Colorado By Rail Tour
 July
9-20, 2012
Tour from $2999.00
Hurry! Only 3 rooms are left on this tour.
Quite possibly the most “classic” train tour is this
in-depth exploration of the Colorado Rockies riding standard and narrow
gauge railways to summits of over 14,000 feet. Teddy Roosevelt described a
train journey through Colorado as “the trip that bankrupts the English
language”! Our itinerary makes a great circle of the Rockies round-trip
from Denver and is timed as a cool escape from the heat of summer.
Numerous train rides include the Light Rail (trolley) line in
 Denver;
Amtrak’s
CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR; both the legendary narrow gauge
SILVERTON and the
Cumbres and Toltec scenic
railways; the Pikes Peak Cog Railway;
the Leadville, Colorado and
Southern Railroad to the Climax Mines; the
Georgetown Loop narrow
gauge circle line; a visit to the excellent
Colorado Railroad Museum;
the Royal Gorge
inclined railway and (in contrast) the restored standard gauge
Royal Gorge Route train
through the depths of the canyon. We also travel on the reopened former Rio
Grande route, the Rio
Grande Scenic Railroad from Alamosa over La Veta Pass to the little
village of
La Veta. This is one of the most remote and beautiful standard gauge
lines in the west, and Sunday trains are usually steam-powered. On the
return, our motorcoach visits
Great Sand Dunes National Park!
 This tour has significant interest for both train buffs
and those seeking the beauty and history of the Rocky Mountain west. Even
those with no interest in railways will love the remarkable vistas from
Colorado’s trains. Non-rail sightseeing includes traveling through the
mountains between Ouray and Telluride, ancient
Anasazi Indian
cliff dwellings, ghost towns, and sublime scenery ranging from vast
deserts to alpine peaks. We also visit the great resorts of Glenwood
Springs, Ouray, Durango, and Colorado Springs.
Please join popular Rail Travel Adventures Tour Manager
Denny Thompson on this wonderful tour. All aboard!
 Day
One, Monday, July 9 (D) Independent arrivals into Denver. No
activities are scheduled during the mid-day today. Downtown
Denver has a vibrant historic
district and is served by Denver’s great new Light Rail System. A nice
option would be a ride on the new Southeast Line, which is nearly 25 miles
long! An all-day pass is only $6.00. Please be at our hotel by 6:00 p.m.
to join us for our Welcome Dinner. We’ll take a short light rail ride to
dine at the Buckhorn Exchange
Restaurant, a landmark whose guests included Teddy Roosevelt.
Accommodations are included at the Comfort Inn Downtown, a full-service
hotel associated with and sharing public rooms with the legendary Brown
Palace Hotel.
Day Two, Tuesday, Tuesday, July 10 (B) CALIFORNIA
ZEPHYR through the Rockies. We depart this morning for the finest
scenic journey on the entire Amtrak system, the
CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR
crossing of the Rockies.
 Our
streamlined double-decker Superliner follows the Union Pacific’s former
Denver and Rio Grande Western RR Moffat Route west. We begin with a
4,000-foot ascent to the East Portal of the
Moffat Tunnel through the yawning abyss of the South Boulder Canyon.
At Plainview, the view encompasses three states. The great 6.2 mile-long
tunnel takes us through the Continental Divide (the “Crest of the
Continent”) and into the drainage of the mighty Colorado River. We follow
a succession of ever deeper and grander canyons: the Fraser, Byers, Gore,
Red and Glenwood.
Glenwood Canyon, a 6,000-foot deep slash in the ranges of the western
slope, ends at the lovely resort of Glenwood Springs. We detrain here and
overnight at the Hotel Denver,
a Victorian jewel located right at the railroad station. The world’s
largest outdoor hot springs pool is just across the river, two blocks walk
from the hotel and open this evening for a swim. Pool admission is
included in the tour.
 Day
Three, Wednesday, July 11 (L) Grand Mesa; Ouray. Our first scenic
drive occurs as we follow the increasingly arid canyons of the Colorado
River west through Rifle and Palisade, and then begin the ascent and
crossing of
Grand Mesa. The nearly flat summit of this 10,000-foot mountain is
incised with dozens of tiny lakes and an immense forest of aspen and tall
pines. After descending to the apple orchards and ranches near Delta, we
have an included lunch at the Apple Shed Gallery before continuing south
into the awesome San Juan Mountains. Enroute we make a stop to visit the
new Ridgeway Railroad
Museum. Our hotel is the Ouray
Chalet in the spa town of Ouray. This picturesque village lies in an
amphitheater of giant peaks with waterfalls plunging into the village from
the heights above.
