Saturday marked the bittersweet end of an era for Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad with the last departure of the railroad’s sole remaining coal-burning locomotive, Engine No. 481.
The last coal engine left the rail yard for Cascade Canyon at 9:15 a.m. It was carrying about 185 passengers, many of whom were none the wiser to the historic moment unfolding.
A small group of railroad workers, volunteers and longtime fans of D&SNG gathered on the platform to wave at passengers as the train rolled out and to embrace the memorable scent of burning coal for the last time.
D&SNG General Manager Jeff Johnson said the railroad has used coal-burning engines since 1891. Engine No. 481 was built in 1925 for the Denver & Rio Grande Western (the previous name of D&SNG between 1881 and 1981) as part of a 10-engine order.
The old-school fuel resource is as significant to the railroad’s history as the railroad is to the history of Durango. Al Harper, owner of D&SNG, has long held that the railroad would never give up coal.
On Saturday, Harper said he “hates” retiring the historic coal engines, but he is excited about getting the railroad on the right track for the future.
“What’s most important is that the railroad is really healthy. And I think that we’ve adjusted and we’re set so that we’ll be here for generations to come regardless,” he said. “And that’s more important than coal or oil. It’s important that (D&SNG) is here forever.”
Johnson said the railroad began converting its coal trains to oil-burning engines in 2020 in the long aftermath of the 416 Fire of 2018.
The fire started on June 1, 2018, and burned about 54,000 acres north of Durango for two months before it was contained on July 31, 2018. The railroad agreed to a $20 million settlement in a federal lawsuit in 2022.
Johnson said a number of factors were at play in the conversion to oil engines.
Fire risks are one reason. The railroad has already stopped deploying coal engines during the busy summer tourist season and has reserved Engine No. 481 for the wintertime. Coal sources are also waning, not just in La Plata County but across the country, and “we saw the handwriting on the wall,” he said.
Railroad crew members said on Saturday coal is a fickle fuel source. It’s high maintenance, dirty and corrosive. It creates thick, black pillars of smoke whenever it is burned in abundance.
A round trip from Durango to Silverton requires burning between 5 and 6 tons of coal. The same trip requires about 900 gallons of oil, Johnson said.
Southside Durango residents have complained for decades about the soot from the railroad’s coal-fired operation. But despite coal’s shortcomings, it remains a symbol of nostalgia for the men and women at D&SNG.
For many railroad workers, it represents fond childhood memories and a source of bragging rights.
D&SNG Engineer Isaac Randolph said there are few places left in the world where one can honestly claim he or she shovels coal for steam engines for a living.
He has worked for the railroad for 19 years and like others he is sad the last coal engine is getting converted to burn oil.
“My parents would sometimes surprise me with a trip to Silverton. That’s really the biggest thing I remember, is just the smell of the coal smoke,” he said.
He said the scent of coal smoke is nostalgic to him and many other workers at D&SNG.
“That’s probably the thing that a lot of us are going to miss the most. Getting into the yard in the morning and just … getting the smell of the coal smoke,” he said.
He said coal burning itself is an art form because every coal engine is different. It’s not as easy as just shoveling coal into the firebox.
The way coal is patterned or loaded into the firebox and the way it steams takes skill to pull off. Sometimes, an engine won’t steam as effectively as it should and excessive smoke is produced as a result, which makes for a frustrating day on the tracks, he said.
D&SNG Fireman Jonathan Neuer, whose job on Engine No. 481 is to fuel the engine’s firebox with coal, said shoveling coal is like performing a dance, moving coal into the firebox by shoveling it through a window or doorway into the right places as the train barrels forward.
“The engine, you also have to fire it in a certain way to keep (coal) heavier in some areas and lighter in others. Heavier along the sides and in the back than in the front and in the middle,” he said. “You need to know the railroad.”
The train engine needs a heavier fire to create enough steam to climb up Hermosa Hill, for example, he said. And coal requires energy to properly ignite, which means it needs to be loaded into the engine in time to ignite before the train reaches a hill.
“We’re losing history, for sure. But it’s a practical consideration,” he said. “The coal burners are a lot more work. They’re more challenging. Compared to the oil burners, they have a certain romance about them. That will be sad to see go.”
Neuer was among the last coal firemen trained by the railroad, he said. He finds coal engines more interesting to work with than oil engines because of the extra skill and labor they require.
“Nowhere in the country runs as many steam engines as hard and as far as we do. This is a special place,” he said. “I’m just glad that I got to experience it while it was still here.”
One railroad volunteer said he wishes D&SNG hung onto the last coal train for one more year when it and many of the other engines would have turned 100 years old.
Johnson said D&SNG has played a big role in his life. He started working for the railroad 43 years ago just after graduating high school. He still remembers the first time he was there for lighting a coal fire in Engine 481 after he accepted a job.
But to the casual observer, there isn’t much of a noticeable difference between a coal engine and an oil engine. Regardless of the fuel source, the railroad is still operating steam engines, he said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
