Colorado's Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

"As one of the United States’s most scenic historic railroads, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNG), with its jet-black steam-powered locomotives and 1880s-era coaches, still travels along the same tracks that miners, frontiersmen, and cowboys journeyed nearly 140 years ago."

So why narrow gauge? From Das Wiki:

"A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in). Most narrow-gauge railways are between 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) and 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in).

Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structure gauges, and lighter rails, they can be less costly to build, equip, and operate than standard- or broad-gauge railways (particularly in mountainous or difficult terrain). Lower-cost narrow-gauge railways are often built to serve industries and communities where the traffic potential would not justify the cost of a standard- or broad-gauge line.

Narrow-gauge railways have specialized use in mines and other environments where a small structure gauge necessitates a small loading gauge. They also have more general, non-industrial applications...

In some countries, narrow gauge is the standard; Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, New Zealand, South Africa, and the Australian states of Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania have a 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge, and Malaysia and Thailand have metre-gauge railways. Narrow-gauge trams, particularly metre-gauge, are common in Europe."

In the United States, the San Francisco cable cars use 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) as did the now defunct Los Angeles Railway and the San Diego Electric Railway.

The Durango & Silverton railroad is located in the southwest corner of Colorado. It's open year-round to the public for excursion runs through the scenic wonder of the Rocky Mountains.

"All trains depart in the morning from the depot in Durango, Colorado. During the summer, there are three trains daily that depart 45 minutes apart. The one-way time to Silverton is three hours. All trips are round-trip, but riders may elect to take a bus back to Durango. During the winter months, there is one train daily with an abbreviated two-hour ride to Cascade Canyon. Fares begin at $89 (winter) and $99 (summer) with reduced fares for children."

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