THis case has been simmering since it happened in June of 2018. In the case, there has been a Federal Judge who issued a Stop Work Order on the ROW brush mitigation work by the D&S RR. And apparently, a second Stop Work order was also issued for bridge repairs due to flooding in the affected area of the ROW, at the request of the USFS.
There has also been a ‘filing’ on behalf of the Defendants in the case {D&SRR and American Heritige Rwys- a Fla Corp.]. [It is a PDF that comprises about 14 pages.]
It is interesting, that in the Introduction and Background section there is an allusion that the plaintiffs knew of the drought conditions that existed in June of 2018 and ‘essentially, allowed the railroad ro continue to operate’.
Then while searching and reading I found a linked site, from a local in the Siverton area that makes the case for similar conditions of the 2018 [416 Fire] and the Missionary Ridge Fire of 2002, as well as the 1879 fire [Lime Creek Burn?] Which seems to bring into context the history of fires in the area of the SW part of Colorado. Just my 2 cents.
Another issue underlaying this whole situation of “…My lawyer can whip your lawyer, thingy…” are the ‘politics’; it seems we just cannot eacape that this year.
My main reason for bringing this up is there has seemingly been little to no movement in magazine stories, or shudder, media? I think this would be a subject of interest on this Forum???
I haven’t read the linked documents yet, but why is there no interest in the mainline media or any other news outlets concerning this? They don’t care. As far as they’re concerned Durango may as well be on the dark side of the Moon.
The railfans and railfan press certainly cares, and I’m sure the local press in Durango cares, maybe even in the rest of Colorado as well, but that’s all brother.
I’ll light those liks up for you Sam, it’ll make it easier for all.
Yes, isn’t that a “bone of contention” right now? Ostensibly the D&S and it’s right-of-way and structures pertaining to the same are under the jurisdiction of the FRA and the USFS has no business telling the railroad what they can or can’t do with their own property. At least that’s how I understand it. Maybe I understand wrong.
At any rate there’s no “dueling agencys,” FRA versus USFS, in play right now, at least not that I’m aware of.
Get the feeling that this will devolve into an Adirondack Scenic Railroad situation of the trail interests and the let it rot interests; with the Forest Service thrown in the create more obfuscation.
I suspect that the lack of public interest, if you will, is because a lot of people just don’t know or care (there’s a railroad there?), combined with those who would just love to see the railroad gone because it’s a blemish on the landscape.
I agree with Larry that, when all the beans are lined up, the railroad is very teensy spuds. And distant, and not universally approved of. Smoke, fires, creosoted timbers…egads!!
I do tend to see this more from the forestry’s point of view. What happens on private property has to be consonant with local, state, and federal laws in terms of land use, mitigation, environmental protection, and waters management. For example, here on Vancouver Island, there are scads of waterfront properties. Their value rises by many tens of thou if the view is stupendous. But, one must not cut trees on the littoral unless one has an environmental assessment first, AND approval from Fisheries and Oceans (so many local streams have salmon runs annually). Yet, each year, the local paper reports of Bill Such 'n Such fined $40K for ‘improvements’ to their property, while the next year same property sells for $400K more than its last listing.
Additional Note: [:-^] A couple of ‘issues’ regarding the 416 Fire jumped out whle reading some of the available materials, on-line; regarding the origin of the 416 Fire.
A.) From the entry, in Mr. Johnathan P. Thompson’s Blog: [;Mr.Thompson indicated he was a resident of the Sikverton area.] FTB:"…The cause of the 416 Fire remains unknown. Embers from the coal-fired narrow gauge train that travels between Durango and Silverton are a fire hazard, yet the US Forest Service has reported the ignition point as being in the right of way of Highway 550, meaning the fire just as easily could have been started by a motorist’s tossed cigarette butt. In any event, the railroad and the tourism economy that depends on it will be affected. Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge RR officials say they won’t run the train until June 10 at the earliest, and after that will use a diesel locomotive — to the displeasure of authenticity-seeking passengers. (UPDATE 6/6:InciWeb continues to list fire cause as “unknown,” but the coordinates it gives for the fire, and witness accounts, indicate that the fire started near the railroad tracks, not long after the train passed, far from Hwy 550, putting the train at the top of the list of potential culprits…" [emphasis added, mine S.]
Perhaps too much eagerness to ‘mitigate the spark issue’ would be read as guilt for having persisted with coal firing. And to be honest I am not sure why they did persist in known fire conditions, with a very long history of coal sparks causing extraordinary fire danger.
I am probably being over-paranoid but I see ‘the fix being in’ to find a villain with sufficiently little public support who can be sued for reparations to give all the victims of the fire a sense of ‘closure’. It is hard to imagine that with so much money on the table there’s much concern for the existing Durango and Silverton organization…
I have read on other outlets that housing developements, upscale housing developements, are beginning to appear along the tracks. This is starting to bring opposition to the railroad being there.
Just what they, or any similar operation, doesn’t need. A small, but vocal opposition with resources (money) to make their voices even louder to the politicians.
Indeed - for several reasons. The constant of “I didn’t know trains went by here and complaining of the noise,” smoke, the passengers peering in your windows, and one they probably don’t cite - it brings the “great unwashed” into town…
This sounds similar to the snobs of Barrington with their opposition to Metra’s proposed circle route on the EJ&E and later with the increase in rail traffic when CN absorbed the EJ&E.
There’s a lot of companies that predate EPA, OSHA, DOT, and other alphabet groups. They can’t just run around ignoring all regulations becuase the name of the company existed for 100 years.
I don’t think Euclid was critisizing the homeowners Zug, far from it.
It’s a very wise thing they’re doing. If I had a house out in the boonies far away from any fire department support I’d have plenty of firefighting gear on hand myself. Whether there was a railroad nearby, steam or otherwise (Diesels can get pretty flamey too!) would have nothing to do with it.