I have ridden the D & S twice, both round trips, and the CT & S once.
Enjoyed them both. As stated, the CT &S is less "touristy" and Chama seems much as it was in early days.
I've been over Red Mountain by car and by motorcycle. Now that was a ride! The Georgetown Loop is a short but fun ride, worth any RR's time.
Gale
mobilman44The D&S has the "prettier" trains and out of this world scenery. The C&T, is more of the feeling of a working RR, and the frills are fewer. You can't go wrong with either.
There's also another big difference. The D&S station and shops in Durango are located smack-dab in the middle of a busy urban area -- as urban as the Four Corners gets anyway. Thus, the facilities are fenced and secured and those on the grounds beyond the station are normally under escort (can't remember if the museum is free-range or not).
Chama's facilities are located in a very rural community. Unlike the realtively compact Durango terminal, they sprawl for more than a mile through town. While some security improvements have been made in recent years, they are low key and much of the area remains unfenced. I beleive you're still permitted to wander the grounds on your own, simply staying out of buildings and not climbing on equipment.
While it's hard to beat the ride on the Silverton or the great facilities in towns at both ends, Chama is hard to beat for the "kid loose in the RR candy store" feeling with your cameras as you walk and discover all sorts of stuff. The ride is right up there with the D&S, but the after hours fun of wandering around the yards is wondorous at Chama.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Hi,
I've ridden the D&S (round trip) twice, and the Cumbres & Toltec twice as well. Both are "must dos" for the RR enthusiast. The D&S has the "prettier" trains and out of this world scenery. The C&T, is more of the feeling of a working RR, and the frills are fewer. You can't go wrong with either.
BTW, if you want a real thrill, drive the highway thru Ouray. The "million dollar highway" will definitely push the adrenaline to new heights, and will test your nerve and skills (I drove it in a misting rain). Sadly, I didn't get any pics cause I was too busy, and my co-pilot was too scared.............
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Glad you enjoyed the trip. The museum in Durango is really great I think.
Nice pics by the way.
The Argo Mill in Idaho Springs is not in operation. However, its is a museum and open for tours.
If you get a chance on your next visit to Silverton, the Mayflour Mill east of Silverton is a great tour. Its pretty much left as it was when it shut down in the 1990s. Then there is the Hundred Dollar mine further up the Animas Valley. You go way back underground in that one. I think these might only be open during the tourist season.
A visit to Chama New Mexico might next be in order?
NP2626At the time I started telling him this, I thought the train ran between Silverton and Ouray. Further investigation and a trip up to Ouray revealed this to be incorrect. The connection between Silverton and Ouray was the Million Dollar Highway and Otto Mears project that ran through what I thought looked like some of the most mined country I have ever seen and a very unfriendly railroad route.
Yes, a very unfriendly RR route. But imagine how spectacular it could have been!
Otto Mears, who built many of the early toll roads (Highway 550 was one of his routes originally) and followed that by building RRs on their ROWs including the RGS, actually contemplated building an electrified, cog railway to go from the north end of his Silverton RR in Ironton to Ouray, where it would've connected with the Rio Grande.
If Otto had only been 20 years younger and the US gov't had kept buying silver, it very well could've happened. As it is, it could make a spectacular cog railway layout that is almost pure fantasy, except for the fact it does have a small bit of historical basis. Think Bemo (HOm) equipment repainted and floor to ceiling scenery
Thanks Frank, that is how to fix it!
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
Mark,
You should be able to Edit You're title....I have done it before. Do it on Your original post.
You created it.
Take Care!
Frank
I just noticed that the title I came up with for this thread was "Durango & Silverton"! Is there a way to EDIT the title? It's amazing at how easily I can screw things up!
My tour guide has an interest in the Narrow Gauge trains in Colorado and New Mexico. I told him about the Narrow Gage Circle and that the small town of Ouray was served by narrow gauge railroad. At the time I started telling him this, I thought the train ran between Silverton and Ouray. Further investigation and a trip up to Ouray revealed this to be incorrect. The connection between Silverton and Ouray was the Million Dollar Highway and Otto Mears project that ran through what I thought looked like some of the most mined country I have ever seen and a very unfriendly railroad route. The Rio Grande Southern linked up with the D&RGW Branch to Silverton, coming from Delores Colorado running through Rico, the Ophur Loop, Sawpit, Placerville and connected up with the D&RGW at Ridgeway.
The day we left Durango, the bus made a stop in Chama New Mexico, to eat lunch at the High Country Saloon, much to my chagrin, wed did not go into town to see the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic RR, another section of the Narrow Gauge Circle. I guess you just need leave things to see and do, the next trip!
By coincidence, I travelled the D&S from Silverton to Durango two weeks ago. Here are two pictures of old 482 that was on our run'
Marty C
It sounds like an enjoyable trip was had. Yeah, weird as it seems, the eastbound (southbound by compass direction) ruling grade on the Silverton is something like 1.7% up through the High Line.
I really enjoy taking the train from Silverton to Durango, stay overnight there, then return on the next morning's train to Silverton. My wife and I have done this before. It works great if you've been camping around Silverton, as you have time to break camp and get to Silverton to take any of the afternoon returns. We just left the truck parked at the station in Silverton after alerting the stationmaster it was ours. This way, you get a nice hot shower to cleanup and a night on the town, then can get back to the wilderness the next day. Try not to stay in the woods too long before you do this, for the benefit of your fellow travelers....
Another recommendation for both the D&S and C&TS is to spring the extra $$ for a parlor car upgrade. You get a nice platform to take pics from, great personal service, drinks and snacks, and often both the hardcore fans and world travelers who don't know much about RRs but could afford the upgrade. I've had wonderful experiences each time I've done this.
Nice! Sounds like a fun trip. I haven't had a chance to take a ride on the D&S and I live in Colorado. I really need to get down there.
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
I was finally able to ride the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge RR. Although I have ridden on steam powered trains at Disneyland and Disney World, I had never ridden one from Point A to Point B. My ride on this famus railroad was the down train from Silverton to Durango, my tour bus dropped us off in Silverton and picked us up 3 1/2 hours later in Durango. We rode one of the covered Gondolas and although it was cool (there had been snow on the trip over the Million Dollar highway from Ouray to Silverton, in the high country) all of the people on my bus tour stayed in this car for the majority of the trip. Two cars towards the front was the commissary car, so hot chocolate was available to warm us up. Having ridden this train now, I would recommend the up train from Durango to Silverton as the engine has to work harder in this direction. The only time I heard the locomotive work was climbing up to the Highline, before Rockwood. My loco was a K-36, number 486. I belive all of the locomotives in use on the D&S line are Mikado 2-8-2s. We were able to visit the museum in 1/2 of the roundhouse at Durango. There was a large HO and HOn3 layout in the museum along with a Mike from the D&RGW and a consolidation from the RGS. The day before we had driven by Idaho Springs, Georgetown and Silver Plume and the Georgetown Loop Railway and I saw a narrow gauge Shay ldling waiting to go over the loop. We also passed the Argo Mill, which seems to still be in use, or at least it has been restored to look like it is in use.
I enjoyed this part of my Bus Tour very much. If you haven't done this before, I highly recommend a trip to this part of Colorado to do so. You will find the San Jaun Mountains to be some of the most beautiful mountains in the USA.