Here is a question for all.

I will be going on vacation this summer to Colorado. Which train ride would you take if you could only do one? Durango & Silverton or Chama?

I have 2 kids - a 12 year old girl and a 9 year old boy who will be riding also along with the wife. Also to consider, is taking a round trip or one-way or a half trip if available.

We have done other train rides in Colordo in the past.

Thanks,
Greg in Houston

Do to your family considerations I would do the C&TS. i believe that have half day trips this year and they have that wonderful dining hall for lunch in the middle of the trip.

Do not forget to walk around the Chama yard with all that equipment on display.

ted Miles

Hi,

The D&SNGRR will get you to Silverton, an old mining town, by lunch and back to Durango by bus by mid afternoon. Durango is a modern town with motels, downtown hotels, restaurants, stores, etc.

The CATSRR is a nice trip with lunch in the boonies, albeit a great spot, and, if you go to Osier, you will not be back to Chama, a very small town, until late afternoon.

One or both may have shorter trips running (Cascade Wye?/Cumbres Pass?) during your visit, so check out their websites.

Enjoy your trip, Roger

If you stay at one of the places north of Durango they can arrange to have the D&S pick you up at Rockwood, which is just before the "good" scenery starts. By doing this you can get on the train around 9:30 or so and get back around 3 in the afternoon.

I'm going to go against the majority for this one. I suggest you look at the Canon City and Royal Gorge. Try the lunch train - great food, great scenery, and great service.

Just to add to the mix...The San Luis / Rio Grande Scenic from Alamosa is std guage, but a great ride. They have the new Alaska RR Domes this year and I think they will be running steam 7 days a week.. They will also be running from LaVeta this year. Alamosa has plenty of Hotels, etc. LaVeta is a quaint little village.

http://www.riograndescenicrailroad.com

Bill

I had this same dilemma a couple years ago. So I rode the C&TS in 2006 and the DSNG in 2007. As stated by others, the DSNG is more "touristy", but still a great ride, especially in the parlor car, with beautiful scenery once you get out of Durango. You can take the bus return from Silverton which makes a shorter day. We rode the train R/T 9:00am - 6:00pm. Plenty of hotels, resturaunts, etc in Durango.

The C&TS is much more like real railroading with many original buildings and RR fixtures still in place along the line. Beautiful scenery,also, although different. If you take the thru trip Antonito/Chama or Chama/Antonito and ride back on the bus it's like an 8am - 430pm day, that inlcudes the hour lunch in Osier (Good food!). Both Chama & Antonito have limited lodging. Don't expect anything fancy. We stayed at the Narrow Guage Inn in Antonito. Wasn't fancy, but found it clean and friendly.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you want the real RR experience do the C&TS and save the DSNG for another time.

Bill

C&TS all the way.

And the Shamrock Hotel (called such back in 2000) is a great vintage aspect in and of itself.....and its right up the hill from the railroad with porches looking down onto the yard.

You can literally hear, see and sleep a steam railroad at the C&T.

To me, a major difference is the scenery.  D&SNG has the "high line" section that is pretty spectacular, but fairly short.  Otherwise the views are rather limited.  You are in the bottom of a very steep, spectacular canyon, alongside a nice rushing river, but you can't see for a very long distance because of all the nice green vegetation.  (Being from southern California, anything green and/or with a rushing river is pretty nice!)

But, C&TS climbs about 2,000 ft to Cumbres Pass, and you get out of the trees and have views to "forever."  Very spectacular views from "Windy Point" down to Chama, and at Toltec Gorge, about 1,000 ft from the track straight down to the bottom.I spent a week  or two each year 2003, '04 & '05, volunteering as a docent at C&TS, so I have a little experience with the run. 

If you go Chama to Antonito, you will have the experience of the locomotive (s) working very hard up the 4% grade to Cumbres Pass.  Good probablility of it being double-headed.  That takes the first couple of hours, and 12 of the 60 miles to Antonito.  The remainder of the trip the engine will be mostly drifting, so not too much chug-chug.  The last hour into Antonito is rather boring, by comparison, lots of people are asleep.  Wide open high desert terrain.

If you leave from Antonito, the engine will be working pretty hard about all the way to Cumbres Pass.  The desert part is not boring, because of the excitement of being on the train in the first place.  Lots of brake smoke on the drop down from Cumbrres Pass to Chama.  Personally, I preferred this direction. The great views tend to keep people more awake.

I'd recommend going all the way from one end to the other, since the time saved isn't all that much, and the scenery is quite different on the two halves of the trip (Cumbres Pass is west of Osier, the lunch/turn-around spot, and Toltec Gorge is east of Osier.)