No. 20 was then sold to Rio Grande Southern railroad in 1916, and for the next 35 years, ran from Durango to Ridgway via Mancos, Dolores, Rico and Telluride, Johnson said.

The Rio Grande Southern Railroad began operating in 1891, created by road builder Otto Mears primarily to haul ore from mines in Telluride, Ophir and Rico. But two years later, the Silver Panic of ...

Otto Mears, a Lincoln Party Republican, entrepreneur and the man who built the Rio Grande Southern Railroad from Ridgway to Durango in the 1890s, was highlighted during a history lesson Saturday ...