Terry De

We are planning to take the Durango-Silverton trainride in mid-May. I know most people recommend taking the bus back, but since I sometimes get motion sickness while riding on a bus over a winding, curvy road, I wonder whether the bus route might not be a good idea for me. Any comments from folks who have taken this trip. Thanks.

howard

Terry, you have a Hobson's choice: Either chance getting sick on the bus of take the long ride back on the train which is boring because it's the same route you took going there! At the same time, to be fair, the train trip back is not the end of the world...just a little long and boring!

Bob Brown

The trip up is boring, too. I took it once and don't recommend it. If you want to see mountains, take the road.
If you want to see woods, take a walk.
I thought we would be on a spectacular ride. Wrong. You are looking up at the mountains from the bottom of a hole. I think the train ride might get to you also because it sways and jounces.

howard

Sorry to disagree, Bob, but we enjoyed it. No, it wasn't the greatest thing since sliced rye, but it was worthwhile. And, we also took rides to see the mountains and hiked to see the woods!

Bob Brown

Other than that one stretch where you look straight down to the Animas River, and cannot see anything like a rocky ledge, and one view of a sliver of Grand Turk Mountainwhat what else is there?
For what that train ride costs for 3 people, you can hire a jeep to take you places a regular car can not(should not) go, e.g. Ouray to Telluride, or Silverton to Engineer Peak, or Ouray to the end of Yankee Boy Basin. I will admit the gun fight in Silverton was funny. The bad man fell over even if the good guy hadn't shot him yet. (Gun misfired.)
But that mock skirmish can be seen without riding the train. Kids like it. In the aftermath of all the school shootings, I don't know if the mock gun fight is still being held.

Christina

I haven't taken the train but watched it as I drove by on the road myself and I can see Bob's point about being down in a ditch or whatever, and they were going very, very slowly. If you are a very timid drive, you won't want to drive it either as it is curvy with roads on edges, etc., but if you have two responsible adult drivers, one can drive going up and one coming back, that's what I'd do. You get to see the beautiful mountains and don't spend so much time at it. I get motion sickness also, not at the drop of a hat, but sometimes on very rough flights, trains or boats, and if you drive yourself, you won't have a problem with that, I never felt anything and I was driving so would remember if I felt sick as it would have been scary.

Bob Brown

If the Molas Divide, Coalbank Pass, and Red Mountain Pass on the road from Durango to Ouray are scary to folks, it makes me wonder how they got there in the first place. Come in from Phoenix??

Independence Pass is scary on the west to east run because the road is narrow and tour buses come over that thing taking their half out of the middle.

The west to east part of the pass going uphill has no guard rails and the canyon is on your right!!

Cumberland Pass is another beauty.
The road is dirt and the curves are tight. I was driving it once in my dad's 98 Olds, with power everything.
Near the crest, at about 12,000 feet, the engine died going into a sharp curve. I knew the power steering would almost instantly be impossible, and that the power brakes had one good stop in them. So I came down so hard on the brake pedal that my wife had to get out a knife and perform surgery to remove my foot from the pedal. So if paved passes bother you, stay off of the dirt ones. Good thing we were going slowly uphill!! We stopped quickly, before the steering wheel became frozen because of no power steering.
(Cottonwood Pass is another "should avoid" if narrow roads, dirt surfaces, no guard rails, and the like bothers you.)

Jane

I've heard that train ride is expensive. How much does it cost? And how much is the bus ride back?

travellyn

The train is in the $50 range for round trip tickets. I don't thonk coming back on the bus costs any more, but I haven't taken the bus. The phone number for information is (970) 247-2733. Website: www.durangotrain.com.

