If you love old steam locomotives… then this Post is for you! Around our country are still several old railroads… working steam locomotives… relics from our country’s early days when the Railroads represented far horizons beyond one’s village limit. A steam train’s whistle would bring village kids running to the train station, to see the huge behemoth of metal… belching smoke, huffing and puffing its way thru town on its way to the next town.
In the Rocky Mountains a special type of Steam Locomotive was adopted, one that was well adapted to traversing the mountains, valleys, and canyons… These were called “Narrow Gage” Railroads – large RR equipment running on a less wider track than the Standard Gage 4ft, 8.5 inches, in these cases, tracks are about 3ft, 6 inches in width. One such of these Narrow Gage Railroads is still in service… the Durango & Silverton Railroad. This RR has been in continuous use for over 131 years… was used in the filming of the 1969 movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”… and still hauls freight & passengers between Durango (Elevation 6,512 ft), and Silverton (Elevation 9,308 ft). Its main path is thru the Animas River Valley, famous for its fishing and hiking.
Alice and I recently spent the night in Durango while on a Colorado road trip to visit friends… I got up early the next morning to go see the Trains depart – Here are a few of the pictures in the Slideshow below.
Great pictures Jim! Can almost hear the whistle. Jim Petelle’s oldest son is getting married this weekend in Louisville ,Ky and we are going to wedding. I will relay your latest travel experience. Wishing I was there, Bob
Thanks, Bob. Be sure and extend my high regards to Jim for me… Getting a new Daughter-in-Law would be a great experience! (I’ve had none, yet).
These steam trains really do give me goosebumps when they “blow their Whistles”. During the Summer months, when there are many departures/arrivals, I can set and watch the engine work for hours. Interestingly… the coal they burn is from a few miles up the road… from a part of Colorado that has relatively ‘clean’ coal that burns with a low-sulfur emission. According to one of the Yard Men, the coal is so good that they can toss it in the coal car ‘pretty dirty’, meaning roots, rocks, dirt… in addition to the good coal. Seems to work.
Jim