THE R. G. S. STORY. RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN. Volume XI. Durango and the Perins Peak Branch.

The RGS Story Volume 11 by Russ Collman, Dell A. McCoy and Robert W. McLeod with Several Guest Contributors Durango and the Perins Peak Branch BOOK IS NEW; Sundance Publications Ltd.; first edition, first printing; April 2005; hardbound; about 8 1/2 x 11 inches; 376 pages; indexed; w/deluxe plastic dust jacket; 26 detailed maps; 17 full-color photos; 321 historic black & white views; features line drawings of buildings and structures along the RGS by Mike Blazek. ISBN # 0-913582-76-X. CONTENTS: *DURANGO'S FIRST SETTLER *THE DENVER & RIO GRANDE REACHES DURANGO *DURANGO ACQUIRES A TROLLEY *BATTLE FOR THE COAL FIELDS AND THREE-RAIL DAYS *HANDLING THE U.S. MAIL AND RAILFANS ARRIVE ON THE RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN *THE BOSTON COAL & FUEL COMPANY RAILROAD TO PERINS PEAK THE DENVER & RIO GRANDE Railway's tracklayers reached Durango, Colorado, on July 27, 1881, after spiking steel south and west from Alamosa over Cumbres Pass. With the arrival of the railroad on the scene, gold and silver ore could be shipped inexpensively out of the San Juan mountain region. The D&RG chose this site for a town because of the availability of coal. Smelters sprang into existence almost overnight in the fledgling town and mass quantities of raw ore no longer needed to be shipped to Denver or Pueblo. This book illustrates Durango's development year-by-year as the town progressed and the D&RG upgraded its railroad facilities. Once Otto Mears' Rio Grande Southern arrived on the scene in 1890, additional revenue created a boom as travelers ate, drank and bedded down, as well as shopped in Durango. This growing town was an interchange point between two narrow-gauge railroads and the history of the RGS becomes inseparably entwined at Durango with that of the D&RG--which controlled the RGS throughout most of its existence.