Colorado

Pretty much the entire gondola car -- somewhere between 30 and 40 passengers. Being an open car not far behind the steam locomotive, we got lots of ahes in our faces and all over us (it took several washings to get it off my hands) But, being very open and not very crowded, people moved about easily, the views were wonderful, and there was a lot of interaction about photography, the tracks and the train, the rivers we passed, life in general, and even national politics...Much more enjoyable than I expected.

What men do.... watch, talk, fiddle, advise..

Leaving Durango. That's the conductor for the gondola car -- friendly and very helpful, but (fortunately) not a chatty tour guide.

Probably the longest relatively straight stretch for the train, running along CO-250 and climbing into the mountains.

Coming into Rockwood Depot

So, what is holding the track in place?

Doesn't look overly sturdy, but it's held for close to 100 years.

Over the Animas river, a blowdown. The blowdown uses steam to blow water from the boiler so as to reduce the amount of impurities in the water.

Crossing the Animas River

Having been in California through five years of drought, the heavy flow of water in the Animas was quite refreshing to see.

Tank creek water tank.

Fireman, on top, topping off water in the tender; the engineer on the ground inspects and oils various parts.

Coming into Silverton, with a train using the wye to reverse direction.

Unloading in Silverton. There is a depot in Silverton, but probably due to the volume of passengers, the depot isn't used and the trains pull into a loading zone on one of the city streets.

Wandering around Silverton for a few hours -- one of the many historic buildings in some stage of remodeling/repurposing, or possibly just taking a break from being used at all.

And here I thought "Run Steep Get High" was some sort of slogan for a new Colorado mindset about combining athletic activity with getting high on marijuana. NOPE.. It turns out it is some sort of organized effort to climb the highest peeks AND is a line of clothing and accessories. See: runsteep.com

Downtown Silverton -- restaurants and bars, trinket shops, boutique hotels and hostels, 4-wheel mountain monsters, and plenty of ice cream.

Grand Imperial Hotel, completed in 1883. Per the hotel's website, when it was new it was: ".. the Crown Jewel of Silverton and quickly become the pinnacle of luxury in the Southwest"