Can you hear the trains a comin’? They’re rolling round the bend, hauling all our rail fans, since we don’t know when. All over Colorado, those engines steam along, they just keep rollin’ on between our smallest towns. You’ll need a buck, or maybe more, to head on down the track. It’s so much fun we guarantee that next year you’ll be back.
Maybe it’s the call of the far- off whistle or the rattle of metal wheels racing over rails. Or maybe a train ride is so irresistible because it’s a chance to taste a sliver of life in the early West.
But once you board one of southern Colorado’s trains, you just understand the draw of spending the day in a viewing car where the windows are always down.
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2006, while the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad made its inaugural run this May.
The Cumbres & Toltec runs 64 miles to Chama, N.M., from Antonito. Three of the line’s original steam locomotives pull passenger cars along narrow-gauge tracks on the same route the train traveled before it was abandoned in 1969. Now trains run daily for the pleasure of passengers, not the necessity of transport.
The Rio Grande can be boarded in Antonito too. The train, pulled by a diesel locomotive, runs on standard-gauge track to Alamosa and La Veta, where it turns around again.
Both trains journey into unspoiled areas rarely seen by hurried highway travelers. They climb mountain passes, and chug through carved mountain tunnels and over trestles and bridges that take your breath away. Still, the two rides are so different that it’s worth it to spend a day on each.
Cumbres & Toltec
The Cumbres, named one of the 20 best railway experiences in the world by the Society of International Railway Travelers, might be considered the grande dame of passenger trains.
It takes four people to run the train – conductor, brakeman, fireman and engineer – and 7 tons of coal to fuel the ride. Part of the romance of the trip is stopping several times to take on water, which is needed to make the steam that propels the engine. Wooden water tanks tower track-side, but most are simply eye candy for tourists. They were replaced in the 1930s by standpipes, simple spouts connected to spring-fed cisterns.
There are four historic sites along the route: Chama, in New Mexico; and Cumbres, Osier and Sublette in Colorado. Buildings used during the train’s early days still stand at each. At Cumbres, the highest point of the trip, the section house and several other structures are part of a walking tour.
While such history is fascinating, the spectacular scenery steals the show. About a third of the ride winds through flatlands, covered with low-growing sage and inhabited by jackrabbits. Another portion twists and turns through high, green valleys studded with jewel-toned wildflowers. At higher altitudes, the trains pass volcanic rock formations, the 800-foot-deep Toltec Gorge, and aspens and pines.
You can spend the entire 6 1/2-hour trip in comfortable leather seats in refurbished cars, or in the luxury of the private parlor car. But there’s nothing like viewing the route from the open, flatbed car, where jostling for a place to photograph or catching airborne cinders is an art form.
Whistles and a docent offering interesting facts over a loudspeaker occasionally interrupt the ride.
Rio Grande
The new Rio Grande ride is more folksy than the Cumbres, but the route is just as beautiful, wending through farm country – potatoes, barley, alfalfa – then into higher altitudes where the tracks hug rock walls and aspen trees are just a foot away from the cars.
Elk, deer and a variety of birds, including wild turkey and hawks, can be seen along the route. On our trip, someone swore they saw a black bear with cubs.
The Sangre de Cristo range dominates the view, and you can even pick out Great Sand Dunes National Park at the base of the peaks. The train climbs to the summit of La Veta Pass, then makes a big horseshoe curve and begins to descend through jutting rock spires and formations.
The train’s viewing car has bench seating and wide, open windows. Children and adults like to stick their heads through, hoping for a view of what’s ahead, or a chance to capture the train curved around a particularly scenic bend.
There’s not a loudspeaker in sight. Instead, a friendly car attendant walks by frequently, answering questions and inquiring about passengers’ happiness.
The trip from Alamosa to La Veta is about six hours long, though there are sometimes unscheduled stops. At one point along our tour, the train passed an elk calf tangled in a barbed-wire fence. The crew stopped the train to free the animal, and the instant heroes were cheered by all the passengers. It’s that kind of a ride.
On the line: Colorado trains
Colorado in summer is railroading heaven, even for tourists who don’t know a steam locomotive from a steam iron. They come for the scenery but get a dose of railroading history. At the turn of the 20th century, there were 35 railroads operating in the state. Nearly all have vanished but they left behind tracks through some of the most beautiful – and inaccessible – landscape. At the height of their popularity, Colorado railroads operated wildflower, photographic, picnic, fishing and church outings. Tourists and rail fans can still ride many of the routes. – Dick Kreck
CANON CITY & ROYAL GORGE
Railroads fought over it, and a two-hour trip through the spectacular Royal Gorge shows why. Trains leave the old Santa Fe depot in Canon City daily. There are also dinner and luncheon trains.
