The Silverton Trip - July 9 - 12, 2006

July 9th ... a rainy arrival in Ouray

July 9th: Highway 550 just above Ouray. No guardrails in Uncompaghre Gorge because they would impede snowplowing.
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July 9th: Uncompaghre Gorge, looking up from the car window.
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The mountain(s) for which, presumably, Red Mountain Pass is named. The colors are caused by minerals in the rocks.

An evening along the dirt streets of Silverton.

Inside the "Bent Elbow", once a saloon and brothel, now a restaurant and hotel catering mostly to train passengers.
The food was pretty good, but we barely saw any hotel staff, let alone the proprietors

All aboard the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad!

The "high line". By far the most impressive and expensive-to-build part of the trip up to Silverton.
Rumor has it that this part of the track cost $1000 per foot.(Click the image for a larger version)

A closer look.

Along the Animas River. This view is typical of the last half of the trip.
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In Silverton...an arriving train (#482) just in, and another ready to carry a load of tourists back to Durango.
Most passengers do the round trip, but for us, one way was plenty. We took the bus to Durango, then
rode the train back to Silverton. If you ride both ways, you only have about 2 and a quarter hours
in town, and you need to use half of that time for lunch.

At the end of the tracks, Silverton.

A maintenance check.

The road to Ouray. No guardrails. Yikes.

Ouray (pronounced "you Ray")

Typical Silverton dirt street. There was only one paved road...the main highway.

Along highway 550 between Silverton and Durango. The West Needle Mountains are in the distance.
The San Juans are Colorado's youngest and most rugged mountains.
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Some of Colorado's hardest igneous rocks are found in the San Juans.

The town of Silverton. If you have sharp eyes, you may spot a train arriving in town.

Just for the tourists.