Colorado 2017

June 19th to June 30th, 2017: Eleven days total. Drove to Colorado. First, took a stroll through downtown cultural area of Denver. Visited the Colorado Railroad Museum on the west side of Denver. Then headed for the mountains and point west. Rode 6 1/2 trains (more on that later). Took in two National Parks plus one National Monument. Visited the Number 1 Colorado attraction. Even got back home a day ahead of schedule. I'm worn out just thinking about it and everything we got accomplished.

Driving to Colorado - Janet's Photos
Driving to Colorado Photos

Day 1: Denver; Railroad Museum; Georgetown Loop Railroad Canon Pics
Day 1: Denver; Railroad Museum; Georgetown Loop Railroad GoPro Pics
Day 1: Denver; Railroad Museum; Georgetown Loop Railroad iPhone Pics
Day 1: Denver; Railroad Museum; Georgetown Loop Railroad Janet iPhone Pics
Day 1: Cultural Area; Downtown Denver, Colorado 3:44 min.
Day 1: Colorado Railroad Museum; Denver, Colorado 4:57 min.
Day 1: Georgetown Loop Railroad - Part 1; Silver Plume, Colorado 4:30 min.
Day 1: Lebanon Mine Tour; Silver Plume, Colorado 7:23 min.
Day 1: Georgetown Loop Railroad - Part 2; Georgetown, Colorado 6:48 min.

Day 2: Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad; Garden of the Gods Canon Pics
Day 2: Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad; Garden of the Gods GoPro Pics
Day 2: Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad; Garden of the Gods iPhone Pics
Day 2: Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad; Garden of the Gods Janet's iPhone Pics
Day 2: Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad - Leadville, Colorado - Part 1 5:42 min.
Day 2: Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad - Leadville, Colorado - Part 2 6:34 min.
Day 2: Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad - Return to Leadville, Colorado - Part 3 5:37 min.
Day 2: Garden of the Gods; Manitou Springs, Colorado 4:52 min.

Day 3: Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway and Royal Gorge Route Canon Pics
Day 3: Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway and Royal Gorge Route GoPro Pics
Day 3: Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway and Royal Gorge Route iPhone Pics
Day 3: Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway and Royal Gorge Route Janet's iPhone Pics
Day 3: Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway; Manitou Springs, Colorado - Part 1 6:22 min.
Day 3: Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway; Manitou Springs, Colorado - Part 2 6:02 min.
Day 3: Royal Gorge Route Railroad; Cañon City, Colorado - Part 1 5:41 min.
Day 3: Royal Gorge Route Railroad; Cañon City, Colorado - Part 2 6:58 min.

Day 4: On the road to Durango including the Royal Gorge Bridge and Chimney Rock National Monument Canon Pics
Day 4: On the road to Durango including the Royal Gorge Bridge and Chimney Rock National Monument GoPro Pics
Day 4: On the road to Durango including the Royal Gorge Bridge and Chimney Rock National Monument iPhone Pics
Day 4: On the road to Durango including the Royal Gorge Bridge and Chimney Rock National Monument Janet's iPhone Pics
Day 4: Royal Gorge Bridge; on the way to Durango. 5:01 min.
Day 4: Chimney Rock National Monument - Part 1; on the way to Durango. 5:40 min.
Day 4: Chimney Rock National Monument - Part 2; on the way to Durango. 5:44 min.

Day 5: Durango & Silverton Canon Pics
Day 5: Durango & Silverton GoPro Pics
Day 5: Durango & Silverton iPhone Pics
Day 5: Durango & Silverton Janet's iPhone Pics
Day 5: Durango & Silverton Railroad - Part 1 6:06 min.
Day 5: Durango & Silverton Railroad - Part 2 5:42 min.
Day 5: Durango & Silverton Railroad - Part 3 "The Highline" 6:03 min.
Day 5: Durango & Silverton Railroad - Part 4 "Following the Animas River" 6:07 min.
Day 5: Durango & Silverton Railroad - Part 5 "Flagging kits explained" 8:19 min.
Day 5: Durango & Silverton Railroad - Part 6 "From Silverton and return run" 4:22 min.

