{"id":65128,"date":"2020-03-23T23:06:36","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T05:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-train-to-remain-closed-until-further-notice\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:15:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T11:15:23","slug":"durango-train-to-remain-closed-until-further-notice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-train-to-remain-closed-until-further-notice\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango train to remain closed \u2018until further notice\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"JERRY
JERRY McBRIDE\/Durango Herald file<br><br>The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad suspended operations \u201cthrough May 1, 2020, or until further notice.\u201d But John Harper, general manager of American Heritage Railways, owner of the D&SNG, said it\u2019s unlikely trains will be running in the month of May.<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad announced Monday it will remain closed \u201cuntil further notice,\u201d another hit to Southwest Colorado\u2019s tourist-driven economy amid the coronavirus outbreak.<\/p>\n

American Heritage Railways<\/a> General Manager John Harper also said it has furloughed 44 seasonal D&SNG employees and 10 full-time employees from its permanent staff of 86 employees.<\/p>\n

The furloughs are essentially temporary layoffs, with the employees expected to rejoin the staff once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and the railroad can return to normal operations.<\/p>\n

Last week, D&SNG<\/a>, which is owned by American Heritage Railways, stopped its once-a-day trains to Cascade Canyon, suspending operations through April 1.<\/p>\n

However, D&SNG on Monday in a news release extended the suspension \u201cthrough May 1, 2020, or until further notice.\u201d Also, the railroad\u2019s gift shop and museum, which were open, are now closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this time, we are not announcing any cancellation of service beyond May 1, 2020,\u201d the D&SNG said in a news release. \u201cHowever, as new information becomes available our message may evolve and affect our timeline of operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harper said it is unlikely service will resume in May, but the official cancellation through that date works with D&SNG\u2019s schedule \u2013 May 1 was the date of the last train to Cascade Canyon. The railroad had planned to begin runs to Silverton on May 2, which now seems unlikely, Harper said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to work closely with health authorities, and we\u2019re led by them in determining when we can resume operations,\u201d Harper said.<\/p>\n

Guests who hold reservations will receive a refund or be given the opportunity to rebook for later in the year, the railroad said in its news release. \u201cWe apologize for the inconvenience and ask for your understanding and patience during this challenging time.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of Monday, D&SNG had 3,600 cancellations for the season, which typically runs from early May to late October with peak operations seeing three trains going to Silverton.<\/p>\n

The Grand Imperial Hotel in Silverton, owned by D&SNG, is down about 13% in its future reservations, Harper said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most difficult business part of all this is we don\u2019t expect any revenue until June 1. We\u2019re using reserves to get through this difficult time, cover our payroll and expenses. And we\u2019re limiting our expenses,\u201d Harper said.<\/p>\n

Last week, Harper said cancellations have spiked for the next couple of months. He expressed concern for the train\u2019s fluctuating staff of 120 to 250 people, and the economy at-large.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The shutdown) will affect not only the train but the local economy as well \u2013 restaurants, shops and hotels,\u201d Harper said. \u201cWe\u2019re working with a number of restaurants, hotels and shops. We\u2019re all in this together. We want to work with each other and support each other and help the local community.\u201d<\/p>\n

La Plata County\u2019s other main tourist draw, Purgatory Resort, is also closed at least until April 6. The region\u2019s flagship attraction, Mesa Verde National Park, however, modified its operations but remains open.<\/p>\n

parmijo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coronavirus prompts shutdown; railroad announces furloughs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[685,170,29,421],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-65128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-durango-and-silverton-narrow-gauge-railroad-co","tag-newsletter","tag-tourism-and-leisure"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65128","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=65128"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89861,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65128\/revisions\/89861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65128"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=65128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}