1970 Flood Pictures

I came across these pictures of the 1970 flood in the Animas Canyon that covered the section between Tank Creek and just above the Tacoma Power Plant. Our recent brush with disaster on October 6 and 7 pales in comparison with the '70 flood, but came close to being a potential repeat.
Silverton shut down rather abruptly when word of the extent of the damage became known. We had a few whiners among the business community on the recent 3 day closure, but they didn't have to face the loss of the balance of the season, and the uncertain possibility that the line would even be rebuilt as we had in 1970.
Rumors were flying, the D&RGW was making public comments about the future of the line, and the almost "total" devastation to the canyon. We didn't trust much of what the D&RGW told us, so several of us took a hike from Teft Spur to Rockwood and saw for ourselves what the damage was. Short sections were damaged, several thousand feet of track decorated the river sides and bottom, but much of the line was intact. Work was well underway when we made our hike, and the line reopened as scheduled in 1971.
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