Bargain Travel West guide to unique destinations, sight-seeing, history and culture,
budget travel vacation ideas for the independent traveler in the U.S. Canada
and Caribbean.
Travel Bargain destination Colorado:
DURANGO AND SILVERTON RAILROAD
Scenic Ride on Colorado’s famed Steam Train
“Think
you used enough dynamite, there Butch?” The line
was delivered by Robert Redford to Paul Newman after blowing up a mail
coach car of Mr. E. H. Harriman’s Union Pacific Railroad in “Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, but the railroad train in the movie
was actually the Durango and Silverton which runs through Colorado’s
San Juan Mountains, originally a branch of the Denver & Rio Grande
Railroad. Originally built
to carry gold and silver ore the line from Durango to Silverton was completed
in
1882. And even
since it’s beginning
the line was promoted for its scenic gold as well as the precious metal.
When the gold and silver ran out, the line remained for passenger travel and has been a Colorado tourist attraction since the turn of the last century. The railroad became a pure passenger line in the 1950’s and today the train carries 200,000 passengers every year on its winding path following the Animas River through tree covered slopes and grassy plains and has been a popular prop for movies since the golden age of Hollywood.
The
current operating steam locomotive was built in 1923 and serves
almost daily duty. The cars
in use date
back to the earliest days of
the railroad and there are rail and mining history museums at both ends
of the track in Silverton and Durango. The train ride beginning in Durango
to Silverton and back takes 3 ½ hours, with about a 2 hour stopover
in Silverton before making the return journey, traveling at an average
speed of about 18 miles an hour. Spend time visiting the old west town
of Silverton, and the Silverton Freight Yard Museum in located at the
Silverton depot. Admission is included in the train ride fare. The Durango & Silverton
Narrow Guage Railroan Museum in Durango at the south end of the roundhouse.
Admission is good for two days prior to or two days following the train
ride.
The train’s coaches are enclosed while Gondolas have open sides and all seating is pre-assigned, though you can walk through the train cars while on the track and there is a consession car in the center of the train for snacks. Prices for the trip range from $45 to $75 for adults depending on season and route package, up to $149 for the Presidential Class Parlor Car. You can choose between train both ways or steam train ride one way and bus ride the other for a faster return at a smal addition cost, except for the premium packages.
For movie buffs, the train has been used in a number of familiar western films since 1949. Colorado Territory (1949), Ticket to Tomahawk (1950), Denver & Rio Grande (1952), Viva Zapata (1952), Three Young Texans (1954), Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Night Passage (1957), How the West Was Won (1963), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Support Your Local Gunfighter (1970), The Tracker (1987), The Claim (2000), and The Prestige (2006). © Bargain Travel West
Find Hotel Deals in Durango
Direct
Website:
Durango & Silverton
NGRR
These articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel West and WLEV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission. Photos Courtesy D&SNGRR.
See these other articles on Bargain Travel West:
Destinations California:
JAMESTOWN MOVIE STEAM TRAIN
California Gold Country Movie History
ORANGE
EMPIRE RAIL MUSEUM
Living history for railroad buffs
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