Leadville, Colorado and Southern

The Leadville, Colorado and Southern has a kind of homemade feel about it. All six of the passenger cars were built up from flatcars. They all have seats facing out on each side of the train with an aisle down the middle but since there's not much to see but trees on the east side of the train, half the seats don't get much use. All of the cars have waist high sides but four of them also have roofs. Two of the roofed cars have been enclosed by adding standard aluminum house type horizontal slider windows. I didn't check to see if the glass was FRA approved shatter proof glass but I doubt it. This railroad has no connection to any other rails and doesn't cross any state borders so perhaps FRA rules don't apply. Oh and did I mention the concession/latrine car made from an old boxcar.

The trip starts off a little boring as we back out of the station, with nothing to see but pine trees on both sides. Soon however, as we gained altitude, the valley containing the East Fork of the Arkansas River appears through the trees and eventually is visible north and south. In particular, looking south, there is a great vista of snow capped mountains out the end of the valley. The train reaches end of track just short of Climax and then returns a short distance to an old water tank left over from the steam days of the Colorado and Southern. The train stops and everyone is given a chance to get off and visit the locomotive or the caboose. After 20 minutes, the train proceeds back to Leadville at a much brisker pace than it came up the mountain. It was July but we were at 11,000 feet and the jacket I debated bringing was almost not enough when it started raining. I swear I saw some snowflakes mixed in with the rain.