The Scenic Line of the San Juans, Animas Canyon Route

The Denver & Rio Grande reached the tiny town of Durango in the summer of 1881 and started work on what would eventually be known as the Silverton Branch that fall. ; They worked through the winter and opened the line in July of 1882. ; The line prospered for just 11 short years until the price of Silver fell nearly 40% in 1893 causing the closure of 10 mines in the Silverton District, after which the line struggled. ; Scenic passenger trips were run on the line and eventually Hollywood discovered it and filmed several movies including Around the World in 80 Days, Ticket to Tomahawk, Support Your Local Gunfighter and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. ; Despite this increase in revenue, narrow gauge railroading didn't fit into the business plans of the D&RGW, so they petitioned the ICC to allow them to abandon the line in 1962. ; Fortunately, the request was denied, forcing the railroad to continue operations. ; Finally in 1981, the railroad's wish of getting out of the narrow gauge business came true when Florida citrus grower Charles E. Bradshaw, Jr. purchased the line preserving it for future generations. ;

Three weeks ago, I had the opportunity to take my first trip on the D&S as part of a very small (35 participant) private charter on the line. ; We had two days of perfect weather and the D&S Crew went out of their way to put on a spectacular show for all of us.

I arrived a day early and chased the D&S' regular winter photography train out to Hermosa Tank before heading to Mesa Verde for the day. ; The first day of our charter featured three original 1880's wood body passenger cars. ; The railroad painted the two Jackson & Sharp coaches and the RPO Baggage cars into their Pullman Green paint scheme which hasn't been used since the 1940's. ; The second day featured a mixed freight consist including the coaches, RPO car and the railroads original D&RG long caboose. ; Both days the train was pulled by K-28 class locomotive #478 which sported a period correct D&RG "button" herald on the tender.

Hermosa (MP 462.53) is the location of one of the two remaining wooden water tanks on the line. ; The tank was built by the D&RG to allow firemen to top off the tenders before starting the climb to Rockwood. ; The Hermosa tank has been structurally stabilized, but is no longer used to hold water. ; Today, the tank from an old railroad tank car is used instead. ; Hermosa is also the headquarters for the railroad's Maintenance of Way department. ; Note the Fireman on the tender signaling the Engineer where to spot the locomotive to take on water:



Farther up the line, we find the passenger train at Granite Point above Elbert Creek (MP 468.5):



Horseshoe Curve (MP 469.4) is the beginning of the legendary High Line. ; This two mile stretch was constructed over the winter of 1881-82 and in many places required the lowering men over the side of the cliffs on bosun's chairs with drills and dynamite at a cost of roughly $100,000 per mile.



The Shelf (MP 470) is one of the most spectacular spots on the line. ; Barely wide enough for the train with a 300ft drop to the emerald waters of the Rio de las Animas Perdidas (River of the Lost Souls) below.





The High Bridge over the Animas is the end of the High Line. ; The original wooden timber bridge in this location was built during the winter of 1881-82 and was replaced with the steel girder bridge seen here today. The Durango & Silverton reinforced the bridge in 1981 to allow the heavier K-36 class locomotives to operate on the line. Until that time, the largest locomotives that could operate here were the K-28 like the one seen in these photos.





More to come...

 

Absolutely (insert expletive here) amazing! ; Stunning!

 

Thanks John!

 

great shots Michael

 

I do like the close up of the train over the bridge.

You had a great day(s) for this tour. ; The late winter/early spring look of the landscape adds to the uniqueness of your photos.

 

Awesome shots!

 

michael, your ARE the train man of tmip, fo shizzle

 

Thanks guys!

