Friday, October 20, 2017

302.365 {2017} Silverton and the Durango-Silverton Railroad trip

Today we had tickets for the Durango-Silverton railroad and took the bus first to Silverton to have lunch and then ride the train back to Durango. 

Silverton is nestled in the San Juan Mountains and used to be a silver mining town.  It is also one of the highest towns in the US at 9,318 feet.  
It feels like you are on the set of a hollywood movie with the old buildings and dirt roads.






We ate pizza and had a few beverages at Avalanche Brewing Company.  


This sign tells you a bit about the notorious Blair Street here in Silverton.
We heard the train arrive and went to find our seats!
The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad goes 45 miles on track.  It was originally a route to transport silver and gold ore that was mined from the mountains here.  It is a steam locomotive.  The railway is now a National Historic Landmark.  
The girls also had a scoop of ice cream before we left...it's never too cold for that!
We splurged for the Knight Sky carriage.  We knew that the weather could be iffy and definitely cold and being able to have a nearly glass car to see the scenery was amazing!
Enjoy the pictures from outside the window...








Animas River
The water tower 
The girls enjoyed being able to step outside the train in between the cars.


The girls filled up on hot chocolate and had cookies mid-way through.  It was a beautiful and relaxing ride.  One way was plenty long!


The highest point of the trip






Just a tiny bit of aspen fall color still here!  A few weeks ago, the color would have been out of this world! 


We arrived back into Durango.  The train trip was about 3 1/2 hours.  They were having a balloon glow in town and the girls were excited to see this!  We had dinner downtown that evening.


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