Day 4 - Durango-Silverton Railroad

Monday - September 9, 2019

Today was dedicated to the town of Silverton and a ride on the Durango-Silverton narrow gauge railroad. There are many options to make the trip, but a big thank you goes out to our friends Janet and Carl Wellborn. They recommended taking the bus to Silverton and riding the train back to Durango. This has several benefits; you leave Durango later (9:30), you get more time in Silverton (an extra 1 1/2 hours), and you don't spend 8 hours riding a train!. I realize if you are really a train fan, this would not be a negative. For me, 3 1/2 hours on a narrow gauge railroad is long enough.

The town of Silverton is the county seat of, and the only incorporated municipality in San Juan County, Colorado. In the 2000 census, there were less than 600 residents. San Juan County is the most vertical county in Colorado with not a single acre of flat land. Silverton was founded as a silver mining camp and the town laid out in 1874. The Durango-Silverton Railroad was built to serve the mining industry.

Today Silverton is quite a contrast to Telluride, which we visited yesterday. Although they both had the same origin as mining towns, Telluride embraced tourism in a high-end fashion. Silverton, on the other hand exists today entirely on tourism, but shall we say is a bit rough around the edges. It maintains much of the aura of the old mining town which I found more appealing than Telluride. The only paved street in town is main street. It takes a hardy soul to live year round in Silverton. The winters can dump as much as 40 feet of snow!

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and train ride today. We met several locals who were very congenial and interesting to talk to. We also met several people on the train with whom we enjoyed conversations.

Below are a few of my pictures from today and a couple of short videos.

The town of Silverton, as seen as we came in on the bus.

Silverton lies in an ancient extinct volcanic cauldron. This is obvious as you look around the perimeter of the town.

We had a great funnel cake and coffee here.

Lisa, the owner of Rocky Mountain Funnel Cake Factory

We not only enjoyed the pecan, caramel and cream funnel cake, but we also enjoyed our conversation with Lisa. If you are ever in Silverton, we highly recommend you enjoy one too!

Major, this is for you...

Kay, walking the rails.

The train awaits us for the return trip.

A herd of cow elk and young, near Durango

We head to Flagstaff tomorrow. We plan to detour by The Painted Desert on the way. We have been there before, but I just love that place!