Yesterday I visited the Silverton Rail Yard Museum.
Link to more information on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge RR: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durango_and_Silverton_Narrow_Gauge_Railroad
It's not a very big yard and you are allowed to roam the entire yard.
I took pictures of most of the things that there is to see.
I can't post all the pictures in this first post because of the forum limitations.
I'll spread it out over a few days.
First is the station.
This station isn't used any longer except as a storage building.
There was another station a little further up the line in town, but it's not there any longer, and that is where passengers deboard after coming from Durango.
I had to take this picture to show how beautiful the area around the yard is.
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Inside and it's used just for storage.
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A couple of placards that are outside.
I made these pictures a little bigger with the hope it makes it easier to read.
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This picture shows the mainline track that heads into town.
Once again, look how beautiful the surrounding area is.
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The rest of the pictures are things outside in the yard.
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I'll post more pictures when I have good cell service and I'm not out hiking. ;D
Those 2 freight cars are studies in weathering.
And yeah, that's quite the setting.
dave
Rick,
Those pictures are great. It's too bad the station isn't used anymore.
Rick great pictures thanks for sharing with us.
Yes the setting is just beautiful!
To bad they don't use that station anymore.
Jerry
Dave, there are many weathering studies there.
Ron and Jerry, I guess they don't need a station any more.
Tickets are sold on line or in Durango and as soon as passengers get off in Silverton they hop on a bus and go back to Durango.
Thanks for the photos Rick. I found Silverton interesting and the scenery is beautiful.
Nice photos. When my second wife and I visited Silverton, the D&S was first pulling the train up a track that extended through the downtown. Passengers debarked and the train was shoved back to a wye nearer the old depot.
8) Nice photos!
Rick,
Brought back some memories. My ex-wife and I rode the Silverton back 1978. We went out west to visit one of her school friends in Utah. Got to see the inside of the Tabernacle and Salt Lake. The round trip out and back home was all done with a 1977 VW Rabbit without air conditioning. Talk about a hot trip. Drove 24 straight hours from Colorado to Ohio and got to see the Arch in St. Louis at midnight on the way back east.
I'll have to see if I can find my slides of the ride on the train one of these days.
Bernd
Great pictures Rick. It's a beautiful area and history is interesting for sure
TomO
Thanks for sharing your photos.
The most fun I've ever had photographing a railroad facility was in Chama, NM. This was back in the early 1990's. You could go anywhere in the facility and I made lots of photos with my sister's 35 mm Minolta SLR. If I were industrious enough I might be able to dig up those photos and negatives from some box hidden somewhere around the house.
Have fun on your adventure, Rick. Share more your photos. Because, we love pictures.
James, that's what they still do.
Philip and TomO, thanks for looking n and commenting.
Bernd, can't imagine doing that trip without AC.
Jaime, I thought about going to Chama, but it's too hot for me this time of year.
Maybe I'll go there next year but go earlier or later in the year.
There's other places I want to go there like Shiprock and the hoodoos (tent rocks) at Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Area.
Here's another batch of pictures.
I took pictures of the car ends in case someone wanted to use them for reference.
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Here the crew is setting up to weld the two sections of rail together.
I have a video of them doing the welding that I'll have to upload in a week or so.
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More pictures coming soon.
Good to see some of the old DRG&W freight fleet under a roof.
Some of those old cars look pretty rough. Nice they have restored some and put them under cover; maybe they'll get all the cars restored at some point. Thanks for sharing.
Rick keep them coming. Great pictures, it's a shame they let some of them just sit there falling apart.
Jerry
What Jerry said ;D
I think the weathering is beautiful in it's own ruthless way!
Philip
Rick, These are some nice cars and thanks for sharing the pictures.
The car ends help to reconstruct as they are some I would like to build.
Rich
Thanks everyone for your positive comments.
Rich, that's exactly why I took those pictures.
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Who's the first to scratch on of these?
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Thanks for the photos Rick.
Is that an original Goose, or a replica? If the former, why isn't it under cover?
dave
Quote from: deemery on August 08, 2026, 06:36:04 PMIs that an original Goose, or a replica? If the former, why isn't it under cover?
dave
I don't think it's a Goose.
Looks like a critter the shops cobbled together and it looks like it's been refurbished.
A quick search turned this up:
This is the "Casey Jones" rail bus, a historic vehicle built in 1915 for the Sunnyside Mill and Mine to transport miners and freight in Silverton, Colorado.Originally powered by a Ford Model T engine, it was later converted to utilize a Cadillac V-8 engine.It is currently preserved and on display at the San Juan County Historical Society Museum in Silverton.
Railroad Model Craftsman had drawings of the in the magazine many years ago.
Bernd
Thanks, Rick!
dave
Nice pictures Rick. Great sharing them with us.
Jerry
Thanks Rick and Bernd!
Rich
Here's what the railbus looked like 12-Oct-2009:
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A view of Silverton from Colorado Rt. 550 descending from Molas Pass the next day:
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The D&RGW line from Durango enters the picture lower right, more or less paralleling the Animas River.
Great Stuff Rick!
Quote from: Bernd on August 08, 2026, 06:50:49 PMRailroad Model Craftsman had drawings of the in the magazine many years ago.
Bernd
Didn't Cliff Grandt produce those long ago or another manufacturer?
James, thanks for adding your pictures.
That's a great shot from the highway.
Philip, I don't know but I'm sure someone else will.
With all the hiking and traveling I did in Colorado I didn't have time to post the last remaining pictures.
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House made from a couple of Caboose
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Engine house.
I looked in a window and it's empty.
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Cement mixer
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I think this was a water.
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Steam train stopped at the station in midtown Silverton.
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