Motor cars on the Durango and Silverton

We traveled to Silverton, Colorado to ride narrow gauge motorcars thru the mountains on the trackage of the Durango and Silverton railroad. This is a narrow gauge railroad, meaning the rails are spaced 36" apart rather than the more common 4'-8 1/2" standard gauge you see everywhere. It was a faster way to build  narrow gauge railroads in the mountains and was once very common, but quite rare now.

Motorcars are former railroad maintenance of way track cars that have been sold by the railroads and purchased by individuals who have lovingly restored them. The motorcars used for this trip are all narrow gauge cars which as far less common than the standard gauge cars.

An organization known as NARCOA represents the owners of the motorcars and arranges rides on various railroads. This organization handles the insurance and organization of the rides. 

This was a four day event in which we rode from the rail yard at Silverton to the valley above Durango with stops along the way to see various sites and items of interest. We left early in the mornings after our safety briefings. It is cold in the mountains in the mornings even though it is August.

We rode as passengers in our friends Mark and Deby's Fairmont A4 gang car named "Duchess" This is a beautiful machine equipped with headsets and intercom system to allow for easy communication.

Our camp site for the RV allowed us to watch the steam trains enter and leave town

Deby and Julie getting ready for the trip

All the cars gathered to go

Mark and Duchess

Julie and her intercom headset

Leaving Silverton

Into the mountains

This was a surprise treat. This is a railbus built in 1922 over the chassis of a 1915 Cadillac. It was used by the Sunnyside mine as an ambulance early in its life and later used for general transportation. The Historical Society is the current caretaker of the railbus and arranged to take it on the rails for this event

Duchess

We traveled past a wide variety of equipment on the sidings

Waiting for the steam train in the Tacoma siding

One of the many trains we met along the way

Potty break at the Tall Timbers Lodge. They offer a zip line adventure to folks who travel into the lodge via the steam train

The folks at Tall Timber have electric golf carts set up as high rails to allow them to travel to town for supplies

Heading towards the High Line

The view down from the High Line can be breathtaking

Bringing he Wildcats spirit to the mountains at Horseshoe curve on the High Line

This is the Durango and Silverton Railroad gang car that was the guide for our group. They coordinated all movement with the railroad dispatcher to keep us clear of railroad traffic

Brake wheel on an old gondola

Fun times

Beautiful settings all along the trackage

Flags out showing the cars are stopping

Watching the train pass by our group

An overview of the tracks and the Animas river

Taking a break

It was brisk early in the mornings

Mark flagging to show we are stopped

Awesome scenery

Watching the sun rise in the valley

River and rails share the same canyon

Deby and Mark

They have a big round mirror for traffic awareness at Hermosa - perfect opportunity for a selfie

Each car has a rear view mirror for checking rail traffic behind. This is Steve, the resident radio expert and all around good guy

At the former telephone shack used in the days before two way radios

One of many bridges over the Animas river

Phillip is the event coordinator and did a great job

Backing over one of the bridges to drop off photographers

Duchess travelling along

Watching the train head down grade with brake smoke showing all is working as expected