Dave Zook, a carpenter with the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, works on a brass coach lamp inside of the newly restored 1883 General Palmer car Tuesday at the railroad’s car shop.

By Brian Newsome
Herald Staff Writer

The 9:30 a.m. train to Silverton may turn a few heads as it departs from the Durango Depot on Friday.

The Presidential Special, a first-class train with three antique red cars draped in red, white and blue buntings, will be an announcement to all that the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railfest 2001 is on track.

Train lovers from all over the world are expected to come to Durango for the annual event that celebrates the area’s rail history with special excursions, photo opportunities, demonstrations and events.

The Presidential Special is the highlight of this year’s Railfest, said Kristi Nelson Cohen, marketing director for D&SNG.

"There are collections of antique, standard-gauge cars, but narrow gauge business-class cars are extremely rare," she said, adding that there are fewer than 10 in the United States.

Friday morning’s trip will feature the Alamosa car, built in 1880, which is used as the parlor car for the railroad’s routine trips; the Nomad, built in 1878; and the General Palmer, built in 1883.

The Nomad and General Palmer are on exhibit at the D&SNG Museum when not on the tracks, Cohen said.

Former presidents William Howard Taft and Gerald Ford are among the former passengers of the Nomad car, which contains red velvet sofas and draperies, a bedroom with a brass bed, marble-top dressers, a private bath and a kitchen. It is available for chartered use for $5,000.

This will be the inaugural trip for the newly restored General Palmer, the gem of the trip, said Cohen. The car, which was removed from service in the 1970s, underwent restoration starting in 1999. The car fell into disrepair because the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, which owned the car, focused its efforts and finances on transporting freight, leading to the car’s neglect, Cohen said.

One of the car’s former passengers, who will be riding the train Friday, said in its later years, snow would blow in one side of the car and out the other, Cohen said.

The coach has been restored with modern amenities including a VCR, satellite for Internet access and a microwave oven, Cohen said. The car contains hand-painted wallpaper, blue velvet drapes, a private bedroom and dining area, a kitchen and Victorian woodwork.

The total price tag to restore the car was about $250,000, said railroad Senior Vice President Jeff Jackson. The car will become the owner’s car, reserved for D&SNG owner Allen Harper and his family and guests. The company considered changing the name of the car to honor Harper, but decided to keep the name because of its historical significance. Gen. William Jackson Palmer was the founder of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.

Fifty passengers will take the special $250 ride to Silverton and back.

Once in Silverton, the Presidential Special will join two of the daily trains and a special woodburning locomotive for a nose-to-nose photo shoot. The four trains will face each other, forming an X from an aerial perspective, said Cohen. The arranged shoot was inspired by the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in Promontory, Utah, in which two locomotives met nose-to-nose and a golden spike was driven to signify its completion.

A reception will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the D&SNG Museum to dedicate the General Palmer. The public is invited, and the cost is $10.