The Towner Line was sold by the State of Colorado to the V&S Railway in mid-December 2005, after the Colorado Kansas & Pacific ceased operations earlier that year.



As of today (Sunday, 29-Oct-2006), I found their two locomotives tied down in Eads, CO. Both were shut down, and I would have to assume drained, since there was no indication of an auto-start system and temperatures at night have been below freezing lately. Wheels on both units were rusty. I find their B30-7AB (the cabless booster) to be a very strange choice for a railroad with no turning facilities (and no traffic that would require more than the 242 could handle). 4066 is completely useless without 242 to lead, so it's not like they wanted a spare unit in case one failed.



The only cars on the entire line from NA Jct. to the Kansas border were just west of NA Junction - four flatcars and one five-unit spine car, used for carrying trailers. They'd been there for some time, as all the wheels were well-rusted. Periodic spot-checks of the rail head and flangeways at crossings along the entire line showed no sign of recent activity.