Emma Sweeney Vandalized

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Dozens of handcrafted wooden parts have been stolen or broken off the Emma Sweeney, a movie set locomotive displayed at Santa Rita Park, and the Durango Railroad Historical Society is unsure if, or even how, they might be repaired.

“The main thing here is these are all custom-made wooden parts. It took craftsmen hundreds of hours to put these together for us, very highly trained wood craftsmen, and they did it all on their own time,” said George Niederauer, treasurer of the Durango Historical Railroad Society, which owns the old movie prop.

The society’s board of directors, probably in the next month, will vote on whether to make repairs to the Emma Sweeney, which was damaged in late May, Niederauer said.