A long way to go if we go off the rails
Clearly the tracks have to be meticulously maintained to assure the safety of passengers and crew on the Durango & Silverton railroad, but I have to say that we noticed a huge amount of maintenance "litter" along the way. There were tools, a random array of mostly unidentifiable steel components of rails and trains, and of course, the ubiquitous plastic water bottles left behind by rail workers.
I was told that replaced rails have often been re-purposed to construct very strong retaining structures, which is what I think we're looking at here.
The 33-mile, nearly 4-hour vintage train ride from Durango to Silverton, Colorado, is a justly popular tourist treat. I can certainly recommend making the trip in the fall. Ours was a rainy day, but the damp seemed only to enhance the richness of the foliage and the views of the copper-celadon colored Animas River next to us.
The color of the river, just visible here - as someone pointed out, that of the Statue of Liberty - reflects naturally occurring copper in the river.
One caveat: the train ride was slow, but not even close to smooth anywhere, at any point, while moving along the way. So I beg your indulgence for any and all photos taken en route that are slightly blurry in spite of my best settings and best efforts to snap fast.
A long way to go if we go off the rails
Clearly the tracks have to be meticulously maintained to assure the safety of passengers and crew on the Durango & Silverton railroad, but I have to say that we noticed a huge amount of maintenance "litter" along the way. There were tools, a random array of mostly unidentifiable steel components of rails and trains, and of course, the ubiquitous plastic water bottles left behind by rail workers.
I was told that replaced rails have often been re-purposed to construct very strong retaining structures, which is what I think we're looking at here.
The 33-mile, nearly 4-hour vintage train ride from Durango to Silverton, Colorado, is a justly popular tourist treat. I can certainly recommend making the trip in the fall. Ours was a rainy day, but the damp seemed only to enhance the richness of the foliage and the views of the copper-celadon colored Animas River next to us.
The color of the river, just visible here - as someone pointed out, that of the Statue of Liberty - reflects naturally occurring copper in the river.
One caveat: the train ride was slow, but not even close to smooth anywhere, at any point, while moving along the way. So I beg your indulgence for any and all photos taken en route that are slightly blurry in spite of my best settings and best efforts to snap fast.