Re: 50 Years Later

Earl I agree 100%, so the original poster is right in that the narrow gauge was saved because it was not SG. All I am saying is that if(And all this is hypothetical as is the original post), all the Rio Grande was SG, and there was never a NG, then I think it would still have been saved, had it been steam until 1968, while everything else was diesel. The RG got rid of as much as they could as fast as they could, including Gunnison, Salida, etc. What saved the remaining section was not because it was NG, but because it was trackage owned by the D&RGW for those runs to Farmington during the gas and oil boom. That plus tourists discovering the Silverton made these lines stay open, versus bike paths, or relic cinder paths. I just read where the Heber Valley is carrying over 100,000 riders per year now, and they don't even have steam running. Its not NG either!!! My point is that Narrow Gauge is not the only factor that saved the remaining ex-D&RGW tourist lines.
Greg