Durango & Silverton Railroad update

[Eagle Eye]

Better late than never? I found out by calling them last week that the train was back to chugging. Although their season ends very soon. (Oct 27th)
I knew they had a terrible season that included fires, mudslides and damaged to trains. The aftermath of the fires and mudslides were VERY obvious when I took it last Tuesday (16th)

Of course check with them...but as far as Needleton Flagstops' pick-up and drop-off schedule its pretty simple:
Silverton bound trains arrive 11:15am
Durango bound trains arrive 3:30pm

happy trails!!! Mike "Eagle Eye" Via

[hberry]

Are they dropping off at Needleton from Silverton? When I spoke with them last month they told me I could only ride from Durango and they weren't doing drops from Silverton.

[Ptglhs]

It's a shame the train in running and dropping people off again. The Chicago Basin is paradoxically remote and popular. The area in the lower basin before the turn off to twin lakes receives a lot of traffic when the train is running. I'd rather the train not run and force people to take a couple of extra days to hike and enjoy the beauty of the weiminuche wilderness. It would cut down on the amount of hikers, allow the land to recover, and allow for a wilderness feeling for those who still went. I did the 14ers in 3 nights/4days. I saw a few people when I was hiking in and 2 dozen when I was hiking out but both days I was doing peaks I didnt see anyone else the entire time I was above twin lakes.

[EZsummits]

It's a shame the train in running and dropping people off again. The Chicago Basin is paradoxically remote and popular. The area in the lower basin before the turn off to twin lakes receives a lot of traffic when the train is running. I'd rather the train not run and force people to take a couple of extra days to hike and enjoy the beauty of the weiminuche wilderness. It would cut down on the amount of hikers, allow the land to recover, and allow for a wilderness feeling for those who still went. I did the 14ers in 3 nights/4days. I saw a few people when I was hiking in and 2 dozen when I was hiking out but both days I was doing peaks I didnt see anyone else the entire time I was above twin lakes.

I have mixed emotions on this one. My hiking persona definitely shares your opinion. On the other hand, if the train wasn't running it would severely impact the Durango economy.

[justiner]

Lawsuit against the railroad:

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/09/11/d ... e-lawsuit/

I'm very surprised that this hadn't happened earlier, really as coal-fired narrow gauge trains are historical sources of forest fires throughout Colorado.

It would be amazing, simply in a what-if scenario, to have the train line replaced with a trail. I wouldn't bet on it, though.

[painless4u2]

It would be amazing, simply in a what-if scenario, to have the train line replaced with a trail.

Yeah, but they have cold beer on board that you don't have to carry along.

[Eli Boardman]

It would be amazing, simply in a what-if scenario, to have the train line replaced with a trail.

Yes, the destruction of this very historic, one-of-a-kind, area-defining attraction would be so amazing, wouldn't it...

[SurfNTurf]

Durango lost two if its largest white-collar employers in the past year (yes, I'm bitter), Fort Lewis College is struggling with enrollment, and the river economy has suffered two devastatingly bad seasons thanks to the 2015 Gold King Mine spill and the 2018 drought/fire. The city frankly needs the train to be running. It doesn't have much else going for it. That said, DSNGRR can and should take steps to mitigate the risks, even if it means switching away from real coal-fired engines altogether.

I do love the idea of cutting out the services for hikers and making people walk, though. Chicago Basin is teetering on the verge of Maroon Bells-level backcountry collapse, and the Weminuche is one of the few truly wild places we have left in Colorado. The Forest Service can either go through the rigamarole of creating and "enforcing" dozens of regulations to try to slow the desolation, or the crowds could be cut to a fraction of current levels by requiring an extra hiking day for access. I seriously doubt the train would have any trouble selling out, even without a Needleton stop. Would such a common-sense solution ever happen? Of course not. We live in a society of entitlement and instant gratification, and the people would never stand for it.

[Cruiser]

It's a shame the train in running and dropping people off again. The Chicago Basin is paradoxically remote and popular. The area in the lower basin before the turn off to twin lakes receives a lot of traffic when the train is running. I'd rather the train not run and force people to take a couple of extra days to hike and enjoy the beauty of the weiminuche wilderness. It would cut down on the amount of hikers, allow the land to recover, and allow for a wilderness feeling for those who still went. I did the 14ers in 3 nights/4days. I saw a few people when I was hiking in and 2 dozen when I was hiking out but both days I was doing peaks I didnt see anyone else the entire time I was above twin lakes.

I get what you're saying but the Weminuche is a big, mostly deserted wilderness. If you want beautiful scenery and solitude out there you won't have much trouble finding them whether the train stops at Needleton or not.

[hberry]

It was certainly nice to be up there last month and seeing less than a dozen people each day that I was there. I absolutely can't imagine how awful it would be with a few hundred other people in the basin each day.

It was nice to not see a single people on the 14ers until I was almost done my last one, and then not see anyone on Jupiter or anywhere near it until I made it back to the basin.

[XterraRob]

Long live the ChooChoo Train!

[justiner]

It would be amazing, simply in a what-if scenario, to have the train line replaced with a trail.

Yes, the destruction of this very historic, one-of-a-kind, area-defining attraction would be so amazing, wouldn't it...

If it can't stop itself from destroying the very forest it runs along, then I think there's cause to remove it. Or does the train somehow have precedence?

Silverton is sort of a messed up place when it comes to their priorities. Remember when they tried to block Superfund status?

https://durangoherald.com/articles/1989

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/17/us/a ... l-epa.html

Well, that's happening, now,

https://durangoherald.com/articles/189643

https://www.telluridenews.com/news/arti ... 5745e.html



I really don't know if this lawsuit would stick, or if that would have any effect on the operation of the railroad. The only fire in CO that's near this size was the Hayman fire, and that individual got basically a slap on the wrist for it.