Can anyone offer any recommendations. My wife and I will be going to Colorado and Las Vegas most likely for one week this summer, and I have only been granted 3 railroads to visit.

Right now my list includes;

Durengo and Silverton
Cumbers and Toltec

The 3rd one is where I am having a great deal of trouble deciding on. Personally I would like to visit all of the major ones while out there but how do I prioritize. Please lets try to avoid any diseasel powered railroads and keep this steam only!

Is it worth during the Vegas leg of the trip heading up to the Nevada Northern or would some of the other railroads in Colorado be just as good if not better?

Denver, the CRRM & the Coors tour,
Georgetown loop, Idaho Springs; C&S #60, & the "Buffalo Bar" for dinner.
If you have more days, drive to Alamosa, then to Chama and/or Durango.

Adam,

One week only...the C&T and Durango will eat up 2 days min. more if you are not rushing yourselves. One day driving from Denver, and one day back to Denver, not much time left!

I'd hit the CRRM for sure(and personally I'd skip the Coors tour, you can tour a modern brewery anywhere). On the way go thru Gunnison, check out the museum there and be sure and see the Black Canyon, to my mind the most spectacular scenery of the entire west. The fact that the Rio Grande ran right thru it makes it even better.

In Durango there are a lot of places to stay, but if you want to make the wife(and yourself) happy this place is fantastic:
http://www.bluelakeranch.com/
Its not too far from Durango. Your bonus is you can trace the RGS line out of Durango.

Not Railroad related but if I were there I would not miss Mesa Verde, bonus again is you can see a lot of the old RGS on the way there!

As for the NN...that is a lot of driving, well worth seeing, but its almost like a whole other trip, there is so much in CO and NM that if I had a week I think I'd just stay there. I did this trip 2 years ago and we had 10 days and I felt rushed.

Whatever you do, it will be a great trip, nothing like it!

Start in Denver at the Colorado Rail Museum in Golden or do Georgetown loop. You can then drive over on I-70 west to Copper Mountain south on 91 thru Climax into Leadville where you pick up 24 then on south on 285 to 17 and into Alamosa. Lots of beautiful mountain scenes and the roads are good. You can stay in Alamosa and get up early the next day and go to Chama. Train leaves Chama at 10am. Ride out of Chama it is up a 4% grade. If you can go all the way over to Antinito and take the bus back into Chama, 65 miles of steam narrow Gage at it's best. You can stay the night in Chama "Vista Del Rio clean nice" or you can drive on to Durango. It is a 1 1/2 HR drive. To be honest if you have not do one skip the ride in Durango, the experience on the CATS in Chama and on the railroad is worth it. Feel free to msg me if you have questions.

I dared not say it but since someone else did...Durango is fantastic, but if I did have to skip one that would be the one I'd skip. With the exception of if Eureka and the 315 are there running, then you'd have to go!

Plus one on the Vista del Rio no frills, but clean and close

I agree with the consensus, CRRM is a must. Ride the C&T and D&S. Worth every second of it. Skip Las Vegas because it has no redeeming qualities and ride the Zephyr Denver --> Grand Junction --> Denver instead. Stand up for your railfan rights!!! (-:

Bad news: You aren't planning enough time to take it all in. However, for that "third day, best bang for the buck" I would recommend driving the San Juan Skyway. That will allow a day trip out of Durango which can include the following: photos of D&S trains in, or on their way to, Silverton, Million Dollar Highway glimpses of many railroad right-of-ways, Ouray, Ridgway, Telluride, Trout Lake (don't miss the RGS water tank still standing), Lizard Head Pass, Rico, and Delores (and you can add a slightly out-of-the-way trip to the tourist trap of Four Corners.) You will experience unbelievable mountain scenery along the Skyway "loop." Either all of the above, or Rio Grande Scenic out of Alamosa with a visit to Great Sand Dunes National Park.

http://www.coloradodot.info/travel/scenic-byways/southwest/san-juan-skyway

http://www.visittelluride.com/sites/default/files/San%20Juan%20Skyway_0.pdf

In 1996, my family made the pilgrimage to the Four Corners region. In nine days, we rode Durango & Silverton and Cumbres & Toltec, along with visits to Canyon DeChelley, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley and the Four Corners monument. We drove "the back way" from Cortez to Ouray and Silverton, stopping at Dolores and Telluride on the way, and we had a delightful two-night stay in Silverton. We rode the train from Durango to Silverton, then took the bus back to Durango. We also drove up to Animas Forks. I rode the entire length of the C&TS from Chama to Antonito and took the bus back, while my wife and daughters did the Osier turn. We also dropped by the Red Ryder Museum in Pagosa Springs. During the entire time, we never drove more than 120 miles in a day. It's possible -- you just have to plan well.

