Remember a little while back, when the rumour came up about the Chili line being operated into WWII to serve the construction of Los Alamos, and I said that I saw something in print that stated that as being so, and you all doubted my santity? Well... as promised, I located that publication to verify my claims.
The publication I'm talking about is indeed an issue of Short and Narrow Rails. It is issue #51 with a John Krause Photo of D&RGW #345 switching the San Juan at Durango in 1950 on the cover. The information is listed not only once but twice in this same issue:
1. On page 2, in the Conductor's Report, written by Jim Eakin, it states: "and finally, a History Channel story on the building of Los Alamos which shows the D&RGW operating the Santa Fe line into 1943! I checked with some intelligence folks(who are narrow gauge fans), and found out that this line really did operate at least into 1943 as a secret operation."
2. On page 10, in an article called "Summer of '41, Photos by Charles S. Small," on the second photo down, the caption reads: "Here we see a shot from the rear taken on the return trip to Antonito from Santa Fe. This line was officially abandoned in late 1941, but was operated at least into 1943 hauling government material for Los Alamos.
Now I have known Jim Eakin for a number of years and I know he wouldn't print anything like this without credible information. As I said earlier, lets not close the book on this subject just yet. I think we all can do a little digging to find out the truth in this matter.
Don F.
P. S. I'm not crazy after all!
