RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN RETURNS!
Narrative by Stan Jennings
(Photos coming soon!)


On April 1 and 2 2000 the Rio Grande Southern Railroad will begin to come back to life. Readers of this web page are aware that the Galloping Goose Historical Society of Dolores, Inc. replicated the Rio Grande Southern depot in Dolores, Colorado and fully restored and operates Rio Grande Southern Galloping Goose Number 5. The next obvious step is to recreate the Rio Grande Southern Railroad, or at least a portion of it. The first step in the recreation of the railroad was the acquisition of 15 miles of rail, ties and related hardware from the Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver, Colorado. In February 2000 forty-five sticks of 33' rail, 220 ties and 10 barrels of related hardware were delivered to the museum site in Dolores, Colorado. The next step, of course, is to build some railroad.

July 7, 2000 is the official centennial of Dolores, Colorado. As part of the celebration, Goose Number 5 will operate, but it needs some railroad. The railroad it will operate on will be short, just over 300 feet, and a few feet north of the actual location of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad mainline through Dolores -- the very busy Railroad Avenue (Colorado State Highway 145) keeps the society from replicating the roadbed on the exact site. The railroad will run from 5th Street west in front of the Galloping Goose Historical Society's Rio Grande Southern Museum, where the Goose usually resides, and the Dolores Town Hall and Library to Fourth Street.

Groundbreaking will take place on Friday, March 31, 2000, with construction by Galloping Goose Historical Society of Dolores, Inc. volunteers on April 1 and 2, 2000. The railroad will be at grade so there will be no problems with traffic and parking.


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Mark L. Evans
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