Headed to Silverton...Again

(I am chronicling our trip to Western Colorado in a series of blogs this week.)

We spent the last couple of hours in Silverton going through the museum that is located there.  We were walking down the street just looking around, killing time before our train left, and happened upon the Silverton museum.  Known as the San Juan County Historical Museum, it is located in the Northeast part of the town.  Not much to look at from the street, it appeared that the museum was housed in an old building about the size of a small home.

We went into the gift shop in an adjacent building, and the clerk there asked us is we wanted to see the museum.  The cost was 8 dollars each.  Before we answered, he quickly said, “It’s not what it looks like from the outside.”  Intrigued, I paid the man 16 dollars and we went to the entrance of the small building.

What a wonderful place this proved to be!  Although a small part of the museum was in the old building, they had built a lot of the exhibits underground, since much of the museum had to do with the mining history of the area.  The exhibits quickly opened up to spacious and well-done areas that demonstrated mining of older days, as well as other aspects of the history of the region.

The underground exhibit moved to other buildings on the campus, and we exited at the gift shop after a wonderful, quick tour of the museum.  I can’t begin to tell you all of the different exhibits and scenes that were on display.  Suffice it to say, it was well worth more than the 8 dollar entrance fee.  But since we had little time left, we had to rather quickly go through it.

We exited the museum, went back to the hotel, which was holding our luggage for us until the train left, picked up our luggage, and made our way to the boarding area.  The train wasn’t ready to board, though, and it was beginning to spit a rain shower, so we went into an ice cream store and got something good to enjoy while waiting.  The price was rather high…$3.50 for one scoop, but it was good.

Finally, boarding the train, we began the trip back to Durango in the same car…last one in the consist…but with a different host.  I believe her name was Jennifer.  She too was attentive, knowledgeable, and helpful with comments regarding our return trip.  I spent more time on the return trip on the rear platform of the car.  I really enjoyed looking at the scenery as it went by, and managed to capture some video and still shots of both the train and the scenery.  I just camped out there on the rear platform for a time.  I gladly would have given up my spot for someone else, but no one seemed interested.

Back at the station in Durango, we got off the train and made our way in the rain to our car.  We went to the motel, checked in, and settled in for the night after eating at a barbeque place not far up the road.  It was good, but not as good as we have found in the Wichita area.  The ambience of the place was different, but not uncomfortable.  The folding metal chairs we sat on, however, could have used some upgrading.

Next morning, we ate again at the breakfast place where the nice man cooked eggs to order, packed up and headed out.  As we were packing, I noticed an older man also packing his car next to ours.  I struck up a conversation and found that they were on their way west to visit a relative, and had been on the road for several weeks.  They were working their way home to (I think) California.  He said, among other things, that this may well be their last long trip…he was getting too old to do this much longer.  He was 86 years old.

I wished him well, as he did me, and we departed for Silverton and points beyond…this time by automobile.

Who Are Mattie & Maude?

The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is a cut above the normal, everyday “excursion train” experience.  An honest-to-goodness full service railroad, it carries mainly passengers from Durango to Silverton and back, and also picks up and delivers hikers, bikers, and others along the way.  They do that because for a good chunk of their right-of-way, there is no way to access those hiking trails, camping sites, etc. that are along the Animas River, except by train.  They even sell passes for those who take advantage of those rides to and from civilization.

The passenger service is all steam-powered, using coal that is mined just a few miles from Durango.  The coal is shoveled by hand into the boiler by an honest-to-goodness fireman, and water stops are done a couple of times each direction, using old-time water tanks that are kept full by the natural mountain streams that are in the area.

During those stops, the engineer checks out the engine and oils and lubes joints, etc.  The conductor walks to the rear of the train and acts as flagman should another train come our way (per railroad rules).  And we passengers all wait a few minutes while the engine tender is refilled with water and then continues on its way.

The railroad does have diesel engines.  They also have freight cars and, I presume, haul freight to some of the wide spots along the line.  They employ about 280 people during the peak tourist summer months, and about 80 year-round.  Being a narrow gauge line, the cars and engines are a little smaller than the “regular” railroad equipment, but function in the same way.  The gauge of a railroad is the distance between the tracks.  The gauge of the D & S is 3 feet.  “Regular gauge is 4 feet, 8 ½ inches.  If you’d like to know more about the D & S railroad, Wiki has a good article on it.

Along the 45 mile trip to Silverton, we passed through the Animas River valley, into steep cuts into the sides of mountains, and through some grassy areas that had a building or two, campsites, or livestock.  The scenery was spectacular, and the trip was well worth it.  After about 3 ½ hours, we chugged into Silverton.  The tracks go right up a street into the main tourist area of town.  We got off and walked the approximate one block to our hotel, the Grand Imperial Hotel in Silverton.