Day 6: Mesa Verde National Park Canon Pics
Day 6: Mesa Verde National Park GoPro Pics
Day 6: Mesa Verde National Park iPhone Pics
Day 6: Mesa Verde National Park Janet's iPhone Pics
Day 6: Mesa Verde National Park - Part 1 4:35 min.
Day 6: Mesa Verde National Park - Part 2 4:59 min.

Day 7: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Canon Pics
Day 7: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad GoPro Pics
Day 7: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Janet's iPad Pics
Day 7: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Janet's iPhone Pics
Day 7: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad - Part 1 "Chama, New Mexico train yard" 10:17 min.
Day 7: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad - Part 2 "5-minute Warning" 7:01 min.
Day 7: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad - Part 3 "Indiana Jones and the Labato trestle" 6:53 min.
Day 7: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad - Part 4 "Cumbres Pass & Cascade trestle" 6:49 min.
Day 7: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad - Part 5 "Stop at Osier for lunch" 4:39 min.
Day 7: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad - Part 6 "Toltec Gorge" 9:48 min.

Okay, this is the infamous 1/2 train ride that I referred to in the beginning of this narrative. It was supposed to be a relaxing train ride from Alamosa to LaVeta via the beautiful San Luis Valley and back again. But we experienced a track problem that, to say the least, could have been a lot worse. Our engineer, Donovan, was truly frightened. It had been really hot in Colorado for several days, so possibly that was a contributing if not causal factor, but a section of the track high on the side of a valley about ten miles outside of LaVeta had experienced a "Sun Kink" sometime before our day's run. This is where the 120 lb. rails move abruptly out of alignment caused by the heat and subsequent expansion of the rails. Obviously, 200-ton locomotives don't appreciate this, nor do engineers like seeing this immediately out front their cab windows. Thankfully, we were not traveling very fast at the time. Brakes were applied, but it still takes a heavy locomotive time and distance to stop. In our case, a couple of car lengths. Luckily, nothing derailed! Of course Donovan didn't want to budge another inch without the Maintenance of Way engineers saying it was OK, which took an hour at least for them to get to our train. We decided to have lunch in the dining car which was sitting over the problem area. Finally, all the passengers and crew were moved to the front open-air car in anticipation of trying to move the entire train very, very slowly over the warped trackage section, which happened. Then we rode on to our stop in LaVeta. We waited some more to see if by some miracle the track could be repaired for our scheduled return to Alamosa. After awhile, everyone realized this wasn't going to happen. So other ground transportation had be arranged. After some more time, the powers-that-be came up with a kid's school bus. Don't get me wrong, by this time we were happy to see anything that had four wheels. But this particular bus had major problems of its own and we finally limped into Alamosa about 2 hours late going about 10 miles per hour. To say the least, this overally experience was a big disappointment, but again, it could have been a whole lot worse. The numerous loose rail spikes lying around (maybe, part of the problem?? Don't know. Just sayin'), made for some great souvenirs.

Day 8: San Luis & Rio Grande Scenic Railway Canon Pics
Day 8: San Luis & Rio Grande Scenic Railway GoPro Pics
Day 8: San Luis & Rio Grande Scenic Railway Janet's iPad Pics
Day 8: San Luis & Rio Grande Scenic Railway Janet's iPhone Pics
Day 8: San Luis & Rio Grande Railway - Part 1 "High Desert" 6:26 min.
Day 8: San Luis & Rio Grande Railway - Part 2 "San Luis Valley -- Sun Kink" 6:58 min.

Day 9: Great Sand Dunes National Park Canon Pics
Day 9: Great Sand Dunes National Park GoPro Pics
Day 9: Great Sand Dunes National Park Janet's iPhone Pics
Day 9: Great Sand Dunes National Park" 3:29 min.

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