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Tracking the trains in Colorado
By Linda DuVal, Special to the Times
Published May 29, 2007
GEORGETOWN, Colo. - As the steam engine fires up, there's a faint rumble and a quivering along the train cars. Then, for an hour or a day, riders on Colorado's historic trains can know what it was like to travel not long after the frontier was closed.
The experience is little different today from when Verona Chappel Zimmerman, 88, rode these trains as a young girl. Zimmerman, who lived in these mountains, recalls her first ride: She was 5 and by herself when she was put in the care of the train crew for her trip to Denver, for a visit with relatives.
"It's one of my earliest memories, " she says.
Residents of Silver Plume and Georgetown waited eagerly for the train's arrival every day, she recalls. It brought mail, newspapers and supplies to town.
Zimmerman is thrilled to see so many riders on the train on this recent day. She spots a young child wandering up and down the car, peeking out windows.
"I hope she remembers this when she grows up, " Zimmerman says.
Despite her nostalgia, Zimmerman recoils when a plume of smoke puffs through the window next to her.
"Oh, yes, that's the only bad part, " she says, laughing and waving her hand in front of her face. "I never did like the smoke."
The Georgetown Loop, acquired in 1959 by the Colorado Historical Society, once served miners and their families. Today, tourists get to recapture that experience in the 75-minute round trip.
Riders can choose from open gondola cars or covered cars with bench seats. For those who have never ridden a historic train, this is a good one: The short trip between Silver Plume and Georgetown will help you understand if this is something to explore further.
An optional stop along the way lets riders off to tour the fascinating Lebanon Silver Mine.
At the midway point, the train loops around the high curved trestle that gives the train its name; photographers can snap the train's picture. On the return trip, the restored Engine No. 9 forges like a workhorse up the last grade as it chugs into the Silver Plume station.
Here are a few other historic trains worth riding:
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad
This train runs from southern Colorado into northern New Mexico. It's a rocking, rolling all-day affair, with a stop for lunch.
Though the seats are basically padded benches, true train buffs will be in heaven. Others may feel this journey is a tad too long.
The train leaves the little town of Antonito, Colo., at the southern end of the San Luis Valley, at 10 a.m., chugging its way out of the depot, whistle tooting to warn any autos crossing the tracks nearby.
"And we're off . . . like a herd of turtles, " jokes the conductor as the train creaks along at 12 to 15 mph over the 64-mile stretch that wends its way through the San Juan Mountains.
Though the ride begins on a flat, high plain, walking through the car requires lots of grabbing at seat backs. Past sagebrush, outcroppings of rock crusted with colorful lichen, and pinon trees, the train rolls along with views of Blanca Peak to the north.
After about an hour, the grade gets steeper and the landscape changes to aspens, blue spruce, ponderosa and lodgepole pines.
Riders tend to be older couples, many of whom say they rode trains as primary transportation in their younger days. Because of the rocking motion, the confinement and the length of the ride, this isn't really a good trip for youngsters.
Like most of these sightseeing trains, this railroad has a colorful history. In 1869, regular-gauge track was laid south from Alamosa to Antonito, but the route through the mountains was too difficult for that size track, so a narrow-gauge line was laid by the Denver & Rio Grande company from Antonito to Chama, N.M., to serve mining camps. Later, the train served the gas and oil industry.
When the owners declared bankruptcy in the 1960s, the abandoned tracks would have been torn up if not for a group of concerned residents.
Today, the train is managed by the CNTS Management Corp., under the auspices of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Commission. Volunteers support the operation with fundraising and act as onboard hosts.
As the train ascends Cumbres Pass, the engine belches black smoke, which photographs nicely against puffy white clouds in the postcard-blue sky.
Just before the ghost town of Sublette, where the train stops for water, the terrain turns to the dramatic. High walls flank one side of the track, deep canyons the other.
The need for the narrow-gauge track becomes obvious.
Passengers have options on this trip: Ride from Antonito to Chama and take a company-provided bus back. Or ride one way one day, spend the night and ride the train back the next day.
Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
Arguably Colorado's most famous train ride, this one takes visitors from the cowboy town of Durango, in the southwestern Four Corners area of the state, up to the old mountain mining town of Silverton.
It's an all-day trip, with scenery varying from rushing streams to high rock outcrops.
It can be a dirty ride if you want to sit in an open gondola, so wear old clothes. (Burning coal to make steam creates cinders.) Dress in layers, because even if the day is warm in Durango it can get quite brisk in the mountains, especially if you're in an open car.
If all this sounds daunting, just ride in an enclosed coach.
The town of Durango was founded in 1879 by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, which then established the D&SNGRR route in 1881 to bring silver and gold from the San Juans to the main line.
The route has been operating continuously since, because even when the minerals played out, passengers continued to enjoy the views. Scenic tours were offered as early as 1882.
A number of movies have been filmed in part on or around the train, including How the West Was Won, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Prestige.
There's a two-hour lunch and shopping stop in Silverton.
The D&SNGRR has the most variety when it comes to special train events, including Thomas the Tank Engine and Polar Express events for families with kids, festive holiday runs and the annual weeklong Railfest celebration each August.
San Luis Express
Soon after this train pulls out of Alamosa, in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado, we're blasting across the countryside at a wild 35 mph. If you think that's slow, try doing it on a steam train. It was the bullet train of its era.
Soon, stately Mount Blanca looms to the north. Then, passengers crowd to the south-facing side of the cars to ogle a herd of 50 or 60 elk grazing along a stream.
It's not unusual to spot wildlife on this three-hour ride over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains into the town of La Veta. In the short time the train has been running - 2006 was its first season - passengers have spied bears, elk, wild turkey and a slew of other animals.
In late summer, the floor of the San Luis Valley is covered with drying grasses and brilliant yellow blooms of rabbit brush. The train slows to pass through Fort Garland, then the tracks veer into the mountains. This is the only route that crosses the Sangre de Cristo range.
With the rise in elevation, the tracks pass through tall stands of aspen mixed with evergreens. This makes a beautiful contrast come fall, when the aspens turn gold. At times, the rock walls are nearly close enough to touch but the vistas also open into broad alpine meadows dotted with purple asters and sunflowers.
Eventually, the train enters La Veta, where passengers grab a bite of lunch and wander the art galleries, gift shops and the Fort Francisco Museum. About two hours after we arrive, the train whistle beckons us for the return trip to Alamosa.
It makes for a full day, but passengers relive train travel as it was a century ago.
Leadville Colorado & Southern Railroad
On a glorious June morning, the Leadville Colorado & Southern Railroad gently chugs out of the Leadville station. It goes in reverse 11 miles to the Climax Molybdenum Mine, through stands of aspens and conifers, past wildflowers such as red-orange Indian paintbrush and purple columbines, past a river valley off the west side of the tracks.
In the distance, Colorado's highest peak - Mount Elbert, at 14, 435 feet - looms majestic, snow crowning its peak. Off to the left is the state's second highest mountain, Mount Massive.
Conductors draw attention to each, as well as the Rocky Mountain flora, as we pass the mile markers. At 11 mph, passengers in both the open and covered cars can easily see it all.
The line lost its value as a freight train when the price of molybdenum plunged in 1986. That year, Stephanie and Kenneth Olsen bought rails, engines, cars and all - for $10.
This diesel engine doesn't draw die-hard train buffs like the steam engines of other historic lines, but casual riders find the trip both comfortable and fascinating.
Linda DuVal is a freelance writer in Colorado Springs.
For more information on these trains:
Georgetown Loop: Toll-free 1-888-456-6777, www.george townlooprr.com.
Cumbres & Toltec: Toll-free 1-888-286-2737, www.cumbrestoltec.com.
Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge: Toll-free 1-888-872-7246, www.durangotrain.com.
San Luis Express: www.alamosatrain.com.
Leadville Colorado & Southern Railroad: (719) 486-3936, www.leadville-train.com.
[Last modified May 28, 2007, 14:01:29]
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