Where History Still Runs the Rails, 144 Years of Durango Silverton Train Service

1906- Train emerging from snowshed at Snowshed Slide Photo by SJCHS

1906- Train emerging from snowshed at Snowshed Slide Photo by SJCHS

1906- Large work party clearing tracks of the D&SNGRR at the Snowshed Slide between Silverton and Elk Park Photo by SJCHS

1906- Large work party clearing tracks of the D&SNGRR at the Snowshed Slide between Silverton and Elk Park Photo by SJCHS

Aug 1, 1955 - View of Denver & Rio Grande Western locomotive No. 476 standing on 12th Street in Silverton photo by SJCHS

Aug 1, 1955 - View of Denver & Rio Grande Western locomotive No. 476 standing on 12th Street in Silverton photo by SJCHS

For 144 years now, residents of Silverton and Durango have been attuned to the sound of the whistle from the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad coming down the Animas Valley or Canyon.What most people don’t know is that Durango was actually founded as a rail town by the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in 1879, specifically to haul ore and supplies for the mines in Silverton,...

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