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Roger: I would not miss the Cumbres & Toltec. It is one of the most authentic railroad experiences there is. Walking into Chama is like walking into 1960 .. or maybe 1930. It's THAT good. The Durango & Silverton has, hands down, fabulous scenery and a great trip. It works out perfectly to spend lunch in Silverton. I don't think there's a better day trip to be had for the non railfan. I like the Georgetown Loop because it's quick, accessible, fun -- perfect when you're with people who don't want to spend the whole day in a train experience. Lots of shopping in Georgetown for non railfans and good restaurants too. I haven't ridden the train at Leadville, but that's a fascinating place, too. I spent many of my summers as a kid in Georgetown, Silver Plume, and Leadville, so I'm biased, of course. I haven't been to the Royal Gorge since it was a main line railroad, but the scenery is, like the Georgetown Loop, also very fine. The Joint Line has plenty of trains, but the scenery -- well, it's pretty urbanized now, and not in a quaint English way either. I grew up west of Castle Rock, graduated from the high school in a class of 115 students -- the total number of seniors in the whole county! -- and today it's just greater Denver. I wouldn't bother. If you want big scenery and freight action, I'd get west of the Moffat Tunnel on U.S. 40 and work between Winter Park and Phippsburg on the Craig Branch. You'll probably get at least one coal train to chase for a few hours. It's worth seeing even just to drive the route: If you're heading west, get off I-70 at U.S. 40, take it to Kremmling, and take the county road (it's very good now) that goes to State Bridge. Locally it's called Trough Road. Then cut down the state highway to Wolcott, and you're back on I-70 with only about a two-hour addition to your trip -- but with fabulous scenery as a reward. Don't hope to find trains on the Rio Grande west of Grand Junction. There are very few these days. Admire what was once wonderful and move on. The LA&SL (UP) between Salt Lake City and Las Angeles, running through Las Vegas, has around 24 trains a day, but while fabulously scenic, it's mostly a long, long way away from any paved road. I would avoid any road that is not paved; you're risking mudholes and sand dunes and out in the middle of nowhere. I've spent a lot of time digging 4WDs out of sand, mud, and snow (not on the same day!) on the LA&SL. When you get stuck there, you are really stuck. Once in Las Vegas, though, go to Cima Hill -- it's about a 90-minute drive on good paved roads. You'll see these on a Rand McNally atlas. Cima Hill is one of the most amazing mountain grades in the world, and it's all out in the open on a desert ramp: 17 miles of 2.2%. The county road parallels it nicely all the way from the top at Cima (Spanish for summit) to the bottom at Kelso, an old helper terminal where the beautiful Mission-style station still stands like something out of Lawrence of Arabia. Years ago, when the UP still ran it as a lunchroom for Las Vegas-Yermo crews, I had a number of excellent meals there, all served on UP china. And you could stay upstairs on a narrow iron bed for $4.50 a night. Every train that went by shook the hell out of the place! My suggestion if you want to see lots of freight trains. Forget Utah, forget Colorado, go to Wyoming. The UP main line west of Laramie is full of trains, scenic, easy to get to, and out in the wilds. Genuine American railroading doesn't get any better than that. June will be really nice there!
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