July 15, 2006
Today we went to Durango & hopped on an old steam engine train. It has been operating continuously for 125 years. The train takes you along the cliff of a mountain over looking the Animas River. It takes you through the San Juan National Forest. The last stop on the train is Silverton. Here we disembark for a tour of the town. When you depart from the station, you notice the dirt road in the town & the old original buildings. The town is just like it was in the 1800's. I was amazed at the way the town was. It looked like we stepped into a cowboy movie scene. The original train station is still there. The dirt road was maintained & not rugged as it must have been in the days of old. I definetly stepped back in time. The town was built in 1874 with the discovery of gold & silver in the area. It is at an elevation of 9,318 ft.
The train ride is 4 1/2 hours. It only goes 45 miles from Durango to Silverton. It was originally built to haul silver & gold ore from the San Juan Mountains, but passengers soon realized it was the view that was truly precious. It now drops off fly fishermen to a secluded area for fly fishing & people interested in soaring at a remote resort.
Half way through it must stop to add water to the train engine. A large black pipe falls down over the engine of the train & fills it up with water from the river.
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