If you get to Las Vegas check out these places:
Nevada State Railroad Museum, Boulder City

and on the way to or from Boulder City stop in Henderson at the
Clark County Museum
It has a number of neat relocated buildings and they include the Boulder City depot and there are several RR car displays.

Thanks for all the help everyone. So far I think the trip will be going to the following;
Georgetown Loop,
Colorado Railroad Museum
Durango and Silverton
Cumbers and Toltec

We will be going to the grand canyon then driving to Las Vegas but since they dropped steam screw them! At any rate just one more question, my wife has been booking some of the parts of the trip. Here's the question, on the Durango and Silverton and Cumbers and Toltec what cars are best to ride in. Is there any reason not to save money and go in the standard class cars?

What class' car is right behind the locomotive?

C&TS has an open gondola you can stand in no matter what class ticket you buy. Not enclosed with assigned seats like D&S. Standing in the gondola hearing the locomotive blast up the 4% grade is a memorable experience.

Others have mentioned this, but I want to mention it again....at the Cumbres & Toltec, ride the entire railroad. Some of the best scenery on the railroad is on the Antonito end, and is virtually inaccessible except by train.

As far as which direction to ride, it's hard to go wrong. I tend to prefer the Antonito end as you start out in the desert for the first few minutes, then climb onto the mesa, pass a couple of trees, then all of a sudden you are at the top of the gorge and run the rim for miles upon miles all the way through 2 tunnels to Osier. Then after lunch (which might just be best food served by ANY tourist railroad!), you keep climbing out of the valley to Cumbres. You miss the 70 minutes of so of 4% grade out of Chama, but you get 3/4 of the day climbing uphill at a steady 1.5% while watching the scenery slowly change from desert to high plains to mountains. The Chama end has the 4% grade for the first bit, which may well be THE highlight of the railroad and an unforgettable experience, but it's all downhill once you hit Cumbres Pass--literally.

Allow yourself some time in Chama after the train comes back in the late afternoon or early morning. Take away the modern cars in the parking lot, and it's the 1960s. The engines that operated on the railroad are still running, pulling the same cars that operated on that railroad, and the shops are basically unchanged from the Rio Grande days. In the evenings, especially if you hit it on the right day, you could get Rio Grande lettered steam engines switching freight and passenger cars well after dark. It is simply one of the coolest places in the United States, and a totally different feel from Durango. Durango & Silverton is a great example of a modern tourist railroad. Chama is the real thing, stuck in some weird time warp that has survived the passage of time.

Either way, stay over a bit the next morning and chase the train out of Chama uphill to Cumbres before heading out. The main road stays close to the tracks, and there are a bunch of great shots that you can find, and the stack talk is great and fills the entire valley even when the train is nowhere in sight. There are even "chase maps" in town that tell you where to go. Then, it's an easy drive up to Durango, and you can head up to Rockwood and catch the parade of trains back into Durango for the evening before riding the next day.

As far as other suggestions go...the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad in Alamosa has a great all-day steam excursion over La Veta Pass, which is within easy driving range from Chama/Antonito. Without spending a tremendous amount of time in the car driving towards the Denver area (Georgetown, Colorado RR Museum), or in other directions (Nevada Northern in Ely, NV or Grand Canyon RR--if steam is running), Alamosa might be the best bet.

Finally, if time permits, take some time away from the railroads. There is no shortage of great scenery in the area. There are loads of national parks to see while you are there, and southwest Colorado has some of the best scenery around.

Best of luck. You'll have a blast out there,
Kevin

Yes, the seats are assigned in the D&S open gondola, but the enclosure consists of only the roof and one small end panel. Both sides are fully open, and the seats run lengthwise facing out. I always book tickets in the open gondola for the best views of the scenery and sounds of the locomotive. The coaches are more confining and don't provide nearly the same viewing, even if you have a window seat. Also, one is free to either stand or stay seated in the gondola and still have great viewing and sounds. I've always appreciated the seating especially in the later return trip when my energy tends to wane considerably.

You didn't mention what dates you were travelling.

Grand Canyon will have steam this summer June 2, June 9th, and July 4th.

Eric

Is your wife really clear on what this involves? The roundtrip drive from Las Vegas to Georgetown is 30+ hours alone, or about 4 days out of your week just driving.

I would not attempt to go further north/east than Chama.

I believe both D&S and C&TS offer one-way options with bus return, and you might take advantage of that to pack more sites into the trip. Even better would be if you could hire someone to drive your car to the other end of the line, but I am unaware of a readily available service.

Also, not sure what your financial means are. If you can afford to fly from Las Vegas to Durango, I would just do it.

I would fly Las Vegas to Durango, rent a car for two days, then fly to Denver, spend a day, then California Zephyr to Salt Lake, then fly back to Las Vegas. You could do this in six days.