Do you love taking a historic and scenic train ride? Colorado has many, and my husband and I have made a point of taking a ride on them all. I have twelve train rides featured on my blog under the label Colorado Railroads, beginning with this post and continuing back to the first one we took ten years ago. Each train ride offers wonderful views and experiences. We typically enjoy these train rides during the fall season when the stunning colors of the Colorado aspen trees enhance the beauty of each journey. and the Durango Silverton Narrow Gage Railroad was no exception! This time of the year is also around our anniversary and we celebrated number 49 this year!
We began our journey by driving from our area of the Colorado Front Range to Durango, Colorado which is located in South West Colorado in the San Juan Mountian region. There is so much to see and do in Durango but our time was limited on this trip so we were there primarily to take the round-trip train ride that we scheduled ahead of time. The train fills up quickly this time of year so it is best to make advance reservations. We chose the 9-hour roundtrip journey (includes a 2-hour Silverton layover), but there are other shorter options if desired, and special train rides such as the upcoming Holiday Polar Express train ride that begins in November and ends at the end of December.
My husband and I reserved our seats on the open-air Gondola Car as we enjoyed seeing the sights from all sides of the train and having the flexibility to move around the car. The Gondola Car had an outward-facing bench on both sides as assigned seats but there was a lot of flexibility to take photos and I took hundreds! I made these photo collages to make sharing them much easier. to see more detail each collage can be clicked on and it will enlarge. As the Durango Silverton Train left Durango we passed, businesses, homes, farms, and ranches as well as the Durango Hot Springs area.
As the train rose higher and higher up into the San Juan Mountains we saw beautiful vistas and autumn color. The train follows the Animas River route and crosses over and around the river five times during its journey. You can watch a video short I took of the train climbing up into the mountains on this YouTube link or on my Mille Fiori Facebook page at this link.
The scenery was breathtaking!
The colorful fall foliage, the vast San Juan Mountain vistas, and the icy blue/green Animas River views were stunning!
At one point the train stopped at a mountain resort and some backpackers disembarked to hike. we also saw a man zip by on a zip line-- see the last photo in the lower right in the collage above. If you'd like to see a short video reel of more of the train ride on my Mille Fiori Facebook link Click Here--make sure to turn on the sound on the video to hear the sound of the steam train and the train whistle at the end of the video--it is very iconic and a bit romantic to me.
The terminus of the train ride is the historic gold mining town of Silverton. which is nestled in the San Juan Mountains at an elevation of 9,3018 feet (2,840.1264 meters)
During our round-trip train ride, we had a two-hour layover in Silverton where we enjoyed a nice lunch and took a walk around town to visit the shops.
Our train ride back to Durango was equally scenic.
The next day we took a drive on the famous "Million Dollar Highway," US 550. from Durango to Ouray, Colorado. Photos will be in my next post, where you will see how it may have gotten its nickname.
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22 comments:
Loved the video and the ride through the mountains. The scenery is amazing. you are so lucky to live in the same state with all this beauty and so many classic train rides.Happy anniversary.
Hello Pat,
The train rise looks fun. The scenery and the beautiful trees are gorgeous.
Love the photos! Take care, have a wonderful new week!
Great photos of the train ride and the towns of Durango and Silverton.
When I was a kid we did several trips to Durango for vacation. Lots to see and do and of course the train ride was the highlight for all of us. I've been on it a half dozen times and I never got tired of it.
Congratulations on your 49th anniversary. You are now in your 50th year! Enjoy every minute and keep going on adventures.
Happy Anniversary - I'm a big fan of historic train rides. There aren't many in Florida, but I've gone on several up north. Beautiful photos as always.
So fun! We have very few scenic train rides up here but I have enjoyed the few we've taken. Fun fact one of my cousins moved to Colorado to be a train engineer years ago and he just loves his job! I should find out where/who he works for..
Those golden aspens - SO beautiful!
Thank you for sharing at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-teapot-show-cedar-creek-pottery.html
Loved this post and photos thanks for sharing and taking us with you :-)
Happy Anniversary best wishes from London 👍
Have a traintastic week :-)
That is the best kind of train ride with beauty to see on the rails and a nice stop in a picturesque town.
Great way to celebrate your anniversary! Happy 49th anniversary!
Lovely photos and narration.
...you picked a great time to travel though this beautiful country by train. Thanks for taking me along to see the sights.
Great series of photos of your trip! ~ that to me is what a train is suppose to look like ~ bet it was a great and scenic ride ~ Wow!
Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days ~
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
now I would love to do that...Michelle
Oh just beautiful! I visited Colorado last October and I loved it there.
What an incredibly wonderful way to see Colorado's majestic mountain beauty on this train ride! Your photographs are amazing! I enjoyed your beautiful post so very much, and want to congratulate you both on 49 years of marriage, an incredible milestone! Many blessings to you!
It`s so nice to see you in this Post. And by the way ... I love the railroad train too. It´s a good way for travelling.
Happy MosaicMonday
Thank you so much being part at
MosaicMonday
Have a fine week. Greetings by Heidrun
This looks like such a lovely way to spend a Fall day. I flew to Denver not that long ago so had my first-ever views of Colorado and thought of you!
Have a lovely weekend Pat.
Wren x
Gorgeous, love the trains and all your wonderful images and enjoying this armchair travel,
Thank you for sharing your links with us at #282 SSPS Linky. See you again next week.
Great pictures of the train ride.
Not only am I itching to see Colorado, but I also want to do this.
Worth a Thousand Words
Many congratulations on your 49th anniversary.
Fabulous photographs.
All the best Jan
I have heard of this and would love to do it sometime! Your pictures are beautiful. What a lovely adventure. Happy anniversary! Visiting from Friendship Friday.
Beautiful shots! A trip well worth making.
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