Reliving My Childhood: Visiting Durango, riding the Durango & Silverton Railroad.

The 8:45 heading north.

Back in the 1980s my Uncle – a great man who has since passed on – arrived in Denver to take me on a trip: We flew from Denver to Durango on an Aspen Airways Convair. In Durango we stayed at the Strater Hotel and, as the main featured activity, rode the Durango and Silverton Railroad – a historic narrow gage railroad.

This trip represents the strongest memories that I have of my Uncle.

A couple years ago I asked my Mom and Dad about it – while both clearly remembered the trip, neither could remember my exact age, nor could they really tell me why my Uncle, a lawyer living in DC, decided to visit us and take me on this trip.

Here I am in front of the train.

With these memories floating through my head, I decided to relive this aspect of my childhood. There’s no way to exactly replicate the trip – Stapleton International Airport no longer exists and Aspen Airways has been relegated to the history books as well – but the Strater Hotel still exists and the Durango and Silverton Railroad still runs its trains.

The Durango and Silverton Railroad heading into the San Juan Forest

So Wednesday I found myself at Denver International Airport boarding a propjet, a Q400, to Durango. My first flight being repeated – I found myself remembering the excitement of my first flight, that first take off, and… uh… I fell asleep this time. I was exhausted.

The backend of the Durango and Silverton Railroad.

Thursday I was on the train, the 8:45 to Silverton.

There’s not a lot to say about the ride – it’s 3.5 hours up to Silverton, plus another 3.5 hours down, along with 2ish hours in Silverton for lunch and shopping. The scenery is stunning – especially in the fall, with the changing aspen leaves. The valley offers beautiful waterfalls and stunning vistas.

The train, prepared to head south from Silverton.

It was a great day – I enjoyed it more than I expected.

Wallowing in these memories is a luxury that I am thrilled that I can do – and it’s made me think about childhood – maybe one of the most important things that parents can do is build memories.