During meetings on Feb. 2 & 3, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad pledged to mitigate the impacts of smoke on Durango’s south side. In this spirit, the railroad has recently employed numerous mitigation measures to begin to address the problem, including:

• Use of a boiler to pre-heat water before cold fire-up of locomotives.

• Use of diesel locomotives as yard switchers.

• Installation of over-fire tubes to improve combustion and reduce particulates

• Addition of another night watchman to help improve fueling

• Additional training of firemen to improve cleaner burning operational procedures.

• Use of a cleaner-burning coal

• Improved initial start-up procedures by mixing wood with the coal until the proper temperatures have been reached.

• Initiated tests on the use of recycled paper pellets

A number of new, proposed mitigation measures were also pitched at the meetings, including:

• Using alternative fuels like wood or paper pellets or natural gas overnight.

• Adding scrubbers for two additional trains in the roundhouse and two scrubber extensions for engines

outside the roundhouse

• Adding baghouses/electrostatic precipitators to existing scrubber system.

• Developing a community hotline or website so residents can report high emission levels.

• Investigating use of a catalyst to improve coal combustion.

• Increasing capacity/efficiency of the existing scrubber system, and mitigating noise pollution from the scrubbers.

• Use of diesel-powered engine for back up in place of coal-burning steam engine

– Will Sands