Wednesday, October 3, 2012
(uploaded on October 4th because I had no Internet service)
The alarm went off at 7am as requested, a quick shower and I'm off to the train station for an 8:30am departure. I had already purchased my ticket online and printed a boarding pass, therefore I didn't have to stand in line. Straight to the train I went and boarded. I chose to ride in the open-air gondola car for better picture taking opportunities. Even though it's past the regular tourism season, there are a lot of people here, and the train is mostly full, mainly older folks who wisely waited until the kids went back to school. This time of year they run two trains a day, whereas during the peak season they run four. At $80 a ticket, that's a lot of revenue. They even charge $7 to park. It's a great run through beautiful scenery and along steep crevasses leading down to a river below us. The colors are changing so there is lots of yellow, red and green along the mountain sides.
This train is world famous. They carry a little over 200,000 passengers a year, according to Conductor Rich Millard, who I found out is friends with Ed Dickens of the U.P. Steam program, and who also used to work for this railroad.
We arrived in Silverton right on schedule at noon, and what's interesting is that they pull right into the downtown area down the middle of a street. Its your typical small Colorado town with one paved street, very old buildings dating back to the 1800's, all nestled within a green valley surrounded by mountains dusted with snow. Everyone got off the train, and with a short walk were closing in on the numerous restaurants and gift shops offered. This town comes alive when the trains arrive.
I beat the crowd to the best place in town to eat called Handlebars. I sat at the bar and enjoyed a Reuben sandwich and a cup of soup. I couldn't help notice that there were a lot of foreign visitors around me. There was a Japanese film crew documenting the train, and I overheard numerous French, British and Spanish speakers close by.
Even at lunchtime it's still chilly here. Temps in the 60's and a good breeze calls for my wearing a jacket to continue.
Our scheduled departure time was 2:15pm, but today we will leave at 2:45pm instead, the scheduled departure time of the second train that followed us up. They decided to combine both trains for a total of 24 cars, pulled by one steam engine. It's downhill almost all the way back to Durango so it won't be a problem for the engine. I was hoping they would double-head the steamers, but they didn't.
We headed back and I got a lot of great pictures and video along the way. I was chatting with some of the other passengers around me and we all agreed we were ready to get back to Durango as the track is extremely rough on this railroad. All day long the train was never smooth. We rocked back and forth the entire time, doing about 20mph, and that gets exhausting. As much as I love trains, and as beautiful as this trip is, next time I ride I will do the option of riding the train one way and taking the bus back.
We arrived back in Durango at 6:30pm, and I promptly left to head to Chama, NM for the night, which was about 120 miles away, but I wanted to stop and grab some dinner and fill up the car because I knew there was nothing between here and there. A local Mongolian restaurant was recommended, so I tried it and it was very good. With me full, and the car full, off I went. Its already dark at this point, and I'm very tired from the train rocking all day, which all adds up to some tough mountain driving at night fighting fatigue. And that doesn't include all the critters along the way feeding at night.
Although the speed limit signs said 65mph, I was doing about 50-55 most of the way. Glad I did as I soon encountered a very large male Elk, with very large antlers, standing in the middle of the highway. He started to dash towards my car and somehow, and luckily, I didn't hit him and he didn't hit me. I didn't want to have to explain the damage to the rental car company next Monday. I really slowed down at this point and I encountered two more female elk or deer on the way. They were off to the side of the road, but you never know what they're going to do.
I arrived at the motel in Chama a little after 9:30pm and met the other people in our group who were already there. It will be nice to settle in for three nights and not have to keep moving suitcases around.
You'd think this day's adventures would be done at this point, but no. I was warned that there has been a large bear rummaging through the dumpster at night, as well as a skunk spotted in the area that has already sprayed the motel owner's dog. Oh, and it's going to be in the 20's in the morning.
I swear I'm not making this stuff up. Welcome to my life.
Information: http://www.durangotrain.com
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