Riding the Rails

Choo, choo...All aboard!  We climbed onto the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Durango, CO at 8:30am to depart at 9:00am - headed for Silverton.  I rode this same train as a kid - when I was maybe just a little older than Abby is now, on our summer trip from Texas to Montana.  I don't remember much about the experience, but I do remember that you could see lots of mountains from the train, that it was really pretty...and that our train was severely delayed in its return trip because of a mudslide on the tracks.  As I recall, we even got to see ourselves on the late-night news because the local station came out to film our return.  I was just hoping to avoid a repeat of the same event.

Our seats were on an open-air gondola car where the seats faced the outside of the train - perfect for great views.  And we planned in advance to reserve two seats on either side of the car at the very front so that we could roam back and forth according to the views (by the way, this turned out to be an excellent plan if you ever ride the train).  We just had to watch out for cinder and soot particles flying back toward us as we gazed outward.  They warn you about this on the website - and again when you pick up your tickets - suggesting that you wear eye protection or sunglasses, and warning you that you might get a bit dirty during the course of your ride.  So we were prepared.  We all had our sunglasses on and were ready to roll when the whistle blew at 9:00am sharp.  Both of the kids had been on short train rides before (A Day Out with Thomas and the Polar Express), but I don't think they really knew what to expect.  I'm not sure that I did either.

The top speed of the train is 18mph, and it is 45.2 miles to Silverton.  You can do some quick math, but remember...18mph is the top speed, not the average speed.  I'll help you out - it takes about 3.5 hours to get to Silverton from Durango.  There are two water stops and may or may not be up to several other stops to pick up or drop off hikers in the San Juan National Forest.  So we settled in to enjoy the ride.  The highlight of leaving town was chugging through the campground where we were staying - and seeing our camper and the family camped next to us (met them the night before) waving at us as we went by.  Then we settled in to take in the views.  The train follows the Animas River the entire way up to Silverton, but there are a couple of times when it is up much higher - and you can look down into the gorge and see the river...way down there...as the train hangs on the edge of the mountainside as if it's clinging to the edge of the world.  It's pretty amazing that they ever built a train passageway along the route in the first place - but very scenic.

I loved looking down into the gorge and watching the world go by in the mountains of the national forest lands.  We even saw a bear on our way back from Silverton...  Isaac enjoyed the views too, but I think his favorite part was getting the souvenir cup that came with free drink refills all day long - and walking back and forth to the concession car for more lemonade and Sprite.  For a child that has probably only had soda a few times in his life...this was WAY cool.  But think too about what happens when you spend your entire day drinking lemonade and Sprite...  You guessed it!  Fascination #2 for a six year-old boy was walking just into the next car to check out the facilities - over and over and over and over....

All in all it was a great day.  We switched seats back and forth often - but by the end of the day Matt and I had managed an arrangement where the kids were on one side and we were on the other...perfect.  If I had it to do over again, I think one way on the train would have been plenty.  We could have taken the bus back, and Matt and I would have likely preferred that option.  But the kids enjoyed the whole trip - both ways - cinders and all.  And to see Isaac's face and hear him still talking about the trip today makes it all worthwhile. 

Tracy