 

And now for the second half of the pictures. ; Continuing from where we left off, the next stop up the line was Tank Creek (MP474.65). ; The original wooden tank was removed by the D&RGW in 1966 and replaced with this metal tank car body. ; To ensure a reliable supply of water, the D&SNG's MOW crew poured a concrete dam in the creek above the tank:





During the winter, Durango, Hermosa and Tank Creek are the only locations the engine can take on water. ; That means that the photo charters are an interesting dance always keeping in mind the location of the sun, the time of day, the amount of water remaining and the distance to the next available water supply and I have to say that the train Conductor and the charter staff made it look effortless. ;

There's an interesting story about the smoke on this charter. This particular type of steam engine doesn't normally produce much smoke so the Fireman had to constantly work to create it for us. This meant he had to overload the firebox with coal to force inefficient combustion to occur and create the smoke which results in a roaring fire at the end of every runby. If left alone, this will over-pressurize the boiler, causing the safety valves to lift and waste a lot of valuable water. To keep that from happening, while the fireman overloads the firebox with coal, he adds more (cold) water to the boiler which reduces the temperature and therefore keeps the pressure down and prevents the safety's from lifting. ; That results in too much water in the boiler to efficiently produce steam. To fix that problem the Fireman would then do a blowdown to remove just enough water to get the boiler back to where it needs to be for the next runby, but this loss in water is significantly less than what would have been lost if the safety's would have lifted, allowing for more runbys before running for water.

Cement Wall (MP476.7) gets its name from the large cement retaining wall the D&RGW poured in this location after a huge flood in 1970 wiped out the tracks in this location. ; The canyon is so narrow here that when the Animas floods, it can do serious damage to the tracks, hence the need for the retaining wall:





The passenger train crosses the steel truss bridge known as Tefft Bridge (MP 477.80):



Typically the winter trains don't go past Cascade Wye (MP 477.55), but we were allowed to go the additional half mile to Tefft Spur (MP 477.9). ; This location is named after an early Forest Ranger, Guy Tefft and was once the location of a large sawmill that supplied the Silverton Branch with ties. ; Note the rail cribbing used to prevent washouts in this bend of the river:



There is no solid ground to stand on at this location (as well as several others), so we had to be on top of the ice in the riverbed. The railroad marked the photo line with stakes and green ribbon in an area they were sure was thick enough to be safe. When we got off the train, one of the guys asked the conductor how far out we could go and he responded, "I know it is safe out to the last stake." We then proceeded to go right past the safety zone and made our way very carefully out to a large pile of rocks near the edge of the ice to get to this spot. ; I'm sure the conductor thought we were crazy, but when we showed him the picture, he did admit that he thought it was a nice shot.

Tefft spur is the farthest up the line you can safely go in the winter. Just past this is a section of the canyon that is home to some of the most dangerous avalanche area in the world. The D&RG fought the snow on this line for the entire time they operated it. In the early days, locomotives weren't heavy and strong enough to push plows, so they had to dig the drifts and avalanches out by hand. ; Sometimes the snow was so deep that they would tunnel through the snow!

I'll end with two shots from the night session. ; Most night sessions run today use either hot lights or large electronic flashes. ; This one was done old school with flash bulbs. ; I'm not sure what it is about the bulbs, but they do have a different look to them that I kind of like. ; The first shot is K-28 #478 simmering in the Durango Roundhouse with K-36 #482 sitting cold waiting her next assignment and another K-36 receiving her annual maintenance:



And last but not least, #478 takes a spin on the original steam powered turntable:

 

michael, this is great b&w , and i know i've said this before, but your work is very reminiscent to me of O. Winston Link. i know i've also said this before, but it can stand saying again. Anyone looking at michael's work and admiring his black and white styling, should google mr link, and get acquainted with his work, he chronicled the last days of steam on the norfolk & western, forerunner to todays Norfolk Southern conglomerate. he made some of the most iconic steam photos ever produced, his photo "HOTSHOT EASTBOUND 1956" is one of the best known steam images ever. i have included the wikipedia link for those so interested, even if you don't like trains, he is a good study in how to have an identifiable style of your own.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._Winston_Link

 

More amazing work Michael!

 

Your Train shots are always the Absolute Best Michael. Beautiful Work.

 

I'll say it again as I have on the other train posts. ; Amazing!!

 

Thanks everyone!

 

WOW ; I missed part 2. what is there left to say. Just incredible