{"id":11776,"date":"2026-03-15T01:54:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T07:54:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/update-33-tons-of-rail-cleared-from-dolores-streets\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:32:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:32:45","slug":"update-33-tons-of-rail-cleared-from-dolores-streets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/update-33-tons-of-rail-cleared-from-dolores-streets\/","title":{"rendered":"Update: 33 tons of rail cleared from Dolores streets"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A
A trailer used to store railroad rail along Central Street in Dolores while the Galloping Goose Historical Society worked to relocate the material remains in place, and town officials want it moved. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span>Anna Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Thirty\u2011three tons of railroad rail that had lined Sixth and Central streets in Dolores for more than a year were hauled this week to the town\u2019s landfill for storage by the Galloping Goose Historical Society.<\/p>\n

The society had stacked the material downtown while it worked to find a new storage site, prompting questions from residents, nearby property owners and the school district about when the piles would be removed, Town Manager Leigh Reeves said.<\/p>\n

Galloping Goose board member Kent Aikin described Thursday\u2019s removal as a straightforward load\u2011and\u2011haul job using a skid steer and a long\u2011tilt trailer. Each trip carried only a small amount because of the rail\u2019s weight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, what they did \u2013 they had a great big long trailer,\u201d Aikin said. \u201cIt was very, very smooth and easy and no real issues occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aikin said the society had hoped to complete the move earlier, but its original hauler backed out and a replacement had to be hired. The group is relieved to have the street cleared, he said.<\/p>\n

The rail will be stored for future restoration or display projects, not discarded, Aikin said. Some pieces have already been incorporated into features at Dolores\u2019 bike and skate park.<\/p>\n

\"About
About 33 tons of historic rail were donated to the Galloping Goose Historical Society about 20 years ago by the U.S. Army Pueblo Depot. The move was delayed when the original hauling plan fell through and weather slowed work. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span>Anna Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The rails were donated to the historical society about 20 years ago by the U.S. Army Pueblo Depot when it was decommissioned in 2004. The nonprofit preserves the history of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad and the Galloping Goose No. 5 rail car.<\/p>\n

After the donation, the rails were stored on private land in Dolores, but the change in ownership required them to be moved. The town later agreed to store most of the material at the old green\u2011waste landfill under a contract with hauler Ken Vance.<\/p>\n

Aikin said the society appreciates the town\u2019s patience as arrangements were finalized.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe finally worked together and coordinated and now it\u2019s gone. The sheriff red\u2011tagged the trailer, it will be great to have that trailer moved, because it is a dangerous situation,\u201d Reeves said. She said the corner will be much safer once the trailer that held the stacked rails is removed.<\/p>\n

awatson@the\u2011journal.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

18 months, job completed with \u2018no real issues\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-11776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11776"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18544,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11776\/revisions\/18544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11776"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=11776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}