Day 11: Durango & Silverton railroad

September 22, 2017

Today I spend most of the day riding the Durango-Silverton narrow gauge railroad. Up at 7:30, walked north to get a take out breakfast at Dough Works. Then biked to the railroad station downtown. I locked the bike to a rack in front of the station. In plain view of all visitors in the area, so I doubt anybody will mess with the bike while I'm gone.

Durango train station before riding a bus to Silverton. This is the original station, built in 1882.

Same as 3 days ago, I will ride a bus to the far end and ride the train back to the starting point. It started raining while I waited for the bus. People scurried for shelter, and were then annoyed when asked to queue in front of the bus. We all stood there in the rain for at least 10 minutes before we were allowed to board the bus.

I rode on a conventional tour bus on US 550 from Durango to Silverton. The 90 minute drive crosses 10,640 ft (3,243 m) Coal Bank pass and 10,910 ft (3,325 m) Molas pass in quick succession. It rained the entire time. Few mountain views looking up, but the view was quite spectacular looking down.

In September 1998 I biked US 550 in the opposite direction, from Ouray to Silverton to Durango. The weather was drier then but still cold and mostly cloudy. It's spectacularly scenic and very difficult to pedal. The road is open year-round even though it crosses hundreds of avalanche chutes. 4 snowplow drivers have been killed by avalanches. The "Million Dollar Highway" is the nation's deadliest road to maintain.

It was 40F/4C and pouring rain when the bus dropped me off in Silverton at 11 AM. I stood under an awning for a few minutes, then had an early lunch at the barbeque restaurant. I needed to warm up.

40F and raining when I got off the bus in Silverton. 9318 feet elevation.

After lunch the rain slacked off. The temperature warmed into the upper 40's. There were short periods when the rain stopped.

As expected, at this high elevation the aspens are in peak fall color. Golden splashes on the mountains in every direction.

The trains stop in the middle of town. The aspens are in peak fall color!

I watched the first train arrive from Durango. The train stops in the middle of Silverton adjacent to Empire street. Passengers got off, then the train reversed and disappeared to turn around on a nearby siding. Suddenly the town was much more crowded.

The Durango & Silverton and Cumbres & Toltec narrow gauge railroads are the only two operational segments of a large narrow gauge rail network built by the Denver & Rio Grande railroad.

1914 route map. Red is standard gauge. Black is narrow gauge.

Silverton is in a basin surrounded by huge mountains.

The photos show that the rain was cold. The rain changes to snow not very far up the mountains. Shops in town are having sales because they will close for the season soon. There are two trains per day until October 12. Many of the shops and restaurants will close when the train only arrives once per day.

The main street in Silverton is called Greene St. It's also the route of US 550. The only paved street in town. Every other street is gravel.

Greene Street, US 550, is the only paved road in Silverton.

I spent more than 3 hours in Silverton. The train departed 30 minutes late at 2:15 PM. That gave me plenty of time to walk around and take pictures. And a lot of time to look around the stores to get out of the rain and warm up.

Silverton's name is obvious. They mined silver by the ton.

Silverton was founded as a mining town. At first it was only accessible by pack animals. The train came in 1881, making it much easier for miners to get in and silver to get out. The road came much later. In the early days there was gold mining but most of the mining in the area has been silver.

Silverton, Colorado. Miner's memorial in the distance.

In September 1998 my wife and I rode the Durango & Silverton train round trip. That was a mistake. Way too many hours of sitting, and we didn't really need to go through the canyon twice at 10 mph. This time I did what most visitors do. Go one way on a bus and one way on the train. It's the preferred option because the bus ride gives a completely different view than the train. The bus goes over the San Juan mountains. The train follows the Animas river downstream in a deep roadless canyon.

Train heading south along the Animas river.

Turnaround siding near Silverton. Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

The train follows the Animas river for 45 miles, deep in a roadless canyon in the San Juan mountains.

I think the bench seats have been improved since I rode the train in 1998. The padding seems better now, making the seats more comfortable. The coaches are genuine antiques. The railroad has operated continuously since 1881 and has kept most of its old rolling stock. The rolling stock is hard to sell because it's confined to a single narrow gauge rail line. There is no easy way to transport coaches to another narrow gauge rail line.

I had a bench to myself in a coach class car. The train was nearly full.

3 days ago I rode the Cumbres & Toltec narrow gauge railroad. Those coach cars are 1960's reproductions of antique coaches. They don't have the craftsmanship of Durango & Silverton's antique coaches.

Animas river, Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

This cliff-edge section is arguably the most scenic part of the trip.

Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge railroad in the Animas river canyon.

The last hour before Durango it was obvious that most people were tired of sitting on the train. Creeping our way at 10-15 mph across a farm valley, then across town.

Tilted red rock layers above the wide valley north of Durango.

The train arrived in Durango at 6:15 PM. It took 5 hours to go 45 miles from Silverton to Durango. Durango is much lower than Silverton, with noticeably more stable weather. The clouds started to break up when I arrived in Durango. The temperature rose to 70F/21C for a few minutes before the sun went down. It was a relief to get back in Durango. Silverton was cold!

Downtown Durango was jam packed when everybody got off the train. It was already full of people because it's Friday night.

Colorado has Medicinal Alcohol Dispensaries! That's MAD.

I was very pleased with my motel, Adobe Inn on 21st Street. It's a mile north of downtown but still has nearby stores and restaurants. The price is much cheaper than the downtown hotels. It's obviously old but has been renovated to be very stylish. Good thing I made a reservation before the tour-Durango had many No Vacancy signs on this Friday night.

I stayed 2 nights at Adobe Inn on 21st Street in Durango.

My stylish room has a bicycle parking space and a shower window facing the bedroom.

I didn't bike much today but I'm still a bike tourist. The bike is my main transportation.

Distance: 3.1 mi. (5 km)
Average Speed: 9.2 mph (14.7 km/h)
Ascent/Descent: +99/-99 ft. (+30/-30 m)

Today's ride: 3 miles (5 km)
Total: 407 miles (655 km)

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