Sunday, October 27, 2019

C&S 71 could steam again: exciting or concerning?

When I was in the Clear Creek area back in 2018, I got talking with someone from the rail restoration community who commented that Court Hammond, the driving force behind the 1987-1990 restoration of C&S 71 for his Black Hawk and Central City Narrow Gauge Railroad, was again trying to gain access to 71 and run her again.  As many are aware, many were not happy with various aspects of what happened during that short revival of No. 71. 

Then, last week, another South Park forum shared the following flier:


After doing further research I discovered that the "Central City Railroad & Mining Museum" submitted an "Application for Land Use Permit" to the Central City Planning Commission on July 26th, 2019.  In the document (below) it states that this group has been talking with the City for two years about the project and that the City "has expressed an interest in assisting with the railroad."  The group's goal is to reestablish "the narrow-gauge tourist railway that ran in Central City during the late 1980's."

Many have serious doubts and concerns about this proposal.  Those who have much more insight on the subject than myself expressed their opinions in this thread from the Narrow Gauge Discussion Forum.


















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