Searching for the C&S Railway in the Brush: Milepost 178-179

Correction: The Rio Grande abandoned the route in 1934.
One of my daughters and I set out to find the remains of the Denver, South Park & Pacific/Colorado & Southern Railway between mileposts 178 and 179. We follow from the road for a stretch (since most of it is on private property) and then hike out into the brush to find a short segment (which is not on private property) of the old roadbed. It is hard to identify much but following the telephone lines between Parlin and Pitkin is the way to know you're in the right area. A Google Earth overlay of the DSP&P map is shown to help find the right spots.

[@TheHollyHobo]

Thank you for sharing, so you a lucky father to have a daughter that does this railroad stuff with you.

[@searchingforthecsnarrowgau8853]

Thanks. It is a joy that my family joins in the railroad adventures.

[@sophiasbagels4155]

Beautiful filming! ✨ Hope to film like that one day :D

[@IowaTrainGay]

Always love seeing where the DSP&P went. Thank you for researching and finding so much of it!

[@searchingforthecsnarrowgau8853]

Absolutely! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@adamsfly6212]

This video depicts what I enjoy doing and that is trying to locate and follow these old railroad beds. I recently retired and moved to Montrose Colorado and there is so much narrow gauge history around here that I'm in heaven. Just a short walk from my house is a portion of the bed of D&RGW. I also plan on doing more research and exploring of the DSP&P as that is not too far from where I live. Thank you for sharing your experiences. Also, it's nice to see the young generation, your daughter, at least appears to have some interest too.

[@searchingforthecsnarrowgau8853]

We were just out in Colorado this past May and planned a visit to Montrose but due to a bridge being out we never were able to do it. On the other hand it gave us more time to poke around the DSP&P. We stayed just outside of Ohio City. Such gorgeous country. I too love locating and following old RR grades. Oddly, I find it even more fun than seeing active railroads sometimes. I haven't quite turned my daughters into train fans yet, but they have learned to enjoy it with me. My 13 year old, in the video, is always up for adventuring with me.

[@marklewis298]

Kurt...Your video explorations of the DSP&P and C&S routes and areas in general are ALWAYS of interest! Especially when your family or a family member accompanies you on your explorations. I and so many others are thankful for your sharing.

[@searchingforthecsnarrowgau8853]

Thanks so much for that encouragement. I'm glad others get as much of a kick out of seeing these old abandoned grades as I do! It is a joy to share these videos and it is always fun having my family along for the adventures.

[@billtimmons7071]

I RR spike would have been a nice find and confirmation that these are RR ties. I wonder when line was abandoned if they recovered as much metal (spikes) for scrap, to get as much scrap value they could?

[@searchingforthecsnarrowgau8853]

I had hoped to find a spike too. I met a local who lived nearby for decades. He used to have a bucket-full of spikes that he found in the area. Over the years, they were slowly carted off by visitors. I've never found one anywhere around the area. The stretch in this video was abandoned in 1934.

[@michaelsmiley15]

Something to remember the original route would not follow telephone lines they would be telegraph lines for using morce code The telephone system was introduced after the alpine tunnel was closed Not that I hate the locomotive effects I like this better

[@searchingforthecsnarrowgau8853]

Good point. It crossed my mind as I said it when recording but I never went back to fix it. I'm glad you liked the narration. I've been trying that more lately.