We had a 90-minute layover in Silverton before taking the train back to Durango. Silverton is a small mining town about 45 miles north of Durango. It sits at 9,318 feet elevation and the weather today was cold and windy, with low clouds and light precipitation. The year-round population is only around 600, although during the peak summer months there is probably an increase with temporary workers for the restaurants and shops whose owners largely depend on train riders for their livelihood. Silverton is accessible by car but I’m sure several trainloads of eager tourists each day is their bread and butter.
My table-mates have taken the train to Silverton for several years and said they wouldn’t mind if I tagged along with them for lunch. They knew of a nice restaurant a few blocks from where we disembarked from the train. There had been a train which left Durango about 45 minutes before ours and those folks were finishing up their meals so there was a brief wait for a table. We were seated in front of a big open fireplace (which was very nice on a cold, blustery day) and I had an elk burger and a cup of green chile soup, both of which were very good.
After we ate there was only about 15 minutes before we had to be back on the train so I took a quick walk through town and took these photos. There were tall mountains in all directions, most of which had a little bit of snow on them and some of the peaks were hard to see because of the low clouds. I now wish I had stopped here when I drove past town about a month ago as I would have liked to have had more time to see the Victorian architecture and visit some of the shops. I thought the train layover was longer but I was mistaken.
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