Tag Archives: scenic railway

A Ride From Durango To Silverton

Posted on by
2

Since 1882, trains have made the climb through the San Juan Mountains from Durango, Colorado to Silverton. While this was once a vital route for practical purposes, it is now a scenic railway for tourists.

The 45 mile route takes about 3.5 hours at a top speed of 18 mph. It begins in downtown Durango, traveling through nice rural areas, into the San Juan Forest and along the Animas River.

I cannot even fathom what it took to lay this track. The crew, made up mostly of Irish and Chinese immigrants, worked in precarious places to carve out space for this narrow gauge line.

There are places so narrow that you can almost reach out the window on either side and touch granite. There are also places so close to the edge that you can see no flat ground but only a sheer drop off to the canyon below.

It was both awe inspiring and occasionally terrifying from my window seat.

At the end of the line, passengers have a couple of hours to explore Silverton while they turn the train and prepare for the return trip.

I will be completely honest with you. I thoroughly enjoyed this trip but it is a very long ride. So when we learned that it might be possible to upgrade our return train ticket to a bus ticket, Johnna and I jumped right on the opportunity. The bus took significantly less time, allowing us to get on with our evening.

Clearly, we wouldn’t have made good pioneers. To be fair, the bus ride was a terrific experience, partly because our driver was knowledgeable and friendly and the bus views were great too.

Check back tomorrow and I’ll tell you about Silverton.

The Very Best Place

Posted on by
4

If you’re looking for a place to visit with an emphasis on the outdoors, with a pleasant climate, lots of neat shops and restaurants and with numerous interesting things to see along the way, Durango, Colorado is the very best place I can recommend.

The temperature hovered around 90 during our visit but the dry climate made those 90 degrees a walk in the park compared to the same temperature here in Ohio where the humidity ruins everything.

We didn’t have a ton of time here but we squeezed as much out of the time we had as humanly possible. That meant rising early and basically never slowing down!

We hiked at Horse Gulch.

We browsed all the cute little shops.

We ate at sidewalk cafes. This quinoa burger was amazing.

We took a ride on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Train.

We looked at a lot of random stuff.

We laughed a lot too. I like Durango. It’s a college town with history and culture. It’s a walkable place that welcomes visitors of all ilk. It’s the kind of place that makes me want to browse job and real estate listings. It’s the kind of place I don’t mind revisiting again and again. It’s the kind of place I would recommend to anyone.

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about a favorite experience!

Lebanon Mason And Monroe Railroad

Posted on by
2

My dad and I set out for a day of adventure in Lebanon, Ohio yesterday. When I was searching for a Father’s Day gift for the man who has everything, I decided it would be best to give him an experience rather than more stuff. So I gave him three options and, of them, he chose a ride on the Lebanon Mason and Monroe Railroad.

This non-profit scenic railway gives visitors a peek into what travel was like in yesteryear. We rode in a deluxe car called Mingo County that a railway volunteer said dates to the late forties or fifties.

Concessions are located in an old Army Medical car and, yes, there’s a caboose too.

The ride last for about 75 minutes – long enough to travel a few miles out of town, stop and travel back in reverse. The gentle swaying of the car as it click-clacked down the tracks was incredibly relaxing. It was almost like being rocked to sleep.

The volunteers and staff on the train are super nice and even the passengers in our car were extremely cordial. The group even joined in singing Happy Birthday to five year old twins who were visiting with their grandparents. Decked out in bibbed overalls and engineer’s caps, the little red haired boy and girl seemed excited to be there.

While it is called a scenic railway, I think it would be better enjoyed in fall than this time of year. You travel past the backs of some less than scenic buildings and some fields of crops but most of what you see is brushy. There’s a lot of green brush everywhere you look here in southern Ohio so that’s not exciting. However, I imagine the trip is beautiful in October. You do catch a glimpse or two of a stream that’s pretty.

All the same, Dad seemed to enjoy it and I certainly did. This was his first train trip so I was excited to give him that. He joked that he has now traveled by plane, train and automobile!

The thing I liked best is that it was like stepping back in time. Aside from the fashion choices of fellow passengers, it’s hard to discern the year just from looking around the rail car. It encouraged me to consider what travel would have been like back in the day when rail was the quickest and cheapest means of transport and how exhausting those trips must have been.

If you have a chance, go for a ride someday and experience it for yourself. Click here to find just the right ride for you!

Happy Saturday!

Posted on by
Reply

Today will not be an Adventure Day so I’m going to relive last week’s fun with a few pictures. Happy Saturday, everyone. I hope you get to do something that makes you happy.