The Rio Grande Southern Railroad reached Telluride in 1891. Running along the grade of Otto Mears toll road, the Telluride branch left the mainline at Vance Junction, turned 180 degrees at the Ilium Loop and made the long climb up Keystone Hill before it broke out onto the floor of San Miguel Park. Although called the Telluride branch, the railroad continued to Pandora where a wye was located at the site of the large mills. The RGS served these mills and their successors until the end of operations in 1952. Railroad facilities at Telluride included a two stall engine house, a water tank, water column, section house and bunkhouse, a number of sidings and a handsome depot. The depot was restored a number of years ago and is now a micro brewery.

The location of mining operations high above Telluride made the extraction of ore an expensive proposition. With the coming of the railroad, transportation costs declined significantly. Supplies and transportation of refined ore out of the district became cheaper. For a brief period of time, profits in the district skyrocketed.

See the Telluride section of The Narrow Gauge Circle for addtional history and photos.

The following 2D layout plan will give you an idea of what I have in mind for Telluride. Many features of the prototype are found on the plan. The RGS depot and goose barn are represented as are the many other railroad related structures. I've included town section that will allow me to use some of the commercial buildings available in S scale from Raggs-to-Riches. I've also represented the wye at Telluride to turn trains on this dead end branch line. I'm very excited to include this wye as it was built over a creek. Should make for some interesting modeling.

2D Layout Plan - Telluride