Railroad

Durango's main attraction is the Durango-Silverton Railway, an immaculately reconditioned Victorian train that rides the rails to the old mining town of Silverton and is basically what the Hogwarts Express would look like if Harry Potter was American. We were in a bright yellow and black liveried carriage, bouncing through the mountains on sprung leather seats, with the aroma (and cinders) of the smokestack coming in through the windows. It's three and a half hours over some pretty precipitous mountain passes to Silverton, which is an equally well-preserved town, complete with the Shady Lady Saloon, High Noon Hamburgers and the like. We ate our picnic on the steps of the Library and then went for a nice big ice cream...