by Forrest Whitman I recently took a lovely walk up the old Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad grade to the Orient mine in the northern San Luis Valley. It’s a spot anyone can visit on their own. Just stop at the Valley View Hot Springs office and sign in. Graded in 1881, this narrow gauge line was once one of the busiest in the system. Carloads of ore went down to Villa Grove and the main valley line, sometimes six times a day. The day we hiked the old line (not many ties left), there was obviously only the…
