The Man Who Saved The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

Above, the Durango train at Rockwood Station last week. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While in the Durango, Colorado station of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, I was chatting with one of the employees of the station.

I mentioned that my first ride on the train was in 1983. He replied, "Ah! The Bradshaw era!" That piqued my curiosity. I first heard of Charles Bradshaw in a documentary on railroads, "Love Those Trains".

Remembering that, I did some looking around and found that Charles Bradshaw Jr., the man who saved the former line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, passed away December 21, 2013 in Florida.

According to The Durango Herald:

When Charles E. Bradshaw Jr. bought the Durango to Silverton branch of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in 1981, it marked an important turning point for the economies of both Durango and Silverton. Bradshaw died Dec. 21 in Orlando, Fla. He was 83. 

For the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, the branch was an outlier. In 1964, the company had made an attempt to abandon the route, which was thwarted, in part, by concerted lobbying from community members. The route had been disconnected from the rest of the company’s system since 1969, leading to more uncertainty about its future. 

“Since the 1950s, the Denver & Rio Grande had been trying to get rid of it, and the deals kept falling through,” said Jim Mayer, who was vice president and superintendent of operations and maintenance during the first two pivotal years of Bradshaw’s ownership. “Shipping people was a whole lot different than a carload of coal, with much higher liability. From a culture around a century old, Bradshaw brought the railroad into its own. It was arguably the hugest turning point in the railroad’s history.” 

Rod Barker, who owns the Strater Hotel, remembers the concern in town in those days. 

“My dad and a number of others had formed the Durango Railroad Co. to try to buy it,” he said. “They were so pleased they didn’t have to do that. Charlie brought a level of commitment to ‘our’ railroad that was as deep as any member of this community.” 

As the railroad turned, so, too, did Durango and Silverton. 

“It saved the town of Durango,” historian Duane Smith said. “What Bradshaw did was vital. And just think what Silverton would be without it. It would be a ghost town between here and Ouray, instead of being preserved as a town and community.” 

Bradshaw, who was born July 10, 1930, had made his money in Florida as a citrus grower at his family’s orchards, Hi-Acres, cattle rancher and as owner of a fertilizer plant.

Many people had stories about him as a straight shooter with some idiosyncrasies, including the fact that for several years he would accept only cash or checks. Dolan said it took some convincing to get him to accept credit cards when they began taking telephone reservations and became computerized.

A hat tip to Charles Bradshaw for saving the train for future generations of train buffs to enjoy.

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