Silverton to Durango, Colorado

Silverton to Durango, Colorado;  

September 19-20, 2020:

I leave Silverton at 11 AM taking route 550 the “Million Dollar Highway’ south, there is no other direct way.  This takes you over two passes, Molas Pass at 10,910 feet and the Coal Bank Pass at 10,660 feet.  This is an amazing road, one of the highest in the country and most prone to avalanches.  There are 100 avalanche chutes along the highway between Coal Bank Pass and Ouray, more that any other major road in North America.  As a result, even in these days, this is a pretty remote area that can be cut off from civilization by a storm for days. 

Stopped to read about the Coal Bank Pass

Something to consider in snow season

 I arrive in Durango at about 2 PM where I am heading for the library on Main Street when I happen upon the Buckley Park which is having an Art and Music Festival in celebration of the United Nation sponsored "National Day of Peace".  

It is a peaceful celebration about peace, love and understanding with live music, yoga, a few vendors, art and a “Black lives matter” display set up on the corner facing Main Street.  It's very low key and sparsely attended when who shows up but a caravan of Trump supporters riding circuits up and down Main Street in pickup trucks with their flags flying, rev’ing their engines and being generally disruptive to this peaceful event.  Eventually they stopped, I suspect they were told to knock it off, as they were becoming a disturbance to the general public along Main Street.  This flag waving patriotic thing with the Trump supporters drives me right out of my mind. What are they thinking, are they not understanding that they are supporting a president who is the the most unpatriotic, corrupt, power obsessive, president of all time, who constantly attacks the very fabric of our constitution and democracy.  Meanwhile Trump is most likely spending more millions of tax payer dollars flying in air force one to his golf course in New Jersey to play golf for the weekend with his billionaire friends. 

Give peace a chance ?

The festival was just starting, but I felt the attendance was lacking

A yoga break between music sessions

The Black Lives Matter display in front which probably created some tension, but it was mostly unmanned with no protest activity at all.  

Why is this Trump supporter flashing the peace sign as she rides around protesting a Day of
Peace festival ?

Durango is the strictest place I’ve been to for covid-19, everyone is complying with the mask  guidelines when entering businesses and over hall seem to be wearing masks all the time.  The gaiter type face covering is the most popular mask although according to the experts, it isn’t very effective.  The only places that worry me are bars and restaurants where everyone removes the masks while eating or drinking and then engages in normal conversation barely 6 feet apart.  I don’t even want to know what the kitchen staff is doing out of sight, that could be really scary.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durango,_Colorado

Main Street view

Drug Stores have certainly changed over the years

Save the Irish Embassy Pub, they should be selling take out Shepards Pie

This is the Irish Embassy Pub building

Barefoot Durango sign and nice leaded glass store front

Nice stone work on the Newman Block building

This is where boxer Jack Dempsey started

Down on the river mural

The Stratter Hotel is a beauty

From every angle

I would have liked to go out for dinner at one of the nice downtown restaurants, but I’m not comfortable doing it, where half the tables are removed and no bar seating is allowed and single me having to sit at a full sized table to order the cheapest thing on the menu.  As a result, I am cooking in the van or doing fast food.  Sorry, no dining reviews today.

OK, there is one review, I went to Animas Brewing adjacent to the Animas River and the Animas River Trail.  It had a decent selection of beers, with a friendly staff, was super dog friendly (I’m not a dog person) but the menu was a little too weird for me (just me, most would say its great) and too pricey (I’m cheap).  It is in a nice park like setting with lots of outdoor seating so I recommend it at 4 stars out of 5.  

On the following morning I go to the Durango and Silverton Museum and schedule a shop tour.  I learn that they are having a very rough year as their normal Durango to Silverton excursion trains are out of service due to a severe storm related landslide that wiped out a section of the tracks.  Repairs involve the National Forest Service and it is slow going, most likely funding for the repairs is also an issue.   As a result they are currently running trains from Rockwood, Colorado 18 miles north of Durango on the Cascade Canyon Line.  This is a big economic hardship for the merchants of both Durango and Silverton, but hopefully things will return to normal next year.   

It is amazing that this train line still exists as it suffered a catastrophic fire back in 1989 which destroyed it’s shop building, much of the shop tools and equipment and damaged six operational Steam Locomotives that were housed inside the building.  The very dedicated owner decided to rebuild it all, the shop, the shop equipment and the locomotives that were in the building.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durango_and_Silverton_Narrow_Gauge_Railroad  

On the tour we were told that traditionally the Durango and Silverton railroad has always used coal burning steam locomotives, but due to the increasing fire issues, they have been forced to convert some of their locomotives to run on fuel oil.  The tour person kept saying that they will always be a coal burning railroad, but I’m thinking that's unlikely.  

I was not impressed with the shop, for a shop that was completely redone in 1989, it was sort of dark and dingy, very unorganized and sloppy looking.  Casually walking through, you would actually think it was the original shop built in the 1888.  Maybe that was the objective, to keep it the same ?

The Durango railroad Depot is original from 1882

One of the Cascade Canyon Express open sided train cars

The turntable where cars or Locomotives are rotated to align with the desired track  

An idle Steam Locomotive, much of the equipment is now parked as the Silverton line is closed

They recently bought this Diesel Locomotive which was just being moved into the shop area

Afterwards I spent some time in the rail museum attached to the shop building.

Locomotive # 42 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1887

A view into a steam locomotive cab, all manual controls and valves, no electronics here

The General Palmer car built in 1880

A exhibit on the important function of the telegraph operator

General Palmer car from the rear platform

Close up of the Sign, this is a privately owned car

I spent one night on a street in an industrial area near downtown and a second night in the parking lot at Albertsons Market in downtown.  The Albertsons Market is adjacent to an Animas River Trailhead, very quiet and dark and when parked in the far corner next to the trail it felt like trail parking.

That's all for Colorado, next stop is Gallup, New Mexico.