Water at Lava. A D&RGW Flanger outfit rounds the Lava Loop and is about to pass the historic water tank as it heads west toward the high country.
The tank at Lava is no longer operational, and is in need of some TLC. Other than the ladder, which can be seen on the ground to the right of the tank, the structure is still intact, including the spout, which is on the other side. Interestingly, this is not the original tank at this location. The original tank burned back in 1973 and was replaced by this one, which came from Antonito. Both tanks were a standard, D&RGW 50,000 gallon design. Although there are no plans to re-activate this tank, I have heard some discussion about re-activating some other type of water source nearby, so the regular passenger trains will have an emergency water stop capability. Obviously, such a source would also be helpful to charters such as ours, which tend to consume a lot of water doing photo run-bys.
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad are all that remains of the legendary Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge system. Here you'll find some of my favorites from these two beautiful railways.
