E Newsletter


For more information: Andrea Seid, Marketing Department, (970) 259-0274.
479 Main Avenue, Durango, CO 81301
For tickets or group reservations, call (970) 247-2733 or www.durangotrain.com.

DURANGO & SILVERTON NARROW GAUGE RAILROAD

  • Durango has always been a railroad town.
  • The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company founded the town of Durango in 1880.
  • The Durango depot looks the same as it was constructed in 1882.
  • The railroad tracks reached Silverton in July 1882. Laborers were paid $2.25 a day.
  • The narrow gauge rails are thirty-six inches apart, standard gauge rails are fifty-six inches.
  • Locomotives used by the D&SNGRR are from the 470-480 series, manufactured between the years of 1923-25.
  • Throughout the course of many years the D&SNGRR has carried over three hundred million dollars in precious metals.
  • The roundhouse burned on February 10, 1989. The fire destroyed the roundhouse and damaged 6 of the locomotives. This did not prevent the train from running as scheduled that year in May.
  • The D&SNGRR Gauge Railroad carries approximately 200,000 passengers a year.
  • The D&SNGRR uses 10,000 gallons of water per round-trip and 12,000 pounds of coal; the coal is shoveled one shovel at a time.
  • The train travels 46 miles to Silverton, making a total of 95-100 miles in one day.
  • The train “starred” in the following movies:
    Colorado Territory (1949), Ticket to Tomahawk (1950), Denver and Rio Grande (1952), Viva Zapata (1952), Three Young Texans (1954), Run for Cover (1955), Maverick Queen (1956), Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Night Passage (1957), How the West Was Won (1963), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Support Your Local Gunfighter (1970), Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (1984), The Tracker (1987), Rebirth of a Locomotive (1992), Durango Kid (1999), The Claim (2000).
  • Famous actors and actresses who starred in movies involving the D&SNGRR:
    Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Anthony Quinn, James Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, Cloris Leachman, James Garner and Suzanne Pleshette, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Urich, John Denver, Warren Beatty, Michael J. Fox, Howie Long, Dennis Weaver, Ricky Lee Jones, Michael Martin Murphy, Kris Kristopherson, President Gerald Ford, and President William H. Taft among others rode the train.
  • General Palmer implemented narrow gauge and narrow passenger cars because he wanted to prevent men and women from being able to sleep in the same bed on the train (the narrow passenger cars only have room for single sleeper bunks on each side).  These cars are also less expensive and easier to bring through the rough mountain terrain, so they became popular.  The rails were also less expensive to install (it’s easier to blast out a narrower track on the side of a mountain) and can make sharper curves around mountains.
  • The train was officially promoted as a scenic tour beginning in July of 1882.  It was promoted in 1951 as solely a passenger train and not as a freight train.
  • The train travels at an average speed of 18 mph (regular speed with all the coaches).
  • The K-36’s can reach 25 mph and No. 42 can reach 35 mph.
  • The heaviest locomotive is the K-36’s weighing one hundred forty-three tons when loaded with coal and water.  The heaviest car is the Nomad weighing 35 tons.  Its heavy brass bed and marble top furniture contribute to the tremendous weight.
  • Unlike automobiles, locomotives do not have odometers, so it is up to the conductor to keep track of mileage.  Locomotive and train mileage is recorded monthly and submitted to the Federal Railroad Association.  Passenger miles are also submitted monthly.  The number of passengers on that round-trip multiplies the daily mileage (90 miles approximately) for the total miles traveled.
  • The Durango train requires four employees plus concession and private car attendants on its trips.  Two employees work in the locomotive cab (the engineer and fireman), and one brakemen and one conductor work throughout the entire train.
  • How does one become a conductor?  How does one become an engineer?
    Both positions require special exams and on-the-job training.  To become a conductor, one must first become a brakeman and work under the conductor.  It takes more than four years to become an engineer.  One begins as a brakeman, then progresses to working in the cab alongside the engineer as a fireman.  Then, one must study mechanical instruction and take student trips. 
  • The oldest part of the train is Concession Car #212 that was built in 1879. The oldest D&SNGRR locomotive is No. 42 that was built in 1887 and is on display in the museum.  The locomotives used daily are from 1923 and 1925.
  • American Heritage Railways of Coral Gables, Florida, purchased the railroad in the summer of 1998 under the leadership of Chairman Allen C. Harper and President Carol Harper.


The D&SNGRR is designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Services
and is also an American Society of Civil Engineering Landmark.  The train was recognized in the “Top ten most exciting train journeys in the world” by the Society of American Travel Writers and received the “5 Star Award for Best Attraction” by the National Association of Travel Journalists.

For more information, contact Andrea Seid in the D&SNGRR Marketing
 Department at (970) 259-0274.
For tickets or group reservations, call (970) 247-2733 or www.durangotrain.com.

 

 

 


 


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Durango Area Tourism Office | 802 Main Avenue, Durango, CO 81301 | 970-247-3500