Springtime in the Rockies

After watching the morning passenger train leave Chama, we made the two hour drive over to Durango. We then checked into our hotel and explored downtown Durango a little. We then caught one of the passenger trains over the last bridge over the Animas River before grabbing dinner and calling it a night.

The next morning was our time to ride the Durango & Silverton. I walked down to the depot before the group to watch the 481 roll down to her train and depart with the train running ahead of us. At this time of year, the D&S was running two trains.

Shortly after the 481 departed, the 480 rolled out to get coupled to our train. I then headed to our coach to take a seat with the group. The trip up the canyon was beautiful as always. In Silverton, a D&S employee that was on the charter with me, asked if we would like to ride back on the earlier train but on the parlor level open car. It was a perfect ride on the pretty spring day and even better was our seats faced the river for a good portion back! The group was not pleased with the lack of time in Silverton however.

Back in Durango, we explored downtown a little more and walked back to the hotel to enjoy a bit of their happy hour. I had been in contact with an employee from the D&S and he texted asking if I would like to join him for a tour of the D&S roundhouse. It was truly an outstanding experience and I feel lucky to have done it! The scenes witnessed and photos taken were truly timeless!

The last full day in Durango, we decided to drive up to Silverton and explore the town a bit due to our lack of time there the day before. On the way we stopped at the pull off on Molas Pass to enjoy the views. After exploring Silverton a bit, we drove up Red Mountain Pass on the million dollar highway to marvel at the mountains before turning back to Durango.

Saturday morning saw us heading out pretty early for the long drive back to central Texas, capping off a great trip!

Safe Travels,
B (& E in Spirit)

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