Day Four, Thursday, July 12 Uncompahgre Canyon; Red
Mountain Pass; Telluride; Lizard Head Pass. This morning we take a
drive through
Uncompahgre Canyon, past Black Bear Falls, to the summit of Red
Mountain Pass. We then return to Ridgeway and turn west over Dallas Divide
for Telluride. Enroute to Red Mountain Pass we see narrow gauge railway
traces and well-preserved ghost towns. From Ridgeway to Telluride and
Durango, we closely follow the abandoned grade of the
Rio Grande Southern RR
across the top of the world.
The RGS was the most remote of the Colorado Narrow Gauge
Lines. Briefly (in the early 1890s) this route was so successful it minted
silver passes. After the Silver Panic of 1893, it staggered on for 60 more
years, ultimately inventing the
“Galloping Goose” railcar. This was a Buick on rails for use on days
when traffic wouldn’t justify a real steam-powered train (and there were
all-too-many such days for the RGS). We see a preserved “Goose” at the
railway museum in Dolores later today. The RGS route includes the open
Dallas Divide, with excellent views of Mount Sneffels and Lizard Head
Pass, traces of the
Ophir Loop, and vistas of lovely
Trout Lake.
 Mid-day we stop for optional lunches and shopping in
Telluride, which lies on the
floor of a box canyon. At the head of the valley, waterfalls cascade over
a thousand feet down the slopes. The entire center of town is a National
Historic Landmark. Another option is to ride the aerial tramway to lunch
in the ski resort high above the valley.
This afternoon we visit the
Anasazi Heritage Center to learn of the “ancient ones”: Native
Americans who built the cliff dwellings of the Southwest. Our home for two
nights is the landmark General Palmer
House Hotel in Durango, adjacent to the active depot of the
steam-powered SILVERTON train.
This hotel is a Victorian treasure.
Day
Five, Friday, July 13 (CB) The Silverton Train. The entire day is
devoted to the grandest of all Colorado rail journeys and one of the most
spectacular in the world, the steam-powered SILVERTON train’s ascent of
the Animas River Canyon to the “ghost town”
 of Silverton. Built as the
Silverton Branch of the Denver and Rio Grande (D&RG), today’s Durango and
Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway operates 45 miles north from Durango
through scenery that approximates Switzerland.
The
climb begins in the broad lower valley of the Animas River before the
canyon narrows, all roads vanish, and for 30 miles there exists only the
railroad, the glacial green waters of the Animas and the 12,000
to14,000-foot peaks of the San Juan Mountains. We have a mid-day layover
in Silverton for lunch and time to explore the shops and galleries before
an afternoon return to Durango. Our return opens new vistas of the High
Line and the mighty San Juans.
Day Six, Saturday, July 14 (CB, L) Cumbres & Toltec
Scenic Railroad. Early this morning we drive to Chama NM to board the
longest narrow gauge steam railway in North America. The
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic RR
follows the former Denver and Rio Grande San Juan Extension for 64 miles
over 10,033 foot Cumbres Pass through the heart of the San Juan Mountains.
Powerful 2-8-2 “Mikado” engines power the train up the 4% grade to the
 Pass, often double-heading for the ascent. Past the divide, the train
enters the deep canyon of the Rio des los Pinos (River of Pines). For 50
miles no paved road crosses the tracks. We stop for an included luncheon
at Osier, then descend steeply past Toltec Gorge. We
cross and recross the Colorado/New Mexico border enroute to our
destination at Antonito CO in the vast San Luis Valley. We spend the next
two nights at the Inn of the Rio Grande in Alamosa.
Day Seven, Sunday, July 15 (L) Rio Grande Scenic RR
(standard gauge steam) over La Veta Pass; Great Sand Dunes National Park.
Today we enjoy Colorado’s newest (yet historic) rail line, the standard
gauge Rio Grande Scenic
RR which we ride from Alamosa to La Veta. This
line restores passenger service to wildly beautiful
La Veta Pass,
a summit last crossed by regularly scheduled passenger trains over 50
years ago. Weekend service on the line is normally powered by a restored
former Southern Pacific 2-6-0 or a former Grand Canyon Ry 2-8-0 steam
engine. A picnic luncheon is included during our layover in La Veta. After
lunch there is free time to explore this charming little town. On the
return train trip to Alamosa we depart the train at Fort Garland and visit
the Great Sand Dunes National
Park. Here the endless westerly flow of the winds across the vast San
Luis Valley has created towering sand dunes which rise up to 750 feet
above the valley floor against the westward flanks of the Sangre de Cristo
Mountains.
