Railfanning the D&S This Winter

Sorry, long time lurker on here...

So a few of my friends and I are going skiing this winder at Wolf Creek and I was thinking about going up a day before and staying a day after to railfan the Durango and Silverton (as the nothing will be moving on the C&TS, right?). Anyway, My choices are chasing a Polar Express Train on December 28th or doing a Cascasde Train on January 2nd. Just looking at the schedule, it looks like the Polar Express Train will run in the dark, right? It has departure at 5:15 and 6:50pm. Even though I would prefer to chase on the 28th, will I have trouble with lighting verses the 10:00am departure of the January 2nd train?

Also, any tips for fanning the line? I haven't been to Durango since 2004 and I was 16 at the time and didn't chase. Also, will I have to worry about the major roads in late December in Durango? I am born and raised in central Texas and am not too versed on the cold stuff...

Thanks for the help,
Brian