We headed into downtown Durango early in the morning in search of some breakfast before our train ride. We ended up at a most unusual place for breakfast – a pub and brewery called Carver’s. Turned out to be a pretty good breakfast (the french toast was quite good) at a reasonable price. We arrived at the train depot in time to get our tickets and take a few photos before boarding the train. The car directly behind ours is the open air gondola which you can sit out on if you’d like, then behind that is the concession car and at the very back is the first class car. The conductor came in and gave us a brief rundown and explained some of the whistle signals before we left the station. I had neglected to think about how a narrow gauge railway would sway back and forth. It actually reminded me of being on a boat and I found it in no way nauseating. They did however suggest you hold on when walking back and forth.
It did take us about 45 minutes to get out of the “town” area. During the winter season the train only goes halfway to Silverton because as the train climbs into the mountain the passages get quite narrow and their is still enough snow to have a chance of avalanches. We pass frozen lakes, snow covered hills, close cut rock passes and narrow passes with a long drop at the edge. Grandma kept leaning to left thinking that would make the train not fall over the edge. Silly Grandma. At about three quarters of the way there the train stopped to refill it’s water tank with about 3500 gallons of water that comes from a ground water fed storage area.
After we pass through the Cascade Canyon area we picked up a bit of speed and were really chugging along. This part of the track runs along the Animas River which is an interesting color of blue-green. We get to the midway point and the train does some tricky cool maneuver and backs up so that we are facing the right direction for our return trip. They have a covered pavillion area with a large fire going where most folks have their lunch. The boys took the opportunity to play in the snow (this snow was still somewhat fresh).
I laughed about them selling alcoholic drinks on the train becuase some folks were having quite a hard time making it down the aisle without being under the influence. Casey J spent most of the return trip with his head laying on the window sill which led to him having a slighty sooty face (they actually recommend you were sunglasses while on the gondola car to protect your eyes from the soot coming out of the steam stack). Z Man had entirely too much apple cider and suffered a sugar high but made a new friend whom he shared his seat with on the way back. A lot of folks fell asleep but it was quite an enjoyable and relaxing ride back.
After arriving back at the depot we decided to see what else there was to do around downtown. We ended up at the Saloon in the Strater Hotel where the boys had some lemonade and snacked on pretzels. The ladies went and did a little shopping while the guys hung out at the saloon. Zach enjoyed the pretty lady who kept refilling his lemonade but it sure did make him go to the bathroom a lot – I think about six times. I found some snow boots for the boys and we did some other small souvenir shopping before heading back to the cabin.
I really enjoyed the train and would definitely do it again! Check out more on the Durango Silverton train here. And see all of my photos from that day here.
We headed into downtown Durango early in the morning in search of some breakfast before our train ride. We ended up at a most unusual place for breakfast – a pub and brewery called Carver’s. Turned out to be a pretty good breakfast (the french toast was quite good) at a reasonable price. We arrived at the train depot in time to get our tickets and take a few photos before boarding the train. The car directly behind ours is the open air gondola which you can sit out on if you’d like, then behind that is the concession car and at the very back is the first class car. The conductor came in and gave us a brief rundown and explained some of the whistle signals before we left the station. I had neglected to think about how a narrow gauge railway would sway back and forth. It actually reminded me of being on a boat and I found it in no way nauseating. They did however suggest you hold on when walking back and forth.
It did take us about 45 minutes to get out of the “town” area. During the winter season the train only goes halfway to Silverton because as the train climbs into the mountain the passages get quite narrow and their is still enough snow to have a chance of avalanches. We pass frozen lakes, snow covered hills, close cut rock passes and narrow passes with a long drop at the edge. Grandma kept leaning to left thinking that would make the train not fall over the edge. Silly Grandma. At about three quarters of the way there the train stopped to refill it’s water tank with about 3500 gallons of water that comes from a ground water fed storage area.
After we pass through the Cascade Canyon area we picked up a bit of speed and were really chugging along. This part of the track runs along the Animas River which is an interesting color of blue-green. We get to the midway point and the train does some tricky cool maneuver and backs up so that we are facing the right direction for our return trip. They have a covered pavillion area with a large fire going where most folks have their lunch. The boys took the opportunity to play in the snow (this snow was still somewhat fresh).
I laughed about them selling alcoholic drinks on the train becuase some folks were having quite a hard time making it down the aisle without being under the influence. Casey J spent most of the return trip with his head laying on the window sill which led to him having a slighty sooty face (they actually recommend you were sunglasses while on the gondola car to protect your eyes from the soot coming out of the steam stack). Z Man had entirely too much apple cider and suffered a sugar high but made a new friend whom he shared his seat with on the way back. A lot of folks fell asleep but it was quite an enjoyable and relaxing ride back.
After arriving back at the depot we decided to see what else there was to do around downtown. We ended up at the Saloon in the Strater Hotel where the boys had some lemonade and snacked on pretzels. The ladies went and did a little shopping while the guys hung out at the saloon. Zach enjoyed the pretty lady who kept refilling his lemonade but it sure did make him go to the bathroom a lot – I think about six times. I found some snow boots for the boys and we did some other small souvenir shopping before heading back to the cabin.
I really enjoyed the train and would definitely do it again! Check out more on the Durango Silverton train here. And see all of my photos from that day here.
