First Train to Silverton

The first train of the 2017 season made it to town today not too far off schedule. It was followed by a second section that had been called the "Presidential" train but late this week the D&S added several cars for the excess passenger demand for the regular opening train. The big change was that the Silverton depot, in service since 1882, has been abandoned and all ticketing activity moved to the railroad owned Grand Imperial Hotel, Crews will still use the depot, the rail photographers who work the train will still use the upstairs for their photo processing, but the museum is no more and the ticket office is gone as well. So if you missed your chance to visit this wonderful and truly authentic relic of the Rio Grande days, it's too late. Now you can squeeze past the T-shirts and try to make your ticketing arrangements at the hotel. There's no long term parking at or near the hotel, so if you're going to Elk Park or Durango and have to leave your car, it still gets parked at the old depot location. There was a small group at the station, including former D&S employees and some locals. In days past, the first train arrival was quite an event--at least this year it wasn't snowing or raining.

My one main take away photo: [www.flickr.com]