On Sept. 27, 1958, a double-header train was proceeding slowly east at only 15 miles per hour through the Grandview area very close to where Mercy Regional Medical Center is today. The lead engine, No. 483, suddenly rolled to its left when it came upon a soft spot in the roadbed. It came to rest at the bottom of a short incline. The following engine, No. 494, also derailed but did not roll. In this photo, bystanders are surveying the wreckage, which was located just a short distance from U.S. Highway 160. The fireman aboard the lead engine was killed in the crash but the rest of the crew survived. This was the last fatal wreck of the Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge railroad. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum (Catalog Number: 03.58.27 from the La Plata County Historical Society Photo Collections)
On Sept. 27, 1958, a double-header train was proceeding slowly east at only 15 miles per hour through the Grandview area very close to where Mercy Regional Medical Center is today. The lead engine, No. 483, suddenly rolled to its left when it came upon a soft spot in the roadbed. It came to rest at the bottom of a short incline. The following engine, No. 494, also derailed but did not roll. In this photo, bystanders are surveying the wreckage, which was located just a short distance from U.S. Highway 160. The fireman aboard the lead engine was killed in the crash but the rest of the crew survived. This was the last fatal wreck of the Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge railroad. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum (Catalog Number: 03.58.27 from the La Plata County Historical Society Photo Collections)