As was covered a few posts back, I (Craig) am a long time rail fan. I’ve loved most anything on rails for about 62 of my 63 years. Passenger or freight, diesel or steam or even trolleys, standard or narrow gauge (just 3 feet between the rails so as to be more flexible and less expensive to build), I love them all. As Edna St. Vincent Millay once said, “There isn’t a train I wouldn’t take, no matter where it’s going.” On the subject of narrow gauge steam trains, we closed out our five week tour of northern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado with rides on two different narrow gauge steam railroads. All aboard!

Our first trip was on the Durango & Silverton, an 1881 branch of the Denver & Rio Grande railroad constructed to haul silver and other precious metals from remote mines in the mountains. This branch has been in continuous operation since then, but became a mostly passenger operation in the 60’s and 70’s. I had originally booked tickets in an open car, the Silver Vista, with a glass roof to most fully enjoy the amazing scenery. But after discussing it with my much wiser wife and realizing how chilly Silverton (elevation 9,318) might be, we changed our seats to an 1880 built parlor car. The Alamosa, complete with its own private bar and bartender, turned out to be a much nicer experience. The car also gave us exclusive access to the train’s open rear platform, which is a fantastic place from which to watch the world roll slowly by.

A few days later we moved on to Chama, NM to ride another vintage railroad, the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic. Like the Durango & Silverton, the route was originally part of the same D&RG narrow gauge system. This line once connected Alamosa and Durango, and was saved from extinction by the states of Colorado and New Mexico in 1970. The twisting grade crosses the state line 11 times! Making this trip even more enjoyable, Durango friends Jim and Cindi came down to join us and brought along another couple we’d met through them. The weather was perfect, the scenery outstanding, and the company wonderful.

Needless to say, this last part of our trip was amazing for me. Roswell is doing better as we continue to spend time on Liscia, being thankful that we’re not moving from place to place nearly as often and enjoying more pillow forts and hideouts. Even non rail fan Niki had a good time, topped off by finding some amazing and unique jewelry in Silverton. Astorite is named for the original mine owner John Jacob Aster (yup, the one you know from the Titanic disaster). This mostly pink rock is only found in the mountains of southwest Colorado, and as you can see can be turned into some very nice jewelry. Happy wife, happy life!

After our time in Chama we headed back into Colorado and towards home. Still, the adventures of Team Joy Girl were not over, but that’s a story for another post, one soon to follow and written by Niki. Until then…