Day 28--Durango to Silverton and back

Durango & Silverton Railway

Our train on the way to Silverton

Train entering area with breathtaking views

Aminas River is in flood stage with spring runoff

Aspens and pines on the hillsides

We're on the Durango to Silverton narrow-gauge railroad this morning. Engine 480 is chugging along at no more than 15 miles per hour uphill--a soothing speed. The train rocks gently back and forth and the scenery passes by slowly enough that you can really enjoy the views. We are on the east side of the open gondola car, with the sun shining warmly in our faces. Now that we are climbing up the mountain, the view down into the green valley is becoming even more beautiful.

The chug-a-chug of the engine takes me back to childhood train trips, but I try not to reminisce too much for fear I'll miss some great scenery today. At mile marker 469, near the settlement of Rockwood, the guide book said to get your camera ready because the views were considered among the most spectacular railroading views in the world. This turned out to be no exaggeration. We were winding around a shear cliff on a small ledge with the Animas River way below us raging through the canyon! Each turn seemed more dramatic than the previous one.

We're ten miles from Silverton now, at around 9000 feet elevation. The Animas River, beside which the railway travels, is raging with spring snowmelt. The pines and aspen cover the rocky hillside, and those tall peaks are a lot closer now to us than they were just a couple of hours ago. Our steam engine is fired to the maximum level to handle a 4% grade--the steepest on this particular track. The view is almost impossible to describe. It feels as though we're going back in time as we climb higher.

The second train of the day pulls into Silverton

Silverton is a small town with one main street, which is still dirt and gravel, and an elevation of 9274 ft above sea level. Even though it is June, I'm happy to have my light-weight winter jacket on because the wind is blowing vigorously. Smoky's thermometer says 72 degrees, but it feels much cooler than that.

We had lunch at Natalia's 1912 Restaurant, a small restaurant on the corner of the main intersection in town. This building started out as a bordello on notorious Blair Street, but now a sign on the side of their building says those kinds of services are no longer offered, but their food is great!

Natalia's 1012 Restaurant

The "real main street" of Silverton, with paved street

Our train winds through narrow spaces

Aspens with their early spring green leaves

Unique fence of skis in Silverton

Our conductor

Smoky asked our waitress about the town. She said it was asleep until 11:30 a.m. when the first train arrives each day and then it goes to sleep again after the last train departs which is around 2:30 or 3, depending on the time of the year and how many trains are running. I have to admit that it seemed pretty laid back even while the train passengers were in town! Smoky just found me waiting for the train and he shot down my whole theory about the town. He walked to the second street over, found it paved with a lot more shops and a large hotel. So much for first impressions!

We're back on the train now waiting for the return trip to start. This time, our gondola car is filled with mostly different folks. Those who rode up this morning apparently had elected to take a bus or jeep back to Durango. The train also stops in Rockwood (Colorado, not Tennessee!) to drop off a handfull of folks who are staying in a B&B there, and a few miles earlier it stopped to pick up some hikers headed back to Durango.

On the way up the mountain, the open gondola car was wonderful--sun shining to warm us, cool breezes to make sure we weren't too warm, and great views with no glass obstruction. On the way back, prevailing winds (and strong ones at that) caused the smoke and sometimes steam from the engine to blow into the car frequently, so we were pretty gritty by the time we got back. If you want to take photographs on this train, however, we definitely recommend the open gondola!


Tomorrow we're driving to Alamosa, Colorado, from which we'll visit the Great Sand Dunes National Park, most likely on Thursday.