Wednesday, July 9
Today, we had to get up BRIGHT AND EARLY, to get going to Leadville. Our Leadville Colorado & Southern train ride was at 10am. Leadville is about 37 miles away. Located in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, this scenic train trip provides 2 ½ hours of sightseeing, relaxation and a little glimpse back in history. The train travels another 1,000 feet above the headwaters of the Arkansas River Valley. You will travel through pine forests, aspen groves and view high alpine meadows sprinkled with an array of colorful wildflowers.
We arrived about 9am, and took time to take some pictures of the train and its 1953 diesel engine as it pulled into the station and look around the gift shop. At 9:30, we were able to board and pick our seats. We again picked an open air type of railcar with a roof, to keep us out of the sun.
A few minutes after 10 (due to some late arrivals), we departed. As the Leadville Colorado & Southern Railroad travels north along the Arkansas River Valley, it raises up 1,000 feet off the valley floor so we had some spectacular views of Freemont Pass and the two tallest peaks in Colorado, Mt. Massive and Mt. Elbert. The scenery was picture-perfect Colorado, with pine forests and apsen groves, snowy mountain vistas and steep rugged valleys. The route is a little over 9 miles, but at 11mph with a couple of stops, the trip feels much longer. We had a great view and took lots of pictures. We were glad we took our jackets, as it was only going to be 75 today. With the elevation and wind, we were comfortable.
Mt. Massive and Mt. Elbert
Us enjoying the train ride
Groves of Aspen
What a view!
Huge pine trees of all types.
Looking back toward Leadville. The road is Hwy 24.
Looking away from Leadville up the valley.
The water tower.
Tony at our stop at the water tower.
At the stopping point of the water tower, we were able to show our SPECIAL tickets, to get to ride in the Engine CAB, for the ride back. We were very excited to get to do this! We moved on up to the cab, and were the only occupants besides Pat, our engineer. There was surprisingly a lot of room up there, including two little fold-out seats! He told us some about the train and himself, along the way. He was from a small town of less than 150 people, near Vail. It was his first year to engineer the train, though he had been working in transportation for other attractions in the area, previously. He was very personable, and we enjoyed the information as well as the ride.
Seated in the cab!
Opposite us in the cab, the engineer looks back toward the train.
Our view from our seats! The doorway to the catwalk is open.
Shortly after we were going, Pat said we could walk out on the front catwalk and view from there (as long as we held on!) Tony immediately went out and rode on the front nose of the engine, while I stayed in the cab most of the time. I ventured out one time, but man, even at 11mph, it was scary to me. I felt a little panicky and my eyes were watering, so I went back into the cab.
Great view!
Even better, Tony says!
Selfie on a moving train!
Me riding in the cab.
OK, YOU GOT ME OUT HERE, NOW WHAT!!!
Quick, take the picture, I'm going back!
View of the mountains out the cab windows
Pat, our Engineer
The controls
Us with Pat!
After we returned, we headed downtown to eat. We heard good things about the Golden Burro Café, so we decided to eat there. We had a bit of a wait to be seated, but the service was excellent. We got chicken-fried steaks, but they were just OK. We filled up though, and then went for a walk up and down the street. We could have spent more time looking at other attractions, such as Baby Doe’s Matchless Mine, and other mining interests, but we were tired from getting up early and the exciting train ride, so we headed home.
The Golden Burro
Downtown Leadville
More downtown Leadville
Beautiful flowers in the side yard of a home near where we parked.
Columbine
Poppies
A nap was first on the agenda when we returned. We then got up and I worked for a while, until dinner. We had leftover spaghetti for dinner, and I tried to catch up on the blog, while Tony enjoyed the cool outdoors.
Another great day in Colorado. Too bad our time here is soon up.
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