Coach fares: adults $29.95, children (3-12) $19.50. Information: 303-569-1000; canoncitycolorado.com.
COLORADO RAILROAD MUSEUM
The leading repository of historic railroad memorabilia in the region, the museum also operates periodic “steam ups” on a 1.5-mile loop.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Admission: adults $8, seniors $7 and children (2-16) $5. 17155 W. 44th Ave., Golden; 303-279-4229; crrm.org.
CRIPPLE CREEK & VICTOR NARROW GAUGE RAILROAD
One of the tiniest regularly scheduled trains in the state, the CC& VNGR steams over a 2-foot gauge from the impressive former Midland Terminal depot in Cripple Creek to Anaconda. Daily departures.
Fares: adults $9.50, seniors $8.50 and children (3-12) $5. Information: 719-689-2640; cripplecreekrailroad.com.
CUMBRES & TOLTEC SCENIC RAILROAD
The 64-mile route zigs and zags its way across the Colorado- New Mexico border between Antonito and Chama, N.M. It’s a long trip – 6 1/2 hours – punctuated with scenic views. Operates daily through Oct. 15.
Fares: adults $59-$72, children (2-11) $30-$26. Information: 1-888-286-2737; cumbresandtoltec.com.
DURANGO & SILVERTON NARROW GAUGE RAILROAD
Perhaps the best known of Colorado’s steam jaunts, the D&SNGR plies some of the state’s most spectacular scenery, between Durango and Silverton through the rugged San Juan Mountains. The road’s High Line, built in 1881-82, can take away anyone’s breath. Trains run daily through Oct. 28.
Fares: adults $62, children (5-11) $31. Information: 970-247-2733; durangotrain.com.
FORT COLLINS BIRNEY SAFETY CAR
Trolleys provided daily service around downtown between 1919 and 1951. All that remains of the line is Car 21, restored and run by volunteers. The line runs weekend afternoons along West Mountain Avenue May through September. Board at City Park and on Mountain at Shields, Loomis and Howes streets.
Fares: Ride free noon to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, and noon to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday of this week. Regular fares are $1 for adults, 75 cents for seniors, 50 cents for kids 3-12; children 2 and under ride free. fortnet.org/trolley
GEORGETOWN LOOP
An engineering marvel built in 1884 to overcome the steep 2.1-mile grade between Georgetown and Silver Plume, the former Colorado & Southern turned to hauling tourists after silver mines in the area pinched out. The 95.6-foot-high “Devil’s Gate” was demolished in 1939, then restored in 1984. Now operated by the Colorado Historical Society, steam-powered trains run daily over the Loop.
Fares: $17.50 for adults and $12 for children (3-15). 888-456-6777; georgetownlooprr.com.
LEADVILLE, COLORADO & SOUTHERN
The last usable 11 1/2-mile remnant of the Denver, South Park and Pacific is based in the historically interesting mining town of Leadville, operating through Oct. 8.
Fares: adults $26.50, children (4-12) $15. Information, 866-386-3936; leadville-train.com.
MANITOU & PIKES PEAK
The red cars of the cog railway slowly but sure-footedly make their way from Manitou Springs to the top of Pikes Peak at 14,110 feet. Been doing it since 1891. Operates daily, today through Aug. 20. Bring a jacket for the weather at the top.
Fares: adults $29, children (3-11) $16. Information: 719-685-5401; cograilway.com.
PLATTE VALLEY TROLLEY
A quickie trip for small children on an old-style, open-air trolley along the South Platte River between 15th Street and Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium. Operates daily between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Fares: Adults $3, seniors and children (4-12) $2. Information, 303-458-6255; denvertrolley.org.
SAN LUIS & RIO GRANDE
A newcomer to the summer railroading season, the SL&RG brought passenger trains back to Alamosa earlier this year after a 50-year lapse. Trips run daily between Alamosa and La Veta and Alamosa and Antonito.
Fares: Range from $40 to $12 for adults, $15 to $8 for children. Information: 877-726-7245; alamosatrain.com.
THE SKI TRAIN
A favorite with skiers headed for Winter Park for 66 years, The Ski Train also operates through spectacular scenery in the summer. Trains leave Denver Union Station at 8:30 a.m. Saturdays July 15 through Aug. 26. The return trip leaves Winter Park at 3:30 p.m.
Fares: Adults $44, seniors and children (3-13) $34. 303-296-4754; skitrain.com.
