By Virginia McConnell Simmons Trains had first reached Durango in 1881, and the railroad was learning quickly that the difficulties of operating the San Juan Extension across the mountains between Alamosa and Durango happened so often that the word wreck was taboo. There were snow slides, rock slides, washouts and derailments, and winter weather was a special enemy on Cumbres Pass (el.10,022 feet), where wind could deliver snow that drifted 30 or more feet deep. Remember, there were no rotary plows in those early years – only shovels wielded by cold, weary crews. Youngsters and oldsters know the story about ...