Classy, recently remodeled, yet with the old charm of slightly uneven floors, antique woodwork, antique furniture, and that “elegant” smell, we checked in and were helped by a gracious clerk who carried our bag to our room (29 steps to the second floor…no elevator), and showed us around a bit.  There was a restaurant/saloon attached to the hotel, so we took our evening meal there after we wandered the streets of Silverton awhile.

The next morning, we found a breakfast and lunch eatery…Mattie & Maud’s.  We never saw Mattie or Maud; rather, a somewhat rotund older gentleman in suspenders and ordinary garb met us as we came in and told us to order at the counter…then find a place to sit.  We ordered our breakfast and waited a bit.  He brought out, after a few minutes, a good meal, and we enjoyed our time there.  The guy may be on to something…no wait staff…just cooks, himself, and a dishwasher.  Maybe Mattie and Maud are in the back counting the money…

We toured more of the town and had a sandwich lunch in a restaurant that was, until 1947, a house of prostitution.  The sandwiches were fine…prices were a little high everywhere in Silverton.  And service there and elsewhere was good to excellent.  We tipped well most of the time.

Our train left at 1:30pm.  We made sure we were there in plenty of time, and boarded the train in the same car we rode in to Silverton.

Here We Come, Durango!

Yesterday, I started telling of our trip to Colorado.  I’ll continue on here, by starting at Trinidad.

After we stopped at Kim to use the restroom in the church building, we arrived in Trinidad.  We spent the night there in a motel, then dressed for church on Sunday.  Services were like one would expect in a typical, conservative Church of Christ.  People were friendly and thepreaching and singing were good.

The preacher started talking about patterns in the New Testament, and I was wondering where he would go with that.  He used that as a way to talk about the plan of salvation and the fact that we can easily see commonality in the New Testament when we read about the various conversions.  I hadn’t really thought about it in that way before, but he has a point.

Durango was our next stop.  We had motel reservations there for Sunday night and the train trip would be Monday morning.  Taking somewhat longer than we had thought, we arrived in Durango before the train station closed for the evening.  We picked up our tickets with no problems, and headed for the motel.  I visited with the motel clerk for a few minutes, who told me that we got a good deal on our room rate, as he was renting the remaining few rooms they had that day for $190 a pop.  We didn’t pay nearly that much for ours.  I can’t imagine almost $200 a day for a motel room that was average to good, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Arising the next morning, we made our way to the complimentary breakfast area.  What a pleasant surprise to find a man “manning” the area constantly, and even cooking eggs to order (over easy, scrambled, etc).  The food was tasty, and the bacon strips almost had two sides.

We went to the train station, parked in the railroad lot (eight dollars a day), and walked to the depot.  We were a little early…the train before us was just leaving.  We would have about a 45 minute wait to leave.

I will tell you now that I was impressed all through our experience with the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad with how much they emphasized safety, maintenance, and inspection.  There were maintenance guys on each side of the departing trains watching the undercarriages of each car as they went by.  There were crews on the tracks, and a crew in a motorcar that followed us for a long while.  Our staffer in our car explained that they were there to watch for anomalies in the track and roadbed.

With about 30 minutes to go before departure, we boarded our car.  We bought first class tickets, and rode in the end car.  That meant we were able to use the platform on the rear of the car for observation, and we had a reserved table for us in the car.  The staffer, Chad, was there to see to our needs, provide complimentary water and soft drinks, and answer our questions.  He also told about the various places of interest as we passed by.  He knew the route by heart, because he didn’t have to do much looking out of the window to know where we were.

For the first few minutes, it was just Chad and us.  We talked easily, and Chad welcomed each of the passengers as they came on board.  Finally, it was time to go.  We left on time for our 3-hour (and some) trip to Silverton where we would spend the night in the Grand Hotel.

Next time, I’ll tell you a little about the railroad itself, and get us to Silverton.

How Do You Spell RELIEF?

It has been a pleasant nine days away from work, seeing sights we’ve never seen before and encountering people we’ve never met before.  We took a trip to Western and Northern Colorado last week, an area we’ve never been to before now.  Oh, we’ve been to Colorado.  But we’ve been in the Colorado Springs/Denver area almost exclusively, and had no idea what the west slope looked like.  So we decided to go.

Heading West out of Wichita on Highway 54 on Saturday morning, we traveled to Bucklin, then headed cross-country to meet up with Highway 160 north of Sublette.  We would take this road all the way to our first major destination, Durango.  However, we had a stop for lunch in Ulysses first.

