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We switched our schedule slightly by taking the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad a day early. We were tired of driving and visiting National Parks. The weather continued to be gorgeous although the afternoon clouded over and the temperatures in Silverton required a jacket.
The train ride took four hours to Silverton and three hours fifteen minutes back to Durango with a two-hour layover in the former silver mining town. The steam engine, built in the early 1920's, required six tons of coal and ten thousand gallons of water to complete the trip.
Silverton is a silver mining town high in the mountains of Colorado. The train ride ascends from about five thousand feet in Durango to over nine thousand feet in Silverton. The sights along the way include views of mountain peaks and steep plunges down into a gorge. The town last mined silver in 1981. It now exists exclusively as a tourist destination.
The railroad was built in fifteen months sometime around 1875. I marvel at what people were able to accomplish years ago without modern tools and conveniences.
The trip took all day. We met a delightful couple from Germany, Gerhard and Rina, and enjoyed many hours of conversation about a broad range of topics. We capped off the evening by visiting a German restaurant they recommended. When we walked into the restaurant we found them there, too, ordering dinner. They invited us to join them. We enjoyed the meal and the company.
I entered a genuine hat maker's shop and was fitted for a custom hat. The fitting was free; the hats cost around $600. I can never find a hat to fit my large non-oval-shaped head. The fitting revealed that I have an interesting head shape. There are lots of cowboy types in Durango and everyone seems to wear a western style hat. Did they all pay $600 for their hats? I doubt it. I think I'll keep looking for hats other places in the southwest. I was told that they have hat makers in Tombstone, Arizona.
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