A modern version of a Silverton 1880s narrow gauge mining railroad is coming back to life, tie by tie, spike by hand-driven spike.

A $110,000 grant from the Colorado Historical Society is funding the rebirth of the Silverton Northern Railway, one of three shortlines which once ran from its namesake town, linking area gold, mostly silver mines sprinkled throughout the area’s rugged San Juan Mountains.

Hard work by area “gandy dancers”, including days-off workers from the neighboring Durango and Silverton Railroad, begun last year, was delayed by winter weather, and resumed in June.

The project will permit the sheltered storage, and D&S rail access, of recently restored D&RGW 2-8-0 steamer 315, which will call the SN engine house its permanent home after tuneup work and an appearance in Durango’s 2010 Railfest.

The original SN engine house on Cement Street has been renovated, receiving new doors and a rebuilt floor. Several hundred feet of track following the orginal SN route through southwest Silverton has been hand-laid by the small gang of maul swingers, using stockpiled rail originally part of the long-abandoned Rio Grande Southern Railway and brought in from the one-time RGS town of Dolores.

An end-of-track loading dock to ease the transfer of truck-hauled rail vehicles is ready.

Newly-built switches, necessary since finding originals is nearly impossible, came from an Ohio fabricator.

A venerable, rescued stub switch is guarding the two house-stall spurs.

The project has piqued the interest of Dick Moe, retired president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Moe, a fan of Colorado’s old-time railroads, has promised to aid SN’s rebirth.

The non-profit Durango Railroad Historical Society spent six years and hundreds of thousands of donated dollars doing a total, painstaking 315 rebuild. The venerable engine, on display for decades in a Durango park after its role in a movie, has pulled photo trains the past two summers over the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, and is owned by the city of Durango.

Lack of space in the busy D&S roundhouse, where 315 has been serviced and stored since its 2007 steamup, forced DRHS to find another indoor home to protect its star locomotive. An agreement with SN solved the problem.

Silverton town father/railfan Fritz Klinke, dreaming of an SN revival, co-pushed for the CHS grant along with the San Juan County Historical Society. He sparkplugged this first phase of construction, and has plans to continue laying narrow gauge track five miles eastward up Animas Canyon in stages, first to Howardsville, then onward to Eureka, both mining sites.

Klinke, also in the preliminary stages of gathering rail equipment for future tourist trips to the hamlets, has a retired mining locomotive lined up, and welcomes links to more possible candidates.

He is looking forward to seeing Silverton’s second railroad adding a unique, area tourist draw, encouraging visitors to stay longer and making the rustic community more than just a turnaround destination for D&S riders.

Silverton Northern’s reappearance as an authentic, lovingly-restored piece of local history, reminiscent of southwest Colorado’s wild, rawboned mining days, should enrich the already-colorful image of the popular high-mountain town surrounded by majestic green peaks.