Sinclair Snapshots: Day 21: Grand Western Adventure

Day 21: Saturday, May 3nd

The Durango & SilvertonNarrow Gauge Railroad

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge railroad runs on a 45 mile extension of track originally called the Silverton Branch. Narrow gauge track in Colorado was laid at a width of 3 feet 8 1/2 inches of separation with standard gauge rail. It was capable of making sharper curves,and thus more suited to the mountainous terrain.

All aboard!

We chose to ride in the open air "gondola" car instead of the traditional standard car. Thus, we dressed in many many layers anticipating the drop in temperatures as we reached Silverton at about 9,000ft.

This was the opening season ride for the train all the way up to Silverton after the winter, and so it was packed with many train buffs and passengers who had made this voyage annually for many years. It was like a giant reunion and party all rolled into one.

The young fella sitting beside me said his grandmother used to work for the railroad, and so he made the trip annually in her memory. It was his 17 year making the first run of the season. He was so knowledgeable of the train and the run. He told us when to get the camera ready too.

The trip was 3 1/2 hours up to Silverton.

Look at that bend in the track!

At one point, this was the view right below us!

Being a coal fired engine, we had quite the soot in our hair and eyes.

The benches and our clothing were covered as well.

Never wear white on the Durango & Silverton.

This is the Animas River.

The elevation change was about 3,000ft between Durango and Silverton.

We stopped here at the bridge to let several passengers off. It seems they were taking their ski/board gear up to the basin to ski.

This was the only way to access it.

The train doesn't run all the way to Silverton in the winter as there is too much snow accumulation and risk of avalanche.

You could see the work of the crew getting the track ready by clearing the debris and snow from the tracks.

Entering the town of Silverton.

The whole town came out to meet us, "the first run of the season."

There was a band playing, and folks lined up waving for miles.

Some folk were dressed up in period clothing.

It was superb!

We had lunch at Handlebars Restaurant and Saloon.

The nice men at the T-shirt shop instructed us in how to use a pencil to roll our eyelid up and use a tissue to dap the cinder from our eye. Remember, it's coal fired. Our eyes were full of the irritating pieces.

The train comes to a stop in the center of town.

One lady at the restaurant told us the town gets about 6 feet on snow on the roofs annually and they had to pay someone to get it off or the roof would collapse.

The return trip was also 3 1/2 hours long.

But equally enjoyable.

They turn the train around and you get to see what those sitting on the opposite side saw on the way up.

These two are game for just about anything I sign them up for.

They never know what I'll plan on these adventure trips.

Loving spending time with my girl.

Steam would be blown over this part of the river bridge as the sun would reflect on it and rainbows would form.

I was just amazed at how narrow it was in parts. Just 8 inches of clearance on either side at this point.

Don't stick your hand out.

Any especially, if you lean out to take a picture, look both ways before doing so, otherwise you might loose your head or camera.

The picture really doesn't do it justice. It's really a long, long way down to the river and the track seems just inches wide here. You can really look straight down and see the river below.