Colorado is a state of superlatives
Regular readers of my columns and blog posts know that I have long had an interest in railways and history. A trip to Colorado and New Mexico provided the opportunity to combine those interests.
My wife Bonnie and I took part in an organized tour of all but one of the Colorado scenic tourist railroads, organized by Special Interest Tours and also sponsored by Trains magazine. There were 35 of us on the tour, including two other British Columbians who are part of the Fraser Valley Heritage rail group, which operates the interurban trips from Cloverdale.
There was also a couple from Japan and Americans from all corners of the country. It was a friendly and hospitable group, and we had a great time with them.
We visited and rode on seven tourist railways - the Georgetown Loop, Durango and Silverton, Leadville Colorado and Southern, Cumbres and Toltec, Rio Grande Scenic, Royal Gorge and Manitou and Pike's Peak Cog Railway. We also visited the incredible Colorado Railroad Museum and rode one of its Galloping Goose railcars - originally built and operated by the legendary Rio Grande Southern Railroad.
As part of our tour, we spent most of a day visiting Mesa Verde National Park to see the cliff dwellings built by native people about 800 years ago, and learn more about how they survived and thrived in that arid but varied part of North America. I highly recommend a visit there.
After our tour ended, Bonnie and I explored several other fascinating places. We went to Cripple Creek, a gold mining town that boomed in the 1890s. It is located above Colorado Springs. There we rode on the lone tourist railway we hadn't visited on the tour, the two-foot gauge Cripple Creek and Victor. By the way, a newer gold mine there, which opened in 1995, is mining many of the former smaller mine sites and producing $500 million worth of gold each year.
From there, we drove down Phantom Canyon, following the grade of the long-departed Florence and Cripple Creek. It has been a road since 1918, six years after much of the railroad was wiped out by flooding, and the scenery is incredible. Here's a photo from that trip.
Two tunnels originally bored by the Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad are part of the scenic drive through Phantom Canyon.
We also visited Raton Pass, site of a railroad war in 1879 that led to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad being able to build into New Mexico, Arizona and California and thus forcing its rival, the Denver and Rio Grande, to restrict its expansion to Colorado and northern New Mexico. Several of the successful tourist railroads we rode on were originally part of that D&RG expansion in the 1880s.
We spent a day in historic Santa Fe, where the oldest buildings were built in the early 1600s. The highly-walkable downtown area is absolutely unique, with almost all buildings adobe-style. There are no high-rises and little car traffic. First Nations artisans sell wonderful customized pieces of jewellry and clothing on the plaza, and there are museums, art galleries and clothing shops which attract visitors and shoppers from all over the U.S. and other parts of the world. There are numerous good restaurants.
One of the nicest features is the way that Hispanic, native American (First Nations) and Caucasian people get along. It is as harmonious a mingling of the various cultures as I have ever seen in the United States.
We then went to Gunnison, Colorado to attempt to make our way to the west portal of the Alpine Tunnel, built in 1880-81 to allow the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad to take away some Gunnison business from the more-established D&RG. As a sign said on approaching the tunnel (the old rail grade is now a road and trail), this is likely "the most fantastic bit of railroad construction in North America." It is now a national historic district.
It wasn't an easy hike. The elevation at the tunnel is 11,500 feet above sea level, and the grade has been damaged by a rock slide in the past year. There were also numerous snow drifts, some over six feet high.
To see photos of our hike there, go to this location.
Our last extended stop in Colorado was in the neighbouring towns of Ridgway and Ouray. Ridgway was the headquarters of the Rio Grande Southern and now is home to a very good railroad museum dedicated to the RGS. Volunteers have built replicas of its first Galloping Goose, which only lasted until 1933, and of a rail-mounted Model T inspection car. They also have plans for a replica of an early RGS steam locomotive, which they plan to run on a short stretch of track.
While in Ridgway, we heard from some newfound friends over a dinner at the excellent Colorado Boy pub and brewery that Neil Young spends a lot of time in that town.
(By the way, virtually every town we visited had one or more microbreweries. The industry is thriving in Colorado. Rio Grande Scenic even runs a Rails to Ales train every June that is sold out long in advance.)
In Ouray, we relaxed in the Ouray Hot Springs before getting set to drive home.
The visit to what is the highest part of North America, with 53 peaks that are 14,000 feet or higher ("the fourteeners," as they are known), was a long-overdue follow-up to a trip we made there more than 30 years ago. I hope the next trip comes a lot sooner.
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