Drone footage of the C&S right-of-way in Central City

I have long been interested in the two resurrections of the C&S railway in Central City.  I wrote an article in The Bogies and the Loop not too long ago chronicling both endeavors.  I've also written some posts about it as well including looking at C&S post abandonment mileage, a look at some 1968 shots of the first reincarnation, a look at the curious track engine used on the second reincarnation, and a look at combination car No. 20.  The article on the five remaining C&S locos also discusses these tourist routes in the history of engine 71.

But just the other day I happened on a very unique video on Youtube where someone used a drone to film the entire length of the abandoned Blackhawk and Central City Narrow Gauge Railroad right of way (as the tourist route was named in the late 1980's).  Never having had the chance to walk this old grade, the video gives a great sense of the route as it snakes around the mountainous terrain.

The video begins at the spot where No. 71 and her gondola and combine were first put on display in 1941.  The spot also served as the boarding site for the next two tourist railroads that used the grade.  Directly across the street is a parking lot that has a hill next to it.  That hill, made of mine tailings, is actually on top of the second Central City depot.  The mine tailings simply buried the building over the years.

No. 71 was moved next to a casino.  Can anyone spot it in the video?  I haven't noticed it yet.



The Rocky Mountain Flyers, who produced the video have the following as a caption: "Second run of our Litchi waypoint mission to film the rail bed of the old Black Hawk to Central City Railroad. Hopefully to become an active line again. Google Earth programmed mission, tweaked in Litchi hub, flown on Phantom 3 4K drone in the mountains of Colorado."

I would love to know what "Hopefully to become an active line again" means!

I found out that they also posted the same video again but zoomed in.