The skies cleared and there was some sun today, but 2 trains still sit in Silverton, the 481 under steam and the 482 sitting by the depot cold. A work train went down the canyon from Silverton this afternoon with the Hot Shot 1 along with a flat car with heavy equipment and one coach. Pete Maisel, a local contractor who often works for the D&SNG, is working from this side to clear the tracks. The balance of the line south was being assessed this afternoon by railroad staff, and a rough guess was advanced that service might resume by this coming Tuesday, but more rain is forcast, so that could prove to be optimistic..
The 482 suffered some damage from running into the rock slide as can be seen in the following pictures. Silverton had a fair number of people around town, many who had tickets for today and drove up anyway.
Sustaining the 481's need for coal is a problem as there was a very limited supply on the ground near the depot. The station was open as usual and the public was being taken care of in good typical railroad fashion. Until the tracks are cleared and any other damage taken care of, Silverton is taking care of Durango's smoke problem--I still maintain that trains should originate here, spend the 2 hours at lunch at Durango, and come home to a more friendly environment. Engines could be changed out for servicing at the lunch break, and Silverton could learn to live with up to 2000 people a night cluttering up our town and filling the cash registers.
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