DURANGO, Colo. — The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has completed expansion of its shop facilities to accommodate contract work, and is seeing enough demand as a result that the railroad is looking to add five welders and machinists.
The Durango Herald reports the $3.25 million, 10,000-square-foot shop expansion was completed at the end of the summer, finishing a project that saw planning begin in 2018. John Harper, CEO of parent company American Heritage Railway, told the newspaper that the demand for contract work has doubled since last year, in part because of the increased capacity. The railroad currently employees 46 people in its shop operations.
The Durango & Silverton is currently working on three locomotive rebuilds and a railcar rebuild as contract business. This follows completion late last year of a rebuild of former Rio Grande Southern locomotive No. 41, a Baldwin 2-8-0 built in 1881, for the Knott’s Berry Farm theme park in Buena Park, Calif.
This may enable D&S to keep more operating persons working all year around.