Originally Posted by jennifer kulich:
First time I rode the Durango and Silverton I did the one day round trip, but you only get to spend a few hours in Silverton. By the time you eat lunch it seams as though you are getting back on the train. The second time I arranged round trip over two days, giving me a full afternoon, evening and morning to enjoy Silverton. Nice museum, fun shops, jeep ride to a few ghost towns through the mountains, horseback riding and more. I stayed in a great hotel/saloon built in 1902 called the Wyman hotel, awesome view and great breakfast. For the best view make sure you sit on the correct side of the train going and coming back, I believe the right side there and left side coming back, but confirm with ticket office.
For the Cumbres and Toltec I stayed in Chama, can't remember the name but it was recommended by the ticket office. Both train rides are fantastic and the scenery is completely different.
It's been a long time, but back in 1992 we rode the Durango-Silverton train, and we stayed in Silverton. The cool thing is that when the train arrived in Silverton the other passengers were around for short time but then they took off for the next adventure on their vacation. I stayed around the station.
There was an engine switching cars around the yard. I took a few pictures, but then I stopped and just listened and watched. I've been to a lot of museums, I've ridden lots of excursion and tourist trains, but this was the first time I'd ever felt transported to a different time. I've never regretted staying in Silverton.
Jeff C