(The following story by Ted Holteen appeared on the Durango Herald website on October 8.)
DURANGO, Colo. — After seven years spearheading the restoration of locomotive No. 315, George Niederauer is ready for a rest.
“We’re going to take a break for the winter,” Niederauer said Sunday morning as 150 invited guests boarded a special train at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad depot.
The train, bound for Cascade Canyon, was pulled by the 112-year old workhorse engine back in service for the first time in 58 years.
The rolling thank-you party gave Niederauer the chance to bring together the individuals and companies that collectively donated nearly $1 million in cash, services and materials to fulfill the dream of a handful of railroad aficionados who spent thousands of unpaid hours to complete the restoration.
But in the opinion of D&SNG owner Al Harper, himself instrumental in the project, without Niederauer No. 315 would still be rusting away in Santa Rita Park.
“If there was a definition in the dictionary of perseverance, it would be George Niederauer,” Harper said. “And his name should be George OMG Niederauer, because every time I looked out my window in the last few years, I’d see George and say to myself, ‘Oh my God what’s the 315 need now?'”
Whatever the 315 needed, it apparently got. Durango Railroad Historical Society members Jim Granflaten and Fred Folk, who have both been involved in the restoration since its inception, said after the mechanical retrofit, the locomotive likely runs better now than it did when it was brand new in 1895.
“It’s more than I would’ve expected,” Granflaten said. “I had no concept that it’d be as smooth and quiet as it is.”
Engineer Steve Otten agreed. Otten has worked for the D&SNG since 1988 and is the designated supervisor of locomotive engineers. He had to make only slight adjustments to drive No. 315, as most of the levers and other mechanics are similar to the regular locomotives.
Otten said the biggest difference is the size of the engines – at 60 tons the 315 is half the weight of other D&SNG locomotives. That makes it about half as powerful as well. The five-car train behind No. 315 was probably the maximum load for the locomotive, while other D&SNG engines can pull a train of 10 or more cars up the Animas Canyon.
No. 315 is one of only four or five 19th century locomotives operational nationwide.
It first saw service in the late 1890s and early 1900s – servicing the enormous gold fields near Cripple Creek until floods washed out the tracks in 1912.
In 1917 when the United States entered World War I, No. 315 was used as part of a national program to improve the country’s transportation infrastructure. In 1940, the Denver & Rio Grande railroad bought the locomotive for a route between Salida, Montrose and Ouray, but in 1949 a bent valve forced its retirement. It would not move again under its own power until September 2007.
Although old 315’s return to glory went off without a hitch, future passenger rides will be few and far between. The locomotive is owned by the city of Durango, and a pavilion is being built in Santa Rita Park to house it. But Niederauer and Harper are working to find a home closer to the D&SNG tracks so it won’t have to be loaded onto a trailer each time it is used. Niederauer said it will probably make three or four runs each year for special occasions only.
“After all this work, we’re not going to beat it down again,” he said.