The mechanics working tirelessly behind the scenes of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad finally have more room to work – an extra 10,000 square feet to be exact.
In August, mechanics set up shop in the diesel station, the newest addition to the D&SNG property in Durango, built for the maintenance of diesel equipment and the railroad’s expanding contract work, which has been in high demand since 2018, when American Heritage Railways began contracting restorations for other railroads.
Before construction of the building, most mechanical work was done in the roundhouse; routine maintenance, conversions, diesel maintenance and train restorations all had to share space.
“It was like having six people live in a three-bedroom house,” said Randy Babcock, chief mechanical officer for American Heritage Railways. “That’s been kind of the point of this whole process in this shop, to give us room to breathe a little bit on these projects.”
The diesel station sits at the very back of the property, and the path to reach it winds through the crowded rooms of the roadhouse, the train yard and the car barn. Under vaulted ceilings, the extra space is immediately noticeable. It has a calm atmosphere.
The clatter of mechanics working on noisy steam-powered locomotives in the well-worn roadhouse is absent, along with years of accumulated soot and grime.
There are almost 8,000 square feet of working space on the ground floor and an additional 2,000 square feet of storage on the second level, along with a bridge crane, a gantry crane, and a three-ton jib crane for lifting and maintenance work.
Train cars take up a lot of space, and maintaining them is a never-ending process. Fitting all the machines undergoing various maintenance and renovations into the roadhouse and car shop was impossible, Babcock said. Every time work paused on one car, it had to be covered and moved into the yard to make room for another – a tedious and time-consuming task.
Now, the train cars can be left in place, allowing workers to move freely from one project to another. “There’s a flow to it now,” Babcock said.
The expansion has also added offices and break rooms for the staff.
“It’s a very nice upgrade compared to the Roundhouse,” the lead diesel mechanic for D&SNG said. “I can fit more than one diesel in the shop at a time, which is an improvement over previous years.”
The new shop was designed with functionality in mind. Babcock highlighted the built-in train tracks that accommodate both diesel maintenance and contract work, concrete floors that facilitate the use of jacks, and advanced technology to streamline operations.
The three-axis CNC lathe, a gleaming, futuristic machine, sits in a corner of the shop – a stark contrast to the worn vintage train in front of it. With its complex array of controls, it rotates and cuts metal with precise, computer-guided tools, saving Babcock and his team an enormous amount of time.
One example Babcock gave: Manufacturing stay bolts – large screws essential for holding locomotives together – once took six hours. Now, the CNC lathe completes the task in less than a minute.
“Within like a 10-foot radius, you’ve got the oldest operating locomotive in Colorado, a brand-new CNC machine and a finished woodworking project,” he said. “In a nutshell, this is what we can do now (with) the expanded building.”
The woodworking project Babcock referred to is a vintage passenger car his team is restoring for the Lake City Historical Society. It was the first contract restoration the railroad took on, and it’s been a lengthy process.
The car was “resurrected from the dead,” Babcock said. It hadn’t had wheels since the 1940s when it was repurposed from a passenger vehicle into a chicken coop.
After three years of work, he anticipates it will be another year before it is finished.
The railroad began doing contract restorations to diversify its business and create more economic and workforce stability in a largely seasonal industry. Customers now outsource projects ranging from a few thousand dollars to millions, and the new station has enabled crews to expand those services – employing more mechanics.
“I can have 10 more full-time staff now because I have revenue sources that can cover it,” Babcock said.
The railroad has a full roster of contract work booked out until 2027, he said. Restorations are in such high demand that he has had to decline new projects.
“You can hire, try to hire more people, but then all of a sudden you have to double this building again,” he said.
And while Babcock said he could see the railroad expanding elsewhere in the future, it would have to be at a different location.
“Unfortunately, with this building, we squeezed every foot we could, just based on the constraints of the area,” he said. “But it’s pretty cool. It’s a whole new view of getting to watch traffic go by.”
jbowman@durangoherald.com
