Narrow-gauge trains

The historic Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which attracts more than a quarter-million visitors to this southwest Colorado community every year, has opened a railroad museum filled with treasures from the network of narrow-gauge trains that once served the entire state.

The 15,000-square-foot exhibit hall is located in a portion of the railroad's roundhouse, making it possible for visitors to look through the windows where the steam engines that carry passengers to Silverton each day are being serviced. The museum has two full-size, authentic steam locomotives that guests can board, as well as a number of passenger cars and a caboose. Children can sit in the engineer's seat and imagine what it must be like to shovel the six tons of coal needed for the 90-mile round trip to Silverton, or they can scramble to the top bunk in the caboose to peer out the windows. In addition to the rolling stock, there are displays of the equipment needed to operate a railroad along with an extensive collection of paintings and photographs of the famous Durango-toSilverton line. TL-BEVERLY EDWARDS

Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum, 479 Main Avenue, Durango, Colorado 81301; (970) 247-2733.

Copyright T L Enterprises, Inc. Apr 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved