Colorado landscapes: Silverton - train depot

 

The next stop on our recent Colorado trip was the area of Silverton. We stayed at a wonderful campsite, just a few minutes away from town and surrounded by high mountains. With 2,836m (9,305 ft) Silverton is one of the highest towns in the United States. It is a former mining camp but has no longer active mining. We had our car but you can reach the town also from Durango, Colorado by a train of the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a National Historic Landmark.

You can’t resist the charm of this old mining town, especially around the train depot, where we went the first evening after our arrival…

Colorado landscapes: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad

 

If you are a railroad buff and like especially steam locomotives and historic railroads, Colorado is definitely the place to go for.

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad (C&TS) is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge heritage railroad running between Chama, New Mexico and Antonito, Colorado. It runs over 10,015 ft (3,053 m) Cumbres Pass and through Toltec Gorge, from which it takes its name. Trains operate from both endpoints and meet at the midpoint. Today, the railroad is now the highest narrow gauge steam railroad in the United States. (source: Wikipedia)

During the trip from the Great Sand Dunes to our next destination we followed partly this railroad between Antonito, CO and Charma in New Mexico. Right at the moment when we reached Cumbres Pass the train left the station and gave us just a few seconds to make a couple clicks.