Winter 2024 on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge

As the calendar has flipped from the winter and slid past the vernal equinox into spring, we present our retrospective on the 2024 Winter Season of trains on the Durango and Silverton. We focus not on the coal-burning 481, which is in its final days of operations as such, but instead, will follow K-36 480 and K-37 493 as they head up the truncated winter versions of the famed Silverton Train (cue up the C.W. McCall, but only halfway as we won't be stopping at Needleton, the Snowshed Slide, nor Silverton of course). We take you inside the Durango Roundhouse and onto the turntable in the predawn hours as 493 steps to greet the day. Watch as 493 struts her stuff pulling the string of golden coaches out of this wild west town in La Plata County. We take to the air above the Rio de Las Animas Perdidas, The river of Lost Souls as the train winds its way into the Silvery San Juan Mountains. We go deep into the Animas River Canyon under the peaks of Purgatory Ski Area. Adventure through the cut that Robert Redford jumped onto this very train in 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" in 1968 where we check out the wilds of this canyon near the Tacoma Hydroelectric Generating Station. Join us as we take to these vertical cliffs like a mountain goat, or Sylvester Stalone in 'Cliffhanger' (No, it's not that good).

[@slanderedstone]

This is one of your best productions yet! Love to see it :)

[@Big_Diehl]

Wow, thanks!

[@RioGrande486]

12:19 has to be one of the greatest Durango & Silverton captures I’ve ever scene, the same goes to 14:48! Really great captures throughout the video. Great work!

[@dainallison4275]

This is the best video of yours that I have seen. Absolutely fantastic!

[@Big_Diehl]

Glad you think so!

[@Keith80027]

This is a wonderful video with lots of off track images that are wonderful addition to the train.

[@Big_Diehl]

Aw shucks....

[@joelvale3887]

Thanks for another great video !

[@Big_Diehl]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@PistonRodProductions]

Great video as always, love listening to the audio and your narration on my way back after a long day at the roundhouse

[@Gokiburi777]

Excellent video

[@Big_Diehl]

Glad you liked it

[@rickdee67]

My new favorite video ever!

[@Big_Diehl]

woah...

[@norrisnutsrailfan100]

Looks like 480 has 493's whistle!

[@TheSteamGuy5125]

Never really liked that whistle honestly

[@slanderedstone]

The whistle is not really a specific locomotives, it’s just one from the shop that they put on the locomotives

[@tandt6869]

19:48 🥱

[@gusvespa]

does anyone see linda waving at the trains anymore?

[@conradfok873]

Do you know the "Silverton" song by C.W. McCall? If so, they should change the part when they say "Here comes the Silverton shoveling coal!" because they don't burn coal anymore!

[@Big_Diehl]

We’re quite familiar with this song… If you go back and watch our other videos, you’ll notice that our narration has sometimes sprinkled with the lyrics from it in the 1984 and 1992 videos featuring “Mr. McCall”

[@Yarf.McBarf]

Great shots! Anyone know why 476 seemed to be running with one cylinder cock open?

[@user-dj9vo4sp4z]

Did anyone video the conversation to oil burners ?

[@Big_Diehl]

I don’t know. I’m guessing it was not? Perhaps as 481 goes in hopefully someone records some of the guys up there can do that. It’s hard for me to record the daily shop actions up there as the schedules are not consistent. I’m nearly four hours away, and these videos required a bunch of commutes to and from Durango for this and that was for this.

[@taijuan5087]

Glider Park is no more?

[@Big_Diehl]

Not for years