Re: Ridgway Questions

The final narrow gauge run to Ouray occurred on March 21, 1953. In the last years of the branch, the King Lease Camp Bird Mine above Ouray was shipping ore concentrates by rail. The Narrow Gauge News reported that the Rio Grande promised an ore transload at Ridgeway as a substitute for its Ouray service. The Camp Bird Mine continued to produce gold ore until 1956. The mine closed for a time, reopening in 1963 and operating until 1977 . On and off mining activity continued as late as the spring of 1990,

I suspect that whatever ore traffic the Rio Grande was handling at Ridgeway originated at the Camp Bird property. Another possible shipper would be Idarado Mining Company. Idarado had a mill at Red Mountain in the pass above Ouray and a ball mill at Pandora, near Telluride. Idarado produced concentrates until the late 1970's.