Nothing Better! Part 2

Our turnaround point on this trip was the silver mining town of Silverton, CO. 

We arrived in the train yard right on time at 12:30pm.  We had to wait a few minutes while the train on the right backed up and unhooked the engine.  Then the engine on the left backed up and hooked on for the return trip to Durango.  After the train cleared the track we pulled forward to disembark for a couple of hours.  While we were exploring Silverton, our train would go through the same procedure to be ready for our return.

First on the agenda was lunch.  Of course, places near the train were full, but Silverton isn’t that big and we walked only a couple of blocks to find this BBQ place we noticed on our ride up here last Sunday (see Rocky Mountain Highs blog). 

It was a typical bbq joint where you order at the counter then find a seat wherever.  Since there were only two of us we sat with another couple at a table for four.  Turns out that this couple took the same route on Sunday (different start point) and ate at this place.  They liked it so much that they came back on the train today.  As we chatted about bikes (they ride Kawasaki Vulcans which look very similar to our Harley) and had ridden many of the same scenic routes that we had.

After lunch we walked around town, which, like many of the towns in Colorado, lies at the feet of several mountain peaks.

We saw a lot of the usual tourist stuff like hilarious t'-shirts,

and other creative apparel,

and other stuff that tourists think that they want.

Nothing blacksmith or artistic about this junk.

With nothing to interest us there we wandered back toward the train.  Here we found the oldest part of town, the original Old West themed tourist town.  In the old town square we found more interesting stuff than we did in the other part of town, such as Western humor

and quality hand-made art.

Back at the train we reboarded with only a few minutes wait before we rolled out.

As we rolled along, we passed some of the old silver mines and their tailings outside town.

As we reentered the canyon, we noticed the usual afternoon rain clouds looming ahead.

For two hours we rolled along, relaxing and enjoying the scenery,

before we literally ran into rain.  For a longer than we liked, the rain turned the pleasant cool air to unpleasantly chilly, damp air and made us gondola people move to the inside aisle or or to seek various kinds of comfort in the concessions car.  During that time,  we were informed that ahead of us the rain had caused flash flooding and mudslides in several places that caused US550 and the rr tracks be closed between us and Durango.

Before long, rain was gone and the sun warmed us and dried the seats, but our train ride was just about over.  As we approached the train yard at Rockwood (about an hour by train but only about 20 minutes by car from Durango), we rolled slower and slower, tempting people to reach out and touch the rocks in the tight places.

At Rockwood, we first saw another D&S train with all the people outside waiting, then we saw these train workers waiting for us to pull in and disembark.

When we were all together, we were informed that the tracks were still blocked as was one lane of US 550, but one lane was open and  we would be returning to town by busses and shuttles.  In addition to the two big busses owned by the rr (some people ride the bus one way to or from Silverton and ride the train the other way), every small business and community service group in Durango were sending their busses and shuttles to carry all 800 passengers of both trains back to town, starting with people with any kind of physical or medical health problems and people with children under the age of 6, then people from the train that arrived before us.  As we waited for the the rides to arrive, our group was allowed to reboard and wait on the train in comfortable seats out of the sun, if we wished.  We made a stop at the concession car for water and a snack, then settled in to wait.  I was enjoying a snooze when our turn came. By that time US 550 had both lanes open.  With vehicles returning more quickly, it wasn’t long before we reached the front of the line. 

We were the last two people on a sheriff’ shuttle.  By another coincidence we discovered that the other people on the shuttle were the couple that shared our lunch table and conversation, and a large group that we met on our Cliff Palace tour at Mesa Verde National Park yesterday (Sunday—see Tourists blog).  This made the last part of the trip much more interesting and fun.  

Soon we were passing through the area that flash flooding had filled with mud.  The wildfire that ran through the area made the soil unstable and the heavy rain pushed it into the road in several places.

Fortunately, these areas weren’t large and we arrived back in Durango less than an hour after our scheduled return time.  Between the recent wildfires and mudslides,  we were very fortunate to be able to enjoy our train ride.  As all of our touring in Colorado, we have so far managed to see all of the places that we came to see.

More rain predicted for Wed.

Louise and Duane