weston1879 Wrote:
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> How much would 2miles from Dolores to ? cost?
[for reference. The rule of thumb is that new std ga track runs about $1 million per mile but, IIRC, that includes signals etc.]
There can also be a wide variance in cost depending on wt of rail used, new or used rail, track class standard you build to. Ballast? Ties per mile?
Depends:
1st assumption is that you mean starting from the edge of town since hiway 145 thru town covers the old yard.
2 miles North from Dolores would be relatively cheap (meadows beside hiway 145) but I doubt you'd get anyone to ride it. Say, cost of land + rails, ties & minimum grading. Perhaps 1/4 to 1/2 million dollars?
2 miles South is a bit trickier. At the edge of town was bridge 103A, a 164 ft trestle over the river. Back in the 70's there was a city street on the old grade down to the river and the abutments were still there. Not sure if that's still true, what with all the changes in tha part of Dolores since the dam went in west of town. Just short of mp 103 was bridge 103B, 46' trestle over Lost Creek, then came the station of Lost Creek (mp 103.4, stock pens). There was another bridge (105A, 76' trestle) in the specified 2 miles. I've not walked this section of grade but from looking down at it in places, it is very overgrown with brush. Probably have to do considerable re-grading once you pulled the brush (and roots!) not to mention the grade was quite close to the creek in places and there would probably be washouts to fill.
So if you started at Lost Creek and ran to the site of the one time siding at Smalley (about mp 106) say $ 0.75 - 2 million?
As you move on into the more interesting parts of the canyon, more bridges, more sections close to the creek, more $$.
Bridges, Smalley - Glencoe(mp 111.8):
107A (79')
108A (102')
108B (88')
108C (106')
108D (125')
109A (92')
109B (14')(side stream?)
111A (77')
111B (70')
111C (63')
Glencoe-Mancos: only one bridge (122A, 60' over Chicken creek just outside of Mancos) but several miles of grade owned by the Utes, Trophy houses along Chicken creek & hiway 160 over the yard at Mancos...
ISTR that at one time some of the people involved with Goose 5 were thinking of rebuilding some part of this to run it on so, depending on how far they developed their plans, they might have firmer numbers on some aspects.
hank
