Day Five- Train Ride

We are still in Durango and we rode the Narrow Gauge Railroad from Durango to Silverton. It was about a four hour train ride through the mountains. The scenery was really beautiful. The train is coal powered and follows the Animas River up to Silverton. The reason its called the narrow gauge railroad is because the width of the rails is 3 feet 6 inches rather than the standard 4 feet 8 1/2 inches. I learned that the standard gauge is from ancient Greece. That is the width of their chariots, so when the Europeans started putting in rail that is what they used.

Once we got to Silverton, we had a little time to eat and walk around the town. The town used to be a mining town. They once mined for silver and gold...hence the name Silverton. Everyone except my dad road the bus back to Durango. The bus only took about an hour and a half, while the train was another 4 hour ride back. The bus was nice since it was fast and the bus driver was a tour guide as well. We learned a lot about the area. They filmed a couple movies in the area, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Around the World in 80 Days. I've never seen either of them, but maybe I'll have to check them out now.