We decided that we would try to eat at places we normally wouldn’t be able to patronize in Wichita.  That meant no McDonalds, Applebees, or other chains.  So in Ulysses, we drove downtown a bit and found a Mexican place on the west side of the street.  Going in, we found most tables empty, and found a comfortable spot.

The wait people were helpful, and the place was clean.  The food was excellent.  In fact, I told the waitress that the food truck that delivered Mexican food to all the restaurants in Wichita did NOT stop in Ulysses for a delivery.  Homemade everything, it appeared, including the refried beans.

The land changed noticeably from about Ulysses on to our intermediate overnight destination of Trinidad.  Drier, more arid, and much less tilled agriculture became the norm.  The distance between towns (or wide spots in the road) became greater as well.

Leaving Walsh, we went on for awhile, but as we went, both of us needed to find some facilities to use.  In that part of the country, there isn’t a Quick Stop around every corner, and even wide spots in the road don’t have more than a few old buildings  and maybe a post office.  We headed into Kim, Colorado, both of us needing to find a place to stop.  We were disappointed that there were only about a dozen buildings in the entire community, and no commercial ventures of any kind.

As we went through (it only took about 30 seconds to go from one end to the other), we noticed a Church of Christ on the East side of the road and a house beside it.  Thinking the house was a parsonage, I had an idea.  Turning around, I parked in front and knocked on the door of the house.  A man answered.

“Excuse me,” I said tentatively, but with some confidence.  “We’re members of the church from Wichita, Kansas, and we are needing to find a restroom.”

The man pointed to the building and said, “The doors are unlocked.  You can go there.  We keep them unlocked so people have a place to go.”

I thanked him and we both found relief in the building, which was older, but adequate.  I then went to the front of the building, found the offering plates under the communion table, and left $10 in the plate.  Going on our way, we found Trinidad and our motel about an hour later.

More on the trip later.  But for now, I want you to remember the tiny church in Kim, Colorado, and their ministry of an open door (literally) to allow people to find physical as well as spiritual relief.  May God bless them.

I'm Better Now

Today has been an emotionally draining day for me.  I won’t go into detail about it, except to say that humanity has pretty well screwed up the planet as well as itself over the generations.  There are so-obvious signs of that everywhere one looks…it’s like looking at a train wreck that never gets cleaned up.

I needed some assurance this afternoon that things weren’t all doom and gloom.  Normally, you might, as a Christian tell me, another Christian, to open my Bible and read some passage from it.  Something out of Job or perhaps the Beatitudes.  Or maybe it would be something that Paul wrote…Romans 8 for example, or Ephesians 1.

I didn’t do that.  Instead, I opened my browser and clicked to YouTube.  I found two videos and watched them.  I came away from that experience with a fresh attitude and an assurance that things aren’t all bad.

What were the videos?

The first one I watched was a performance of the last arias in Handel’s Messiah.  They are performed together and are known as “Worthy/Amen.”  The words to “Worthy” are these:  “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain; and hath redeemed us to God by His blood.  To receive power and wisdom and riches and strength and honor and glory and blessing!  Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto Him, be unto Him; that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb!  Forever and ever!!”

The words to Amen are just one:  “AMEN.”  The numbers go on for over seven minutes, and are some of the most glorious music I’ve ever heard or sung.

The second video?  That was watching the broadcast of the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon, as recorded by CBS and Walter Cronkite & Wally Schirra.  Why that one?  That one event, almost 50 years ago now, was the single most unifying, stupefying, incredible, and indescribable event of my lifetime.  It portrays all that is good about mankind…resourcefulness, ingenuity, guts, passion, drive, intelligence, and commonality.  The landing was the product of armies of people working together, galvanizing behind a common goal for the common good in a time when many were convinced the world was going to hell in a handbasket.

And another thing about the landing…it was on public display for all to see…successful or not.  It was broadcast in real time.  The communications between the spacecraft and the ground were broadcast in real time.  The whole world would know if those men would live to return to earth or die trying.  There’s something special about a nation that will hang its laundry out for all to see…as it happens…in real time…in an event never before attempted and fraught with danger to human beings.  There’s something about a nation that will allow the world to see what democracy and an open society look like and how it operates…warts and all…the good and the bad.

I’m better now.  I can finish the day now.  I can talk with the woman who will be coming to the office in a few minutes to ask me if we can help her with her electric bill…her power has been shut off for non-payment.  I can go home and be at peace with whatever I see on the news.  I can bear the aches and pains of osteo-arthritis and older age.  Because I know that it isn’t all bad…it isn’t all downhill.  God IS.  God LOVES.  God CARES.  And we STILL live in the absolute best place on the planet.