Mechanical Foreman Randy Babcock looks through historic plans for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad’s trains. The plans have been made into PDFs so they can be accessed more easily. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

Joel Manson welds the cab of the 486 Engine in the roundhouse of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in June. Major maintenance is being done on the trains to make sure they continue running for many years. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

William White, left, and Randy Babcock work in June to replace main rods that drive this Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad engine forward. The work is part of a multi-year push to replace older parts and systems to ensure the trains can run safely for many years to come. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

Joel Manson works on the cab of the 486 Engine of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The company is working to get seven engines running trips to Silverton. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

William White works to replace a piston on the side of an engine owned by the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

A piece of the brake system was photographed by the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad staff and loaded into a computer-assisted drafting program so that a digital model could be made. The digital model was used to make a plastic model on a 3-D printer. A foundry will use the plastic model to create a new part. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

The 486 Engine of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad from within the roundhouse. The engineers who work on these trains want to pursue the historic nature of the engines, but they are phasing in modern techniques to care for them. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

Mechanical Foreman Randy Babcock looks through historic plans for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad’s trains. The plans have been converted into electronic files so they can be accessed more easily. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

Mechanical Foreman Randy Babcock compares main rods that are used to drive the trains forward. The new main rods have been redesigned to keep them from hitting asphalt roads at crossings. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

Randy Babcock compares main rods, one made with legacy techniques and the other using modern digital methodologies at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

Tools used in the maintenance of the 486 Engine of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad sit inside the train’s roundhouse. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald