Mudslide on Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

[kwhit24]

FYI, I haven't seen this posted yet but also doesn't seem to be completely impacting access to Needleton

“Due to significant weather events, our service to Silverton has been interrupted by mud and rockslides north of Needleton.

“For Monday, June 24, all guests who have booked Durango to Silverton train excursions will be automatically re-booked in their same seats to a modified trip to Cascade Canyon and return. We will be sending communications to each passenger concerning these changes with additional details. For those wishing to cancel their trip in its entirety, please email: reservations@durangotrain.com

“We look forward to restoring full Silverton service as soon as possible, and we thank you for your understanding as we work to clear our track.”

https://www.kktv.com/2024/06/24/mud-roc ... -colorado/

[XterraRob]

The guy on here that absolutely hates that train is going to be very happy.

[sieggy80305]

They are making a sounds like a couple of days to a week?

[justiner]

I wonder if these mudslides are happening in areas that suffered from the fire that ravaged the area. I seem to recall mudslides happening after the fires in Glenwood Canyon. Nothing left to keep the ground from sliding away once saturated with water.

[dwoodward13]

FYI, I haven't seen this posted yet but also doesn't seem to be completely impacting access to Needleton

They are dropping everyone off at Cascade which will add ~5 miles one way to Needleton. At that point you might as well walk the additional 4 miles from Purgatory and save your money!

[dwoodward13]

I wonder if these mudslides are happening in areas that suffered from the fire that ravaged the area. I seem to recall mudslides happening after the fires in Glenwood Canyon. Nothing left to keep the ground from sliding away once saturated with water.

There aren't any recent fires north of Needleton. The 416 fire was further south and on the west side of 550.

[Urban Snowshoer]

I wonder if these mudslides are happening in areas that suffered from the fire that ravaged the area. I seem to recall mudslides happening after the fires in Glenwood Canyon. Nothing left to keep the ground from sliding away once saturated with water.

There aren't any recent fires north of Needleton. The 416 fire was further south and on the west side of 550.

I remember that year--needless to say it was not a good one: things got so bad, some areas were at Stage 3 Fire Restrictions for awhile, which meant completely closed off (at least to the public) not just no fires.

Hopefully this year won't be a horror show when it comes to fires but who knows?

[pmreyn2010]

Hey all,

Just as an FYI - I just saw this update on the railroad’s Facebook page. Sounds like another slide near the same area of the last one took place last night, so the Silverton access has once again been cut off for the time being while they work to clear the tracks.

Update

IMG_0007.jpeg (273.74 KiB) Viewed 2800 times

[damselNOTindistress]

Yup, came out at Elk Park today and got to hike up to Molas and hitch back to Durango.

[merrion13]

Needleton Access is running as of 7/3, and operator indicated slide was cleared as of late yesterday so things are back normal again.

[damselNOTindistress]

How (if at all) does the railroad usually communicate to people coming out to catch the train that it isn't running? Seemed yesterday to be a "you will figure it out when the train doesn't come" situation. I'm headed to Needleton at the end of the month and am curious if that's just how it works.

It would sure suck to sit around waiting for the train when I could get my butt hiking out.

[masonm]

How (if at all) does the railroad usually communicate to people coming out to catch the train that it isn't running? Seemed yesterday to be a "you will figure it out when the train doesn't come" situation. I'm headed to Needleton at the end of the month and am curious if that's just how it works.

It would sure suck to sit around waiting for the train when I could get my butt hiking out.

I went in on the 22nd, they told me about the slide as they were loading my bag. Came out Elk Park on the 25th to obviously no train running. I text my wife on the Garmin and had her call the train station to see about a solution. Ended up getting picked up by a pop car on its way back to Silverton and then hitched a ride with one of the workers to Durango.