(c) 2010 Lydia Hinshaw
Steam engine pulls us along the edge of a cliff
Please feed me!DURANGO, CO -- One word for our trip on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Tuesday: Long.
It was a five-hour trip and would have been great if it was one way and we could have, say, ridden bicycles downhill. But instead we had to stick with the train, which had to lurch and bump back to Durango, brakes screeching all the way.
In summers, the train goes all the way to Silverton, and customers have the option to make a much faster return by bus. This time of year, the tracks aren't yet ready for business that high into the mountains, so the train stops at Cascade Canyon, a scenic picnic area beside the Animus River. Cascade Canyon is not convenient to any road, so the bus option was not available.
Two hours up, one hour to walk around, two hours down.
We had reserved seats in a parlor car, but spent the whole trip in an open-air gondola car, for better viewing of the scenery, and to make us better targets for the cinders produced by the coal-burning steam engine.
Steam engines require water stops and we made one on the way up. Several ground squirrels were expecting us. They danced around on the rocks beside the train, trying to look cute enough that someone would toss them a tidbit.
In our car, we enjoyed the show, but refused to tip. The squirrels soon moved on up the train to look for more gullible tourists.
One benefit of the trip was that we spotted a campground we liked better than one one we stayed in Monday night. So we checked in here alongside the tracks. Just after 7, while we were using the camp laundromat for an Internet cafe, a work train passed by, bringing down employees who'd spent the day working on the railroad somewhere up near Silverton.
It was a five-hour trip and would have been great if it was one way and we could have, say, ridden bicycles downhill. But instead we had to stick with the train, which had to lurch and bump back to Durango, brakes screeching all the way.
In summers, the train goes all the way to Silverton, and customers have the option to make a much faster return by bus. This time of year, the tracks aren't yet ready for business that high into the mountains, so the train stops at Cascade Canyon, a scenic picnic area beside the Animus River. Cascade Canyon is not convenient to any road, so the bus option was not available.
Two hours up, one hour to walk around, two hours down.
We had reserved seats in a parlor car, but spent the whole trip in an open-air gondola car, for better viewing of the scenery, and to make us better targets for the cinders produced by the coal-burning steam engine.
Steam engines require water stops and we made one on the way up. Several ground squirrels were expecting us. They danced around on the rocks beside the train, trying to look cute enough that someone would toss them a tidbit.
In our car, we enjoyed the show, but refused to tip. The squirrels soon moved on up the train to look for more gullible tourists.
One benefit of the trip was that we spotted a campground we liked better than one one we stayed in Monday night. So we checked in here alongside the tracks. Just after 7, while we were using the camp laundromat for an Internet cafe, a work train passed by, bringing down employees who'd spent the day working on the railroad somewhere up near Silverton.
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