Re: The San Juan and LIFE Magazine

Paul Grasha Wrote:
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> I don't know where to start but so much of the ROW
> was in pristine condition! I guess this was to
> keep appearances up for the passengers?
>
> I'd suppose that after the San Juan stopped, the
> railroad quit caring about the weeds...


I'd say not quite. It was a real RR and real RR had regular maintenance gangs doing work to keep the line in shape. Yes later in the 60's less $$ was spent on the track but they still kept it in pretty good condition. Having the San Juan running required them to ensure the track was good--the train had to go from Alamosa to Durango in one day--to say it was for appearances no but for practical purposes Yes indeed. After the San Juan stopped running they still moved a lot of freight and they had to maintain the track for that--you can't have trains derailing everyday. I'd say once they stopped moving oil out of Chama and stopped running through the winter after 1964 it's fair to say they deferred major track improvements--their goal at that point was to abandon. They'd move ties out on the line but never install them as an example. Even in the late 60's the line was in better shape than most of the working years of the C&TS and D&S. Today both the D&S and C&TS have really stepped up the track condition--the D&S really started this in the mid 80's. Hope this helps answer your question.

William
aka drgwk37