BRHSLIST
[Top] [All Lists]

[CBQ] Re: Visiting Colorado

To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [CBQ] Re: Visiting Colorado
From: "Jonathan Harris" <jonathanharris@earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 11 May 2012 05:15:37 -0000
Delivered-to: unknown
Delivered-to: archives@nauer.org
Delivered-to: mailing list CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Dkim-signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=yahoogroups.com; s=lima; t=1336713339; bh=ba+7/QOxrtDVSrY1ks6LyaWWf4F6cglRmQl38Jip+qs=; h=Received:Received:X-Yahoo-Newman-Id:X-Sender:X-Apparently-To:X-Received:X-Received:X-Received:X-Received:X-Received:To:Message-ID:In-Reply-To:User-Agent:X-Mailer:X-Originating-IP:X-eGroups-Msg-Info:X-Yahoo-Post-IP:From:X-Yahoo-Profile:Sender:MIME-Version:Mailing-List:Delivered-To:List-Id:Precedence:List-Unsubscribe:Date:Subject:Reply-To:X-Yahoo-Newman-Property:Content-Type:Content-Transfer-Encoding; b=mnqsNQH6pvcIjqD+aoU6oT3Emq1k8y9B7qdXXppbe7MvafbrEP6jZ0fijOYaBnccJNX2lNx93VLTKQkqY9NnkP3i5r4bg4TPFvcap0S6YxrrxLj/SUiQ6oBXDV6MytRf
Domainkey-signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=lima; d=yahoogroups.com; b=NEd6z6DNfUVLWhB249ySNTEIrqTjKODR0aXrggu+pR3+37uyWXDKPjpbEenQFygUGj7NEXK0imTYju56AR5qaApNmT8R1JUUwXBRuKsoGH43G5HJxFHItMmxc4OCWv+X;
In-reply-to: <jogu39+u8nv@eGroups.com>
List-id: <CBQ.yahoogroups.com>
List-unsubscribe: <mailto:CBQ-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com>
Mailing-list: list CBQ@yahoogroups.com; contact CBQ-owner@yahoogroups.com
Reply-to: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Sender: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
User-agent: eGroups-EW/0.82
Ray - 

The amount of RR stuff to see in Colorado is so vast, I'll just confine this to 
the D&S vs. CATS question. 

I've ridden them both several times, going back to 1960. For spectacular 
scenery, the D&S wins hands down, especially in September, when the aspen at 
higher elevations should be gorgeous. It's also less likely to be rainy then 
(which the western San Juans often are during  the summer 'monsoon,' July and 
August). Silverton is a neat old town with lots of historic buildings, but very 
touristy and commercial. Same for Durango, but much bigger. And the first third 
of the trip, out of Durango, is pretty developed now (when I rode the train 
first in 1960, it was all open country). 

What argues for CATS is the remoteness and mellowness of it all. Practically 
the whole  64-mile route is away from roads and civilization, so you feel much 
more what it would have been like 100 years ago.  Chama is a quiet little place 
with a number of great Bed & Breakfasts within walking distance of the yards 
(practically everything in Chama is within walking distance of the yards). I 
can't remember the B&B where we stayed, but it was wonderful, clean, very nice 
common room with fireplace, etc., great breakfast, cooked early for us because 
we had to leave. And I can still remember the trout with pinyon nuts we had a 
local eatery the night before. You can (or could) walk around the yards without 
a guide or paying any money or any restrictions. A lot of the original 
structures are still there (the RH, coal and water facilities in Durango are 
gone, and the yard is completely closed to public accers except for guided 
tours). In Chama, when we were there, the hostlers were totally friendly, 
invited my wife and me up into the cab of 463, which was under steam at the 
time, and answered all our questions. 

If you do CATS, I'd strongly recommend staying in Chama and taking the train 
east to west. It's an all-day, one-way affair. You get up early, take a 1.5-hr 
bus ride to Antonito, then spend the rest of the day working your way back to 
Chama. You can do it in the other direction, of course, and a lot of folks do 
because they want to experience the 4% climb up to the pass, but then of course 
you don't get to stay in Chama and explore the yards (and Antonito is not as 
interesting as either Chama or Durango). Moreover, you get all the spectacular 
stuff right at the beginning of the train trip and spend the rest of the day 
working your way downhill. Going east to west, you're climbing most of the trip 
and it just gets better and better. You start out in sagebrush steppe, work 
your way up through pine scrub woodlands and pine/Douglas fir forest, then 
along a ledge over the river, which goes on for a long time, through a couple 
of tunnels and past Toltec Gorge and into a hanging valley where there's a 
lunch stop at Osier. From there, it just keeps getting better as you go up a 
side valley through meadows, spruce and fir forest, and finally across Cumbres 
before heading down thorugh some equally beautiful country to Chama. 

I'm making the case for CATS here mostly because everybody else seems to be 
pulling for D&S. You won't lose either way, believe me. They're both national 
treasures. It depends or your taste. If you want to be closer to civilization 
and have the most spectacular scenery, go D&S. If you want to get deeper into 
the railroad and get more rustic, do CATS.

Whatever you decide, you're gonna love it!
Jonathan


--- In CBQ@yahoogroups.com, "Zephyr fan" <tczephyr@...> wrote:
>
> I'm planning a trip to Colorado in late Sept and have always wanted to ride 
> one of the narrow gauge lines. Does anyone have suggestions as to which of 
> the 2, either the Durango or the Cumbres, has the best scenery and the best 
> for photographing? Recommendations for hotels at these sites would be helpful 
> as well. 
> 
> Any other near by RR sites to see? Planning on going up to Denver and will 
> defiantly include the Colorado RR museum. Last time I was there was in 1968.
> 
> Ray Bedard
> San Jose CA
>




------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBQ/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBQ/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    CBQ-digest@yahoogroups.com 
    CBQ-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    CBQ-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>