Last Labor Day, I took a trip down into the San Juan Mountains in the southwestern part of the state. I didn’t do a whole lot of railfanning – just what I caught of the D&S in Silverton. Due to the backlog of things I have to process, it’s taken me this long to get to these shots.
I did, however, come across the grave of Otto Mears (purely by chance, too…you should have seen how excited I was!) and spent a lot of time on areas he surveyed. Part of the trails we were driving on in our rented Jeeps are former rail lines. The one I know for sure is the road from Silverton to the ghost town of Animas Forks, CO. This is the right-of-way of one of the former Mears short lines – though I don’t remember which one off hand. I’ll have to dig out one of my Colorado Narrow Gauge books tonight and look it up.
Also, does anyone know why Mears has such a simple marker? Given the amount of work he did with roads and railroads in the San Juans, I would have thought he would have had something more than a simple US Service marker. Given that his date of death is so long after the heyday of Colorado’s narrow gauge railroads…did he die in poverty and obscurity?
OK…enough babbling…here are the shots:
(I did a bit of photo-chopping to this one to give it kind of an antique feel. Alas, these never work the way I want. The format difference between APS digital and 8x10 or so large format cameras is just too great a difference. Additionally, modern optics are just too good.
I didn’t bring my LF gear on this trip, but I do have a vintage Aplanat for the 4x5 that probably would have rendered the scene exactly how I would have liked it. I really need to get out with my LF gear more often.)
Ed: Wow, I never even thought about it, but it does, doesn’t it? This is my favorite church that I’ve come across on my travels so far:
That’s St. Andrew’s Presbyterian in Bennett Lake, BC (which was my lunch stop while riding the White Pass and Yukon).
Brian: I’ve never owned one, but I think about it from time to time, especially living out here. Then again, the rental thing worked pretty well. For as often as I go, I think I’d probably be ahead of the game just to stick to the rentals.
Danny: Thanks! There’s a lot of neat old building around Colorado. If you ever make it up here, give me a shout!
Hey Chris, liked the second shot especially. Was that burger joint still running in Silverton when you were there? It would have been right behind you when you took the second shot. Got to Silverton around lunchtime in July of 83 (the Fourth, if I remember) and was walking around a bit taking pictures when one of the trains came in. I realized I’d better get lunch quickly before the passengers got off, so we tried the closest place. I had forgotten what burgers made from never-frozen beef and no fillers tasted like!
The San Juans are great, aren’t they? You can just randomly point a camera in the horizontal direction and snap and about 80 percent of the pictures will be stunning. Ran a lot of Kodachrome through my camera up there and loved every second of it.
Oh, and as usual, loved the pix and thanks for sharing.
All 3 main roads out of Silverton follow Mears’ railroads-the Silverton RR generally followed the US 550 rte. over Red Mtn pass, the Silverton, Gladstone & Northerly went due north out of town, and the Silverton Northern went up the Animas valley to Eureka. All these can be driven in a regular car, and if you’re a little more adventurous (and have a little more ground clearance) the area around Red Mountain town just over Red Mtn Pass is fun exploring.
Chuck - I actually didn’t look too much around Silverton when I was there this time. We stopped quickly for gas (and the others got an ice cream cone while I was shooting the train) and then we were headed to the trail up to Gold Lake. I haven’t ridden on the D&S since 2000 (I always find myself headed to the C&TS when I’m down that way), so I think I may have to rectify that this summer. I’m thinking that there would be a lot of subjects for the 4x5 camera!
The San Juans are my FAVORITE mountain range! I love climbing in them, too! I remember when I climbed Uncompahgre peak, I was absolutely amazed at the top. There are soooooo many mountain in every direction! It feels like being awash in a sea of mountains. So cool!
Thanks for the comment!
TheChief - Thanks for the clarification! I managed to travel two of those roads. Alas! I didn’t have time to do the Silverton, Gladstone and Northerly. That’ll definately be part of the next trip, though!
Chris, I just finished looking thru your collection of photos taken out in the wilds you fellows were exploring…What a collection of sights…Wild territory to say the least. Enjoyed looking through it all. As I looked, I wondered how some of the equipment shown…{big boilers, etc…}, were ever transported to such an out post environment…Some of the old equipment looks like very heavy stuff, etc…
I’m curious about the Otto Mears tombstone you photographed-according to the book “The Rainbow oute” (the story of the silverton railroads) the ashes of Otto mears were scattered on Engineer Mtn. above Silverton. So, is the book wrong? Is the marker just wishful thinking? I’m reminded of Doc Holliday’s grave in Glenwood Springs. The cemetary there suffered a flood, so they just picked a spot & stuck up a tombstone. Well, he’s buried somewhere around here…
I have been on engineer pass before but only when i was a little tike and we did it in a subarban so that looks pretty easy in a jeep.
P.S I was just up there about two years and went to animas forks and then back down to silverton. P.S.S we also had rented jeeps and they were quite nice. seeing those pics makes me i was still there in Colorado, though it is a better here in Idaho for watching trains then in Grand junction.[zzz]
You can also drive a good bit of the RGS between Telluride & the top of Lizard Head Pass. I haven’t been on this road in many years, so I can’t vouch for it’s condition. Near the top of Lizard Head, the RR grade follows a good gravel road around the back side of Trout Lake, past a restored water tank & trestle. Well worth the side trip, and of course the scenery is unbeatable.
