Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

This experience could very well be the highlight of our 2019 Summer adventures! The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Imagine being pulled by a chugging coal-fired steam locomotive through the western town of Durango, through some fields, then up into the mountains. Many times the train rails ride on a narrow rock ledge wrapping around a rock mountain with views several hundred feet straight down! I’ll describe the ride in some more detail later in this post, but first, here are some facts on this amazing passenger railroad…

Recap From Prior Post

As you may remember, we left our 41 foot Bighorn 5th wheel coach at Colorado Springs KOA and drove the 300 miles across the continental divide to visit Robert and Sherri (Pat’s brother and sister-in-law). They live near Durango Colorado in the southwest part of the state.

We had a great family visit packed with many activities. The Durango weather this time of year was highs in the mid-70’s and overnight lows in the upper 40’s. Mountain weather. With the occasional afternoon thunderstorm. It was a perfect weather day aboard the train! This is a long post with many photos, so grab a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage and settled in for the ride!

Durango & Silverton Train Facts

• Durango was founded by the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in 1880
• The railroad arrived and soon construction began on the line to Silverton
• By 1882, the line to Silverton was completed hauling both passengers and freight
• It was promoted as a scenic passenger route, but actually built to carry out the mined gold and silver from the mountains
• The following years presented many challenges such as floods and rock slides and finally the decline of the mining industry
• By 1947, the line was in danger of being abandoned, when Hollywood decided to film several movies providing more life
• In the 1960’s, it was declared a National Landmark, obtained a new investor, was rebuilt and has enjoyed success ever since
• The locomotives used to pull today’s train remain 100% coal-fired, steam-operated
• The locomotives are 1923-25 vintage and are maintained in original condition
• They run three trains daily during the summer season, spaced about an hour apart.

Before the Ride and Train Station

Remember click on any photo to view it full size.

This is one long ride! At 3.5 hours each way, we decided to purchase enough round trip tickets so that half our group could ride up and the other half would drive up and ride the train back.

This train is so popular during the summer months that tickets must be purchased at least a month or two in advance! Another choice is to ride in an enclosed car with regular seating or a gondola car that has bench seating and open sides. Well, the huge draw is the scenery, so the gondola car wins hands down to be able to see out and all around. The only downside is the coal ash that floats by can be irritating.

The old depot itself has been nicely restored to include ticket sales, restrooms and a gift shop of course.

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The Train Ride to Silverton

I’m going to try a first for this blog: embed a YouTube video! Some of the videos we took are quite dramatic, so wanted y’all to see them.

Once we got all checked in at the station, we began to board, showing our tickets to the conductor who directed us to our car. Upon arriving at our assigned positions on the bench seats we found another couple there. When this usually happens a short discussion results in one of the parties discovering they were in the wrong seat. Did not happen this time, as they insisted they were in the correct seats. So Robert called to the Conductor who quickly sorted things out and moved the other party. Finally got seated before the train whistle sounded!

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The stream whistle is blown at all track crossings and a few other places just for good measure. I love to hear the whistle combined with the chug, chug, chug of the steam locomotive as it begins laboring to pull the long train.

The ride begins in the town of Durango and quickly is out in the country passing through some plains area and directly next to the wildly, raging river. The combination of very heavy mountain snow over the winter and finally some warm summer temps, have created an incredible river flow. In fact, the conductor said the river was at the highest level ever.

The train made four stops along the way, three to refill the steam engine’s water tank and one to offload some passengers at a resort. There were restrooms in the car next to us and a concessions car that was two down. You can move freely a board while the train is moving, just make sure to hold onto something as the train rocks back and forth as it is rolling along.

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Quickly after we left Durango, the scenery was so fantastic, that we stood along the outside railing to get the best views. Probably stood up along the rail for three hours of the trip.

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And the views were something hard to describe. From wood splintered mountainsides caused by an avalanche, to a raging river right up to the tracks, to the snow capped mountains. It was almost non-stop breathtaking scenes and no one was sitting down.

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But, alas, the 3.5 hour trip came to an end as we pulled into the station at Silverton, Colorado. Then, it was off to lunch and meet up with the family that drove up.

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Silverton Colorado

Silverton has a population of 600 people and is at a very high elevation of 9,318 feet above sea level. It used to be a silver mining town and was founded in 1874. No more mining today, just plenty of tourism.

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The old downtown area is very well done, looking just as you would expect to see a western town in the late 1800’s, except the main street was mostly paved. There are many shops and restaurants for the three train loads to enjoy. The town also has an extreme ski mountain. Looks like a black diamond for sure.

Wrap Up

That’s all for this segment of the Epic RV Journey! We feel very blessed to be able to live this traveling RV life and to be able to share our experiences. Thanks for following along and, if you wish, subscribe below to be notified of any updates.

Please let me know if the new videos worked out okay. Experimenting!

We are currently in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Take care and God Bless.