Re: Silverton Trivia

And the reason for the new cars was the failed attempt to abandon the Silverton branch that was initiated by the D&RGW in 1959 in an abortive attempt to sell the line to the White Foundation. I filed a protest in that action and was copied on all the paperwork and filings from the ICC during the proceedings. It was after the denial came from the ICC that the railroad took a new look at the line and decided to create Rio Grande Land, add a second train, add a second piece of track up 12th street in Silverton and make some sort of serious attemp on capitalizing on what they couldn't get rid of.
I just came across some correspondance from Alexis McKinney to me from just a year before his death and it was he who the railroad put in charge of this effort. It is an interesting, long, and complicated story about all this, but suffice it to say that by the time of the 1970 flood, any enchantment the railroad had with this project was gone and as a community we were told that the flood damage would be repaired, but that was the end of the D&RGW's interest and that the line was for sale. Credit the new cars and rebuilds mainly to the ICC's decision and what it triggered.