I was going through some scans from my father's slide collection and found this shot of the 476 in Durango after a run in its first summer (1980) under a new name, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The unsophisticated lettering on the tender is one of the few clues that the Denver & Rio Grande Western no longer operates the fabled line. Yes, that's me on the pilot.
I know...These were the first two real experiences for me with a train. I thought all trains used steam engines and they lurched like narrow gauge did. I rode the final run of the Rio Grande Zephyr, and I was just as clueless about the history of that at the time. Only now do I really appreciate it. Special memories, regardless, but I wish I had really known how special it was at the time.
Yup. Let me pull the highlights and put them up in a little while on a separate post. It sure was snowy that day.
