It wasn’t quite what they were expecting. The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad took passengers only as far as the Cascade Canyon wye today because of mud and water on the tracks.
“The truth is, we might have been able to clean up the tracks and get through,” the railroad’s general manager Paul Schranck said this afternoon. “But it was still raining pretty hard, there was a lot of water on the tracks and the train’s rule is to always take the safe course.”
Passengers will receive a 50 percent refund on their tickets, he said.
“We’re going to run a work train up there at 5:30 a.m. (Wednesday) to get it cleared off,” Schranck said. “If they get up there and think it’s not going to be safe, we’ll turn around at Cascade again. We’ll let the passengers know that’s a possibility when they board.”
The Cascade wye is about 26 miles from Durango.
The mud and rocks hit the tracks in the same area as a major mudslide in 2011.
“It’s nothing compared to that slide,” Schranck said.
Staff at the train understand passengers were hoping for the full ride.
“It’s a disappointment for the people who wanted to see Silverton,” railroad marketing manager Andrea Seid said, “and it’s a disappointment for the people in Silverton. But we need to be safe first.”
Train officials are encouraging passengers scheduled to ride the train Wednesday to check with the ticket office at the Durango depot at 479 Main Ave. or call 247-2733 for status updates.
The National Weather Service called for a 50 percent chance of continued rain showers Tuesday night in Durango, with mostly sunny skies and a high of 74 today.
abutler@durangoherald.com
