As of July 2008, we are the only traffic to travel these former D&RGW rails. The line had been dormant for 15 years. I met with the owner of the railroad, and he told me how hard they've worked to make the track traversable again. They were cutting down trees that had grown up through the tracks.
You can see a lot of work has gone into bringing the track back to life. At some point in the near future, they hope to run a tourist train here, however the City of Creede fears the impact that a few tourists may have on their city, and would not grant permission for our excursion to come any closer than about a mile from town.Even with this restriction, a 93 year old local woman (who had joined us for the excursion), walked across the trestle, tie after tie, into Creede and back. That was a distance of over 2 miles.
Those who support the railroad will only do business in Creede with "railroad friendly" establishments.
The Rio Grande (river) in Colorado.
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These are the "Palisades".
Looking back at a setoff near milepost 304.
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Looking back at the "Silver Bridge" in the distance. The owner of the railroad says that's its nickname.
Stopped at Palisade campground.
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One of the many rafters.
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Looking almost straight up!
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"There's people on the Wagon Wheel Bridge - they're slowing down to wait for them to come off."
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