D&SNGRR

Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Rail Road.

This post could get long so grab a sandwich and a drink and get comfy.

The train travels from Durango, Colorado to Silverton along  the Animus river valley, over several passes and through a portion of the Rocky Mountains. It rises from about 6,500 feet elevation in Durango to over 9,300 feet in Silverton. Siverton is usually 10 to 15 degrees cooler.  We took the train to Silverton (4 hours)then came back to Durango by bus (2 hours).  We had about 2 hours in Silverton so it ended up being a beautiful 10 hour day.  More on that later.

A narrow gauge railway is only 3 feet 6 inches wide between the rails.  A standard train is about 4 feet 8.5 inches between the rails.  The advantage of the narrow gauge is that the train can take sharper turns and get through terrain that a standard gauge train can't.  So it is perfect for mining in the Rockies.  This train is an original coal fired steam locomotive.  The coal used is mined locally and is a very low sulfur clean burning coal.  Even so, you get some soot in the air and on you and your things if you are in one of the open air cars.  Not a lot of soot, but it is detectable.

Speaking of open cars, we were in one.  We traveled on a late September day.  That night the temperature bottomed out at 27 degrees.  So it was cold!  But there were no clouds and the sun was bright.  The car we were on has a glass roof, sides that come up to about your belly, but no enclosures on the sides.  So we got to basically be in the open air, see the soot, smell the coal fumes and have an unobstructed view of the scenery.  Awesome, truly awesome!  The soot and fumes were not a problem as most of the time the breeze took them away from us.  We both dressed very warmly and brought extra jackets to stay warm.  We never really got cold but were both on the cool side parts of the day.  Okay, enough of that, lets get to some pictures...

Rounding some bends you could see the rest of the train

Silverton is an old mining community that has transitioned itself into a tourist and ski town.  In some ways it reminded me of some of the towns we saw last summer in Alaska.  That's becuse the buildings were of similar design and material plus most of the streets are not paved but  are gravel.  We had some lunch, went in and out of a few stores, then found a brewery...Nice!