The Durango-Silverton train, Colorado

 This was the highlight of our trip to Colorado!  The Durango train offers a bus/train option.  That was the ride we chose and I'm glad we did.  Our adventure started with a 1-1/2 hour bus ride through mountain passes that offered amazing views of the foliage.  The dominant color is bright yellow, because of the aspens.  There are also undertones of orange and bronze.  The bus driver told us about the history of the area, pointed out some of the mansions along the way and talked about the biology of the aspens.  It was a very interesting ride.  He stopped for us to get out for pictures with a view of Twilight Mountain as a backdrop.

Then we arrived in Silverton.  The town has many restaurants.  We ate at the Lacey Rose Saloon.  It is an old silver mining town and it was interesting to walk the two main streets.  The former wealth of the town was evident in the many imposing municipal buildings.  We stopped at the Visitor's Center.  One disappointment is that we didn't have time to explore the San Juan County Historical Museum.  This museum is huge!  We quickly looked through the section about the jail.

This is town hall

    We boarded our train at 2:30.  The train follows a different path from the bus.  It runs through the valley, mostly alongside the Animas river.  It was so beautiful!  The color of the water didn't seem real!  We saw two mountain goats, deer and a flock of wild turkeys.  The ride back to Durango was about 3-1/2 hours.  The train has to sound at crossings, so the train said "Woo woo" a lot when we came into the town.  It was so fun!  Many people waved as we passed by.  Durango is a great town with lots of restaurants, galleries and shops.  You can leave your car in the parking lot until midnight and explore the town after the ride.  This is a 5-star attraction!

                                                The train from the caboose end