Colorado Vacation (train chapter)

We took the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad trip today. We drove the 20 miles down to Durango and rode the old steam engine the 45 miles up to Silverton. The kids did really great on the 3 ½ hour trip up the mountain. The two little ones both fell asleep for a short time after giving in to the gentle rocking of the rail cars. They sell a little history/tour book for $10 and it was definitely a good thing to have on hand as we climbed through the mountains into the area we’d just driven from.


K's looking out the (open) window at the river WAY down below the cliff we're riding slowing along . . .





This is the High Line where the train rides on a ledge 400 feet above the Animas River. Hmm, tight curve, squeeling wheels, 400 feet straight down . . . and kids looking out wide open windows to see the view! Whew!


Shortly before we arrived in Silverton, the kids started getting whiney and asking when we would finally get to eat. Our cuddly little S “Bear” even raised her grizzly little head. (S “Bear” was a nickname she got as a newborn since she was so round and cuddly. Hungry bears are NOT cuddly, though!) We arrived in Silverton and headed over to the recommended Brown Bear Café (quite a coincidence . . .) for lunch and then had a bit of time to wander around the historical town before heading back to the train for the ride home.





A fed and happy "Bear" sticks her head out the window for Dad to take a picture. He almost deleted it because it was blurry, but it looked strange to Mom so we kept it. After we uploaded it to the computer and got a better look it was freaky! (Did I just use that word . . ??) Dad said he couldn't look at it because it made him dizzy. Mom thought it looked kind of neat!




This is a cool spot along the tracks where they clear sediment in the boiler. We're crossing the High Bridge with the Animas River below.
We were anticipating a shorter ride home, but a derailment problem with the train ahead of us (thank goodness it wasn’t us!) made the trip 45 minutes longer than expected. The natives were getting restless! We learned some new things about railroading, though with the difficulties and stops.