Durango To Silverton Railroad; A Trip Back In Time

[Kid Sopris]

For those of you who haven't made the trip, I feel bad for you. It's a trip that everyone should take once in a lifetime. So I have prepared some pictures from my trips to give you an idea what your missing. There is a lot of photos, so I will give an explanation as I go.

Leaving Durango Train Station:

[Kid Sopris]

Chugging through Durango Northbound to the canyons that wait ahead.

[Kid Sopris]

From the steep canyon walls views are breathtaking:

[Kid Sopris]

The views from the trestles are not to bad either:

[Kid Sopris]

It isn't long before the images of times past catch up with you, as you are transformed back into time:

[Kid Sopris]

They stand silently whispering to you the voices of the past:

[Kid Sopris]

If you are in costume, you feel like you have been there before:

[Kid Sopris]

Snow can fall at any time in the Rocky Mountains and early September is a real possiblity...But it gives you the feeling that you are about to enter another dimension:

[Kid Sopris]

Slowly you wind through the steep and narrow canyons:

[Kid Sopris]

Once in town, a warm beverage awaits you in the historical landmarks:

[Kid Sopris]

A commercial landmark for the tourist season, is the same building in the wintertime for the school house:

[Kid Sopris]

Your departure back to reality is no less spectacular:

[Kid Sopris]

The minerals that Mother Nature conceals within, makes water look like a river of Turquise:

[Kid Sopris]

Slowly Southward you head back to Durango:

[Kid Sopris]

Each curve in the canyon looks like the last:

[Kid Sopris]

Suddenly you are confronted by those going on their transformation ride:

[Kid Sopris]

Bell's clanging giving you fair notice:

[Kid Sopris]

This engine built in 1875, has just finished being overhauled and was on it's maiden trip with a new boiler:

[Kid Sopris]

And suddenly as it all started, it's time to leave. I won't post any more teasers, YOU JUST MUST take this terrific ride and adventure. You won't be sorry!

[Sweet Violet]

Thank you Kid!!! That looks like a must do vacation!!!

[Kitty Phann]

Thanks Kid, PD and I did that before we had kids now I think we need to do it again with them.

[Coffee Em]

Thanks, Kid! I've wanted to make that trip ever since I first read about the D&S Railroad. Someday real soon...

[Lady Dallas]

Thanks for the pics. They were a lovely reminder of a great vacation. I'm glad we did it in the fall. It was beautiful!!!!:ty

Note for anyone planning a trip. The train doesn't run all the way to Silverton after about mid October. We went the next to last weekend it ran all the way. Boy was it chilly in the morning.

[Ida Hands]

FANTASTIC photos and narrative, Kid! NOW we MUST go there.

[Lady Dallas]

This is the victorian hotel in Silverton. We spent the night there. Gorgeous inside. Someday I'd like to go back with more costumes and take pictures with it as a backdrop.

[Lady Dallas]

This is my daughter and I on the steps of the courthouse in Silverton.

[Lady Dallas]

And my daughter getting off the train in Durango. Boy did we get a lot of stares but it was fun.

[Coffee Em]

Lady Dallas, that kid's so cute! She reminds me a lot of a British actress I've seen (can't remember her name, of course) who has that same wonderful direct look and expressive eyebrows. Cool!

(Oh, and cool hotel, too.)