Day Eight, Monday, July 16 (L) The Royal Gorge via
two different trains. The Royal Gorge beckons. The Arkansas River
bisects a tall plateau between Parkdale and Canon City, creating a gorge
over 1200 feet deep with sheer cliffs towering above. The
canyon is so
 narrow at the bottom that the D&RG
railroad constructed a unique “Hanging Bridge” anchored on both sides of the
canyon, thus suspending the tracks over the center of the river! Once this
was the most famous train stop in the west; and all services on the
original Rio Grande RR mainline paused here for pictures. A thousand feet
above is the spectacular Royal Gorge Suspension Bridge, the highest such
span on earth.
We view this awesome sight on two different trains.
First we explore the canyon’s depths, riding the newly restored
Royal Gorge Route Railroad
passenger train on the historic former Rio Grande RR tracks. As an added
treat, we travel in the First Class vista-dome car today with lunch
included. As in the past, the highlight of the journey is the stop at
“Hanging Bridge” at the narrowest point in the chasm. Finally we visit the
soaring Suspension Bridge and ride the
inclined railway
from the rim to the
 river’s edge! After an amazing day, we drive to
Colorado Springs, overnighting in the city center at the renowned Antlers
Hilton Hotel.
We
drive through the stunning red-rock monoliths of the
Garden of the Gods
enroute to Manitou Springs. Here we board the world’s highest cog railway,
the Manitou Springs and Pike’s Peak
Cog Ry, and ascend to the 14,110 foot summit of Pike’s Peak. The view
from here inspired the writing of “America the Beautiful”. Luncheon is
included at Giuseppe’s Old
Station Restaurant in the former Colorado Springs depot of the Rio
Grande. This afternoon we drive west into the high peaks. We follow the
abandoned routes of the Colorado Midland and South Park railways to
Silverthorne, where we stay two nights at the very comfortable La Quinta
Inn and Suites.
 Day Ten, Wednesday, July 18 (CB,L) Explore Leadville;
train to Climax. We visit the highest city in North America today, the
former silver mining town of Leadville, which lies at over 10,000 feet
elevation. We begin this morning with a ride on the last miles of the
former Denver, South Park and Pacific RR. The
Leadville, Colorado and Southern
RR now operates the former South Park route up Fremont Pass. This line
was built to three-foot gauge and then converted to standard gauge during
World War II to handle the huge surge in mine traffic during the war. The
views from this line are among the grandest in Colorado, offering open
vistas of the perpetually snow-capped high peaks of the College Range.
Later we visit the historic
Tabor Opera House, the
Baby Doe Tabor
Cabin/Matchless Mine, and the new National Mining Hall of Fame and
Museum. Our lunch is at the National Historic Landmark Delaware Hotel.
Day
Eleven, Thursday, July 19 (CB,L) Georgetown Loop RR; Colorado RR Museum.
We make our last crossing of the Great Divide enroute to the ghost town
 of
Silver Plume, where we ride the narrow-gauge
Georgetown Loop Railway.
This former Colorado and Southern narrow-gauge line faced an almost
insurmountable engineering challenge in conquering the dramatic rise
between the silver-mining towns of Georgetown and Silver Plume. In an
airline distance of just under two miles, the C&S engineers gained over
600 feet in elevation by resorting to a 4½-mile route including a high
trestle and a complete loop. Once a world-renowned landmark, the line was
torn up in 1937, then rebuilt by the Colorado State Historical Society as
a tribute to railway men of the boom era. The scenery is unbelievably
grand! While in the beautifully preserved Victorian town of Georgetown,
we’ll explore the fascinating
Hotel de Paris, which still contains all the original furnishings from
the 1880s. We enjoy our Farewell Lunch at the Raven Hill Mining Company in
Georgetown's historic center.
Later we explore the superb
Colorado Railroad Museum
in Golden, which has a priceless collection of Colorado standard and
narrow gauge relics. The treasures here range from 120-year-old steam
engines to original “Galloping Goose” railcars and the diesel engines that
 powered
the “Rio Grande Zephyr” and “Royal Gorge” trains. Our last tour night is
again spent at the Comfort Inn Downtown in Denver.
Day Twelve, Friday, July 20 (CB) Tour ends. Our
tour ends with independent departures by rail or air this morning.
TOUR
PRICES include all rail and coach fares; all hotel nights; admissions and
meals noted as included above; luggage handling; tour manager services;
and transfers during the tour. Connecting travel to/from Denver,
arrival/departure transfers in Denver, other meals, and items of a
personal nature are not included in the tour price.
$2999.00 per person, double occupancy
$3699.00 single
occupancy
Conditions and Booking Information (the fine
print)
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