Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

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After breakfast at the hotel, I headed over to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad for the highlight of the day - a 5-hour train ride aboard the Cascade Canyon Express. The train left the Durango Depot at the scheduled departure time of 9:30 am and returned at 2:30 pm, with a layover of about 45 minutes in the Cascade Canyon. There the train pulled up far enough for the wye and then backed up for the trip back to Durango.

The train of coaches and open air cars was pulled by an ALCO-K28 Class 127-ton steam locomotive (#473 built by the American Locomotive Company of Schenectady, NY) and wound its way through the streets of Durango and then gradually went higher into the canyons and mountains outside Durango and into the San Juan National Forest, alongside the path of the Animas River. During the layover, we were allowed to exit the train and explore the surrounding mountain areas and have a picnic lunch and listen to the Animas River roar by us. The views on the way out were just spectacular and the photos tell it all.




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