton run, that
> would be a lot of stopping and starting, wouldn't
> it?
>
> Maybe folks just weren't in such a hurry back
> then.
>
> -- Lawrence
Your last sentence is a good statement of the way it was. Towns like Silverton, Crested Butte, Telluride, etc. were dependent upon the railroad for mail, food, heat, etc. They were just grateful when the train showed up. The Silverton branch has a history of being closed for weeks and even months at a time.

Jerry Day