Terrible Tragedy only 30 miles NW of Chama, 1905

Terrible Tragedy only 30 direct miles NW of Chama in January, 1905
Everyone can relate to the horror in a coal mining town when the men do not come home at night. But who would believe and understand that same horror when it happen to a sawmill town of Edith, CO, only 31.4 rail miles west of Chama. Twenty-two men did not return on the night of January 11 and 12, 1905 and two of them died in their attempt to do so on foot.
With the new digital link to the old newspapers, this following story was discovered in a Jan. 19, 1905 Telluride Journal, far away for where anyone would expect to look for logging railroad data about the Rio Grande & Pagosa Spring Railroad, a logging line run by the New Mexico Lumber Company, as part of the McPhee & McGinnity Lumber Company of Denver.
“WITHOUT FOOD AND WATER FOR TWO DAYS”
A lumber train on the Edith Branch of the D&RG, down on the New Mexico line east of Durango, got stuck in the snow last Wednesday thirty-five miles from Edith, and did not get out until Friday, a fearful storm raging meanwhile.
Twenty-two men were huddled in the small bobtail caboose, with barely standing room for so many. The men had nothing to eat from Wednesday noon till Friday night and the supply of water gave out Thursday.
Three Mexicans started back to Edith on foot; one was frozen to death and another so badly frozen he will die. Engineer Rodman, of the lumber train, had both feet frozen. The snow was up to the windows of the caboose.
Two relief trains and four engines were sent out, and were stuck and “went dead.” When released snow had to be melted to get up steam.” [end]
The Bobtail caboose is very likely the unit in the three photos in “Logging Along the D&RG” by Gordon Chappell 1971, one on page 95 and two on page 102. This was a short cabin on a longer flat car and the window was 5 feet from top of rail, so the snow was close to 6 feet deep.
If we review the mileage, there might have been a little exaggeration but we know they were logging way up the Little Blanco River at the time. 35 miles for Edith would be 16 miles up above Chambers where the line go up to Spruce Canyon and possibly Mill Creek. The location of Blanco engine house was 16.5 miles from Edith, and Chambers was on US 84, 2.5 miles further. Presently explored, the main trunk of the RG&PS ended at “Flaugh", 2700’ short of the junction of US 84 and US 160, which was 30.77 rail miles from Edith. If this log train was 35 miles from Edith, then there are about 5 more miles of right of way up Mill Creek that has never been explored, taking the line northeast on a spur off of the main trunk that went to “Flaugh”. W. H. McPhee attempted to reach Pagosa Springs, but lost the race to the Rio Grande, Pagosa & Northern RR, and diverted into more logging spurs to the northeast of it trunk line.
The five locomotive involved in this story was the lines’ entire fleet of engines. It would have involved #1 BLW #5784 2-6-0, #28 BLW #4317 2-6-0, #3 BLW class “56” 2-8-0, #4 Lima 2T Shay #1561, and #32 BLW #8699 2-8-0. The largest Colorado NG Shay (3T) and two Lima 2-8-0 were added to the fleet within two years of this incident.
There sure must have been more to this story in their attempt to rescue the train, and the trouble these two rescue trains had. It is too bad the local newspapers have been lost to history. Possibly some photos or data might show up now we have a date of this winter snow incident. Possibly our friendly poster Rich Muth or our snow-storm expert Jerry Day can add to this for the rest of us.
G.