“The assumption that Mr. Mears contemplated extending the S. R. from Ironton to Ouray is correct but he was deterred because of its being so formidable an undertaking. He may have considered Albany as the possible point for the origin of the extension at first but later Ironton proved the more feasible. Anyway, he had a preliminary location for an _electric_ railway, Ouray to Ironton, made in 1892 by the then noted locating engineer, R. L. Kelly. No doubt the impracticability if not the utter impossibility, of operating steam locomotives over the heavy grades and severe curvature known to be necessary dissuaded him from the purpose until the recognized practicability of electric railway operation became apparent in 1892. Whatever the delay (a long one for Mr. Mears) it was not until 1892 that a survey was made and even then, as stated before, for electric operation. The map I have of the completed location shows a line starting from a connection with the Denver & Rio Grande at the Ouray depot, eight miles in length, to a connection near the Ironton depot, incorporating 7% maximum gradients and 35° maximum rate of curvature. With even these severe physical characteristics considerable tunnelling was necessary. I do not have the estimated cost of the project but it must have been staggering. It is small wonder that with the difficulty of financing so costly a scheme and the great financial panic a year later in 1893, together with the contemporary decadence of silver mining, the project was permanently shelved by even the visionary Mr. Mears.” D. & R. G. track already lay between Ouray and Ridgway and between Silverton and Durango. Mr. Mears, by the end of 1891, had completed the Rio Grande Southern from Ridgway to Durango. Only eight miles from Ironton to Ouray were needed to make a complete 243 mile circle. If only that eight miles could have been constructed! Then a sightseer could have started at Ridgway, taken a side trip to Telluride (14.6 miles), proceeded to Durango, to Silverton and back to starting point. He should not have attempted it in the winter or spring because of snow blockades or snowslides but in the summer or fall he could have had the thrill of a lifetime. He would have looked upon or wended his way among snowcapped peaks, hundreds over 12,000 or 13,000 feet high and some over 14,000 feet, many so sharp as to be termed “needles”; would have crossed several passes, one over 10,000 feet and another over 11,000 feet in altitude; would have gone up one canyon and down another, often beside rushing, tumbling rivers. He would have passed over breathtakingly high bridges, over trestles set against bare cliffs, around U-curves innumerable, over switchbacks, over a turntable, through rock tunnels and even through snow tunnels.