Last Updated 03/22/99
I think my first visit to Durango Colorado to ride the Narrow Gauge was in 1972 when I was in sixth grade. It was the first time I'd seen real live steam locomotives. At that time, the railroad was still being operated by the Denver and Rio Grande. There were just two trains per day, both pulled by K28s.
7 or 8 years ago, I drove through Durango on my way home to Denver from a camping trip in the desert southwest. I'd gotten busy over the years and sort of forgotten my trip of many years before. I decided that I had to ride the narrow gauge again. It took those 7 or 8 years before I was able to return.
Charles E. Bradshaw Jr. bought the D&SNG from the D&RGW in 1982 and has done a magnificent job. The facilities and equipment are first class. The facilities and rolling stock have been upgraded to handle as many as 5 trains a day.
Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.
Here are some pictures I took when I visited the D&SNG in early July 1996.
The D&SNG traded an operating K37,
#497 to the Cumbres & Toltec
for this K36, #482. The K37 had turned out to be too "stiff"
for the tight curvature on the line to Silverton. Now it's back on it's
home turf, the 4% grades of Cumbres Pass.
Here the 482 is getting ready to leave for Silverton. K28 #473 can be
seen on the ready track. (96K 768 x 512 jpg)
#482 departing Durango Station. (75K 512 x 768 jpg)
K28 #478 returning from Silverton on the outskirts of Durango. (82K
768 x 512 jpg)
K36 #480 in the early morning sun in Durango with the first train of
the day. (101K 768 x 512 jpg)
K28 #473 is now waiting it's turn train #2. (107K 768 x 512 jpg)
