Former D&RGW K36 Locomotive 486 Pulling one of the Daily Passenger Trains on the D&S. HISTORY The former Denver And Rio Grande Western Railroad was quite well known for it's Narrow Gauge Operations. The D&RGW was founded in 1870 by William J. Palmer as a Narrow Gauge Line. The Narrow Gauge route was highly successful and highly popular with railfans and tourists. The D&RG continued Narrow Gauge operations up into the 60s fully steam powered until the whole railroad was changed to standard gauge and Diesels replaced steam operations. However, two sections of the Narrow Gauge line Still survive today as Tourist Railroads with many of the original D&RGW Narrow Gauge Locomotives Still Operating on them. The Cumbres And Toltec, And the Durango And Silverton. Both are very popular rides and attract people from all across the globe to ride the trains. The D&S Runs from Durango To Silverton with lots of picturesque places on the line. All of of the daily D&S Trains are Steam Powered with the exception of a few Diesels on the line. A D&S Train Wraps around the Animas River TRAIN SIM WORLD RENDITION The Route From Durango to Silverton is about 45 miles and has breathtaking scenery. The route starts in Durango, CO and runs through the San Juan Mountains to Silverton. One of the Highlights of the trip is when the train snakes across a rock formation the Animas Canyon with the River being about 400 feet below (Photo Below). It is one of the most photographed scenes on any Railroad in the world. Then the train follows along the Animas River crossing lots of Bridges and Into Silverton, CO. In Durango, the D&S has a huge locomotive shop and car shop to service their locomotives and passenger cars. They also have a Museum with many displays and plenty of extra storage tracks. Silverton has a lot to offer as well. They have many Museums and old 1800s buildings. K28 Locomotive 478 chugs through the Animas Canyon LOCOMOTIVES AND ROLLING STOCK The D&S has a wide variety of Locomotives And Rolling Stock. Here are a few examples: 2-8-2 K36 Locomotive The K36 is the real workhorse of the Durango And Silverton. 10 K36 Locomotives were built by Baldwin and the D&S owns 4 K36 Locomotives the 480, 481, 482, and 486. The K36 was a very powerful engine and served the Narrow Gauge Line well until the shut down in the 60s. Today, all but one K36 survives and the K36s continue to pull many of the passenger trains on the Narrow Gauge Tourist Lines including the D&S. 2-8-2 K28 Locomotive The K28 is another Narrow Gauge Mikado built by ALCo. 10 of these Locomotives were produced. In the later years of their service, the K28s were assigned to pull the D&RGs Narrow Gauge Passenger trains . Today, only 3 Survive and all 3 reside at the Durango and Silverton. Engines 473, 476, and 478 are the survivors. All three K28s are either operable or are in the process of being restored. Because of their size, they are usually assigned to the smaller trains. GE Narrow Gauge Switchers The Durango And Silverton owns a few Narrow Gauge Switchers built by GE. The Railroad acquired them in the early to late 1990s and early 2000s and they are assigned to small switching duties around the Durango yard and shops. ROLLING STOCK The typical D&S consist has 4 classes of coach comfort. Standard, Deluxe, First Class, and the very expensive Presidential Class. The D&S has classic yellow ex-D&RGW coaches and open Air Cars, Unique Narrow Gauge dome cars, and exquisite red First Class & Presidential Class cars. The D&S also has a few Narrow Gauge freight cars mainly consisting of boxcars. K36s 480 and 482 sit in Silverton, CO FINAL CONCLUSION The Durango And Silverton is one of the most unique and most famous tourist lines on the planet. It even has been rated one of the top 10 best train rides in the world. It is a complete 1882 experience. Old Narrow Gauge Steam Locomotives pulling vintage passenger cars battling the San Juan mountains through some amazing scenery. The railroad has a lot of variety Operationally speaking and there are also many D&RGW narrow Gauge fans out there. Which is why The Durango And Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad would be a perfect fit for Train Simulator World. “Many trains arrive at your station; treat them good whether they stay or leave!” ― Mehmet Murat Ildan
http://www.drhs315.org/blog/drhs-shop/ds-train-sim/ Whilst it is not the most up to date, and definitely needs some new rolling stock, the route does exist. It was done by G-Trax and is sold by the DRHS to raise money to pay for the upkeep of D&RGW C-18 No. 315, the Silverton Northern Enginehouse, and freight wagons. -GWR5029
I was aware of this. I actually bought it from them some time ago, but I was proposing this route with more detail and more up to date rolling stock in mind. But, I appreciate your response!
Excellent idea. Dovetail Games already made a route of Denver & Rio Grande heritage, that being Soldier Summit, which is a standard gauge route. But the Denver & Rio Grande was also famous for its narrow gauge routes. Therefore, I say that Dovetail Games' next route of Denver & Rio Grande heritage (and hopefully it's for Train Sim World) should be either the Durango & Silverton or the Cumbress & Toltec narrow gauge routes so that they can make Denver & Rio Grande narrow gauge content.
I have the G-Trax route for TS2018 - would really enjoy seeing this route update to TSW quality graphics with improved renditions of the K28 and K36 Steamers
Looking back on this proposal, my previous comment was quite ignorant, my apologies. This route would be lovely, as would pretty much any narrow gauge route from the earliest Ffestiniog Railway, to some of the fabulous 3ft railways in Central and South America. I would love to see the yellow K-28 too, 473, the workhorses until 1985.
