Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is one of the premier excursion railroads in the US, a celebrity if you will. They work hard at keeping that reputation and certainly deserve it. The only thing in the whole setup that might improve their operation would be to move Silverton a little closer to Durango. The seven hour round trip is a little bit too long for some. Of course you always have the option to take the bus back which shortens the day but you have to decide that when you make your reservation. Another thing to remember is that narrow gauge cars have narrow gauge seats and todays wide gauge folks don't fit too well.

All that said, it was a great trip. Luckily I checked the weather in Silverton before I left and found the high was to be about 43. I dressed warmly and was comfortable even though it SNOWED most of the time we were in Silverton. Not a serious snow, no accumulation, but unusual even for there in June. There were times when I couldn't identify a source for the snow (like no clouds) and there is a chance it was actually old snow being blown off of the nearby snowcapped peaks. Who knows.


BTW, the same company that operates the Durango and Silverton also operates the Great Smoky Mountain Railway in North Carolina. If things go as it appears they will, this company will soon take over the operation of the Texas State Railroad in Rusk/Palestine. It will be quite interesting to see what the results will be.

Durango and Silverton

Arches National Park

I have returned from the Fiery Furnace! In case you're wondering, that result was in doubt. The ranger guided hike through the Fiery Furnace is considered a "moderately strenuous" hike but if you are over 60 and overweight, it's a little more difficult. It was worth the effort however, just wish I had taken more pictures. Even if you are an experienced hiker, don't go in there, unguided, on your first visit. You will get lost! I still don't understand the exact geology that formed this maze but it works in three dimensions, not two and there are no maps. The narrow canyons keep a GPS from being useful so even backtracking with that would not help. Just go with the ranger. You do have to plan a bit to set that up however. Trips are limited to 25 people, one in the morning, one in the afternoon. You have to get your ticket in person at the visitor center, up to 7 days in advance, and they often sell out early.

BTW, back to railroading, there is a railroad close to Moab though not in it. Just North, across the Colorado river, an old spur, once abandoned has been rebuilt to carry out a pile of tailings from a shutdown uranium mine. The tailings have been there for years but will now be moved to a safer location. This will require the movement of 12 million cubic yards of material.

Fiery Furnace

Moab?

So what am I doing in Moab? No trains here, at least as far as I know. This is not exclusively at train riding trip, there are plenty of other things to see and a friend recommended Arches National Park so here I am. Tomorrow I go into the Fiery Furnace.

This will be my last stop in Utah. There are many kinds of deserts and I've seen a lot of them on this trip, in Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Each has it's own appeal and many people are very attracted to them. But I like trees ... and there aren't many trees in any kind of desert. Wednesday I head for Colorado and trees, trees, trees. Hooray! When I first started planning this trip, it was going to be confined to Colorado and the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad in northern New Mexico. But then I thought about going to SLC to do a little genealogy research and why not stop along the way to see whatever there was to see railroad wise. Anyway, it sort of grew. I'm glad I went to all those places, there are some very nice excursion railroads out there and chasing down some of these park railroads sent me places I never would have seen otherwise. But I now know a bunch of places I don't need to go back to and maybe one or two that might be worthwhile to see again, if I'm in the neighborhood.

Tooele Railroad Museum - Tooele

Hmm, notice something strange about this train? Aha, no engine. Actually, the engine was in the rear, pushing instead of pulling. Didn't ask why. Also, apparently they have a problem with the cars tipping over so, almost visible in the photo, the car in front of me had "training wheels," no pun intended. Sticking out from each side but not touching the ground was a axle with a small rubber wheel on it. If the car started tipping, due to rambunctious riders I assume, the wheel would touch the ground and stop the tip. We made it safely around with no problems.

The museum itself was quite interesting, a steam engine and several cabooses from the Tooele Valley Railroad, a depot containing tons of railroad memorabilia as well as equipment from the nearby copper mines and smelter, long closed down. A couple of stranded passenger cars contained an HO model railroad and a nice exhibit of WW II soldiering equipment. Very friendly folks also. If you're ever in Tooele, go by and visit.

Tooele Railroad Museum

S&S Shortline - Farmington, UT

I don't have much to compare the S&S Shortline to. This is really a hobby railroad that got out of hand. They are only open to the public on limited occasions, first and third Saturday of June for instance ... I was really lucky. It appeared to have started in their backyard, expanded to the front yard then to the back forty. They have two gauges of track, a round of two foot gauge that is confined to the back forty and a maze of 7 1/2 in gauge that wanders all over the property, including ducking through a tunnel and circling the owners home twice before returning to the back forty. The small gauge train was by far the most popular though not as comfortable to ride. Besides the riding trains, they have a room full of O scale trains that will start up for a quarter, a birthday party pavilion with a play ground, a small mini-golf course and some little hand powered cars on a circle of track. In general, the grounds were very well kept and attractive. They also operate a small museum/souvenir store/snack bar where I had a very economical lunch. Since S&S doesn't "fit" anywhere, it is hard to compare but this has easily been my favorite "small" railroad so far.

Midway Mystery Solved

While at the S&S Shortline railroad, I found the answer to the Missing Midway Mystery. I spotted this building parked on a trailer in the back lot so I asked the engineer of the train I was riding why it was there. The gentleman who had owned and operated the Midway Shortline Railroad had become ill and had approched the S&S shortline about buying his equipment. They accepted his offer and the Midway Shortline is no more, explaining why I couldn't find it. I didn't see any other examples of Midway equipment around the facility so I guess the change happened long enough ago to have repainted at least the rolling stock.

Hogal Zoo Train - Salt Lake City

This is the second of the zoo trains I will visit so it's inevitable that I should compare this one with the zoo and train in Phoenix. To be fair, the zoo in Phoenix is not even in Phoenix but in one of the many suburbs. But still, the zoo in Salt Lake City is so much nicer an experience it's hard not to notice. The animals are presented better, the grounds have paved walkways rather than gravel/sand/dirt and the grounds are free of litter. That said, I liked the railroad in Phoenix better.

At Hogal, the ride was were too short, the train moved too fast to really enjoy the animals you did pass and except for some bored looking American Bison and a cage of ravens, you never really saw anything you couldn't see while walking around. The Phoenix train was a much more relaxed trip through several gates that took you right into the enclosures with some of the animals. Other than the ostriches, the animals pretty much ignored the train but you were much closer to them than the folks on the viewing platforms.

BTW, I just discovered two more Zoo Trains to ride, both in Albuquerque. Actually, one is a zoo train and the other connects the zoo to the aquarium and botanical garden. There's an easy bus connection from the downtown RailRunner station to the zoo so I still won't have to take my truck into town.