Pam

Go with another couple, rent one car, buy two round trip tickets...one couple drives up, then switch with that couple on the way back. This way you both get the train ride and the drive. Also, it is very smokey(from steam engines)...be prepared if you are in an outside car.

travellyn

The reason I haven't taken the bus is that I've done the trading a car in Silverton thing that Pam suggested. I think it may actually be illegal, but the price is so high that I don't care. I've taken the train around 10 times, but only once round trip.

halbo49

We rode the train in June 2000, at that time there was a service I used that would bring your car on to Silverton and have it waiting for you when the train arived,It worked great for me as it gave us half a day + no backtraking.
cost about $40.

bob_brown

Well, I got corrected, right in my own family. My son told me that he remembered the ride when we took it when he was a boy. Now, this year he is taking his family on the same ride. He liked it. So Dad is/was the stick in the mud.
Perhaps my remarks apply to grumpy old adults.

The road over Molas and Coal Bank is a spectacular one. We did it last year before the ice melted on the high lakes.

Leona

We took the train ride a few years ago, round trip, and didn't know there was an option of taking the bus back. Trip was enjoyable, but there is really nothing in Silverton except some shops & a couple of cute restaurants.

Can I just relate my Independence Pass story? We had gotten a AAA trip-tik to drive from (I think) Denver to Aspen. They blacked out the Independence Pass route, but we saw that it would save several miles. This was during the month of August. It was scary as hell & we realized right away why AAA did not map it. WHITE KNUCKLE trip. By the time we arrived at the Little Nell, I wanted to leave, I was so upset. Had a massage, where the masseuse proceeded to tell me that "we lose at least one car every year" on that road!

dwooddon

Bob Brown: Nah! I'm a grumpy old adult and I truly enjoyed the train - in both directions and on several occasions. Not to criticize but I've heard it said (in fact, I've said it myself), there are no boring trips -only boring people.

buttercup

It all depends on whether you want the train experience. We booked it mostly for the kids, but my husband and I really enjoyed it. How many places can you ride a steam train? We also did a lot of drives, but since I won't drive on most of the roads around there, this was a chance for my husband to sit back and enjoy the view.

We took the bus back, but wished we took the train. Either way, it takes most of the day. I recommend an outside car and if you only go Durango to Silverton, sit on the right side of the car for the best views.

You will get coal dust on you if you sit in an outside car. I didn't think it was that bad. However, I was really glad I didn't wear my contacts.

buttercup

Two more things:

Check out the museum at the train station in Durango. It's small, but interesting, and admission is included in your train ticket.

Rent Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid before you go. The train they accidentally blow up is the Durango - Silverton.

travellyn

I agree with Buttercup to sit in an outside car on the right side of the train, if possible. They'll tell you it doesn't matter, but it does. Definitely no contacts, and plan to get soot and cinders on you.

I like the Butch Cassidy idea. Butch and Sundance also jump 300 feet off the cliff into the Animas River at the start of the Durango-Silverton high line, just after passing through the rock cut at Rockwood. If you plan to take pictures, a scenic shot is toward the end of the high line, when the track turns right to go over a trestle bridge. The engineer flushes steam out of the boiler right as the engine passes over the bridge. This shot is best taken from a car toward the back of the train. (Reverse everything I just wrote if you're riding from Silverton to Durango.)

eduardo

It is a long day - Another option; take the train half way to Needleton, get off for an easy hike ( trails in several directions), take a picnic lunch, then catch the train back down. You'll miss the good cold beer in Silverton, but you can take your own and enjoy on a blanket in scenic wilderness. In May the weather may be hot or it may be cold.

travellyn

Eduardo, I like getting off in the scenic area, too. Hiking or just sitting and absorbing the beauty is much better than wandering around souvenir shops for 2 hours. Some people get off at Needleton for to climb fourteeners for several days. I like Elk Park, just south of Silverton. Getting off at Elk Park allows you to take almost the whole ride, and provides easy access to the Weminuche Wilderness; I think the Needleton stop may also allow access to the wilderness area. I haven't gotten off there yet.

Not all trains pick up people at every stop, so this would best be planned in advance, in order to be picked up and dropped off on the right trains. You'd also need instructions on flagging down a train. If you just wave, they don't stop. You have to squat a little and wave your hands cross-wise under your body, if you can believe it! It looks a little like doing the Charleston. Best to have it demonstrated first. I caught the train once at Elk Park and several passengers looked at me like I must have been from outer space.