Re: Silverton - or Durango, Trout Lake & Telluride ?

In my youth, I used to fantasize about a line starting at the tail of the Rockwood wye, and following the upper lip of the Animas Canyon and then up the east side of the (Cascade Creek?) valley across from the Purgatory ski area, looping back to the southwest just below the waterfall, and following one of the ledges up to the narrowest part of Sliderock Ridge. At that point, it would tunnel under the ridge, and descend in a northwesterly direction, connecting to the tail of the Rio Grande Southern wye at Lizard Head Pass, whence it would follow the original RGS grade to Ophir Loop. Whether to follow the original line to Telluride or to build a new line along the hill on the east side of the San Miguel valley, with a gradual descent from Ophir to Telluride instead of a 4% climb from Vance Junction, is open to debate. (If he weren't obviously deranged, you-know-who - with his $30 million and change - might be allowed to be one of the principal finanicial backers of this fantastic money-making opportunity ... )

Alas, it is probably too late - the likelyhood of nimbyism among the owners of all those fancy new homes at Rockwood has tipped the scales toward a negative outcome.