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    Chama, Durango, Grand Canyon, and Kansas City: Armchair Travel Series
    Chama, Durango, Grand Canyon, and Kansas City: Armchair Travel Series
    Chama, Durango, Grand Canyon, and Kansas City: Armchair Travel Series
    Ebook73 pages25 minutes

    Chama, Durango, Grand Canyon, and Kansas City: Armchair Travel Series

    By Pauline Hager

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    About this ebook

    Enjoy riding the historic Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad on a coal-fired steam powered engine built in 1882, as Pauline narratives the ride, displaying her pictures. The Hagers flew to Durango, CO, located in the Rocky Mountains, nestled in the Animas River Valley at 6,512 ft. Anticipating a train ride from Durango to Silverton, CO, an old mining town at 9,305 ft. high, due to deep snow drifts blocking the narrow mountain pass at higher elevations, they settled for a round-trip from Durango to the "wye" at Cascade Canyon, 7,750 ft. Beautiful snow-bound scenery was just compensation as they rode the old steam engine, enjoying the ride and spectacular wintery splendor in the mountains. Next was Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, arriving at the historic Grand Canyon R.R. Station, constructed in 1909. Anxious to see all within three days, the family circled the South Rim from east to west, following the sun cross over rocky buttes and mesas with clusters of clouds casting deep shadows. Due to the canyon's immense depth it was not always easy to spot the Colorado River below, but Pauline managed to snap shots of the seemingly calm river, when in reality it is constantly moving, rapidly. Their last day heavy snowfall covered the canyon, creating a beautiful winter wonderland, a lasting image of this awesome canyon. The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad tour from Chama, New Mexico to Antonito, Colorado was the next train excursion. This scenic railroad, completed in 1880, is American's longest and highest narrow gauge railroad. The steam engine pulls the train between Chama, NM and Antonito, CO over 7,000 ft. in the Rocky Mts. Due to a fire partially burning a portion of the Lobato Trestle, where the train crosses 100 ft. above Wolf Creek, the train company provided a bus to transport the passengers to Antonito, enjoying spectacular mountain scenery as the bus climbed steep grades, going through tunnels, and careening along narrow roads above breathtaking gorges. Arriving in Antonito they boarded a waiting C&TSRR for their return trip to Chama, riding in an open observation car, viewing more breathtaking scenery alongside spruce, ponderosa pines and shimmering aspen trees. The train took hair-raising turns, looping down, up and around sides of the mountains, winding around a horseshoe curve, and inching its way along the rim of 800 foot-deep Toltec Gorge, 600 ft. above the Rio de Los Pinos; all the while traversing between northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, enjoying the stunning mountain scenery. The National Garden Railway Society held its convention in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. For those not familiar with garden railroading, a standard garden railroad consists of varying scales from 1/32 to 1/20, but the track gauge is generally 2 3/4 inches. Main requirement is a yard large enough to handle the track feet desired, and the ambition to construct the various buildings either by kit or scratch- built with all the materials to create a truly authentic railroad scene. Four days of touring over 25 creatively built garden railroads in the members' back yards, each day driving between Kansas and Missouri, and a banquet to end the convention, was a fun vacation. Pauline includes several pictures of the gardens.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPauline Hager
    Release dateJun 12, 2015
    ISBN9781310928130
    Chama, Durango, Grand Canyon, and Kansas City: Armchair Travel Series
    Author

    Pauline Hager

    A native of Clinton, Massachusetts, a graduate of The University of South Carolina, and a longtime resident of Southern California, Pauline Hager presently lives in La Jolla, California with her husband Randy. Ms. Hager writes from her home and is presently working on her third book. Her first book Memoirs of an American Housewife in Japan humorously recounts her two and one half years living among the Japanese, and her second book is a novel Giorgi's Greek Tragedy, an epic tale during the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Turks. The author contributes articles to a monthly e-newsletter www.foxandquill.com/

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      Chama, Durango, Grand Canyon, and Kansas City - Pauline Hager

      Preface

      My husband and I have traveled to many countries around the globe, via ocean and river cruises, bus/auto and rail. Twenty one countries (including the US) and eleven excursions are chronicled and published into four separate travelogues; each titled Armchair Travel Series around the Globe with Pauline, listed by mode of transportation and names of country. In May 2015 the covers were changed and the titles were rearranged, omitting Around the Globe with Pauline. The text basically remains the same, with some corrections.

      The four travelogues and 21 countries are as follows:

      AUTO:

      Nikko National Park Japan 1995

      Thailand 1996

      TRAIN:

      Durango, CO (2005)

      Grand Canyon, AZ (2008)

      Chama, NM to Antonito, CO (2010)

      Kansas City, KS & Missouri (2011)

      CRUISES: OCEAN & RIVER

      Panama Canal includes Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman Islands (2003)

      Russian River Cruise: Moscow to St. Petersburg via Volga Baltic Canal & River. Cities along the way include Uglich, Yaroslavl, Goritzy and Kizhi Island (2005)

      Danube River Cruise includes Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Germany (2011)

      AUTO, BUS & RIVER CRUISE:

      China—bus and river cruise (2007)

      England—auto (2008)

      Durango, Colorado USA-2005

      Durango was our first trip with our son Barry and grandson Stephen. By now, nine-year-old Stephen had become a train aficionado and enjoyed traveling as much as we did. The downside is we were limited to winter/spring school breaks or traveling during the hot, summer months. Since we wanted to ride a train in the winter and see snow, we opted for Durango, Colorado in late February. Our trip was a short weekend stay, but an enjoyable one riding the train.

      Durango is a picturesque mountain town high in the Rockies, nestled in the Animas River Valley at 6,512 ft., surrounded by the San Juan Mountain Range, founded by the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in 1879. The Animas River cuts through the town and offers fishing, whitewater rafting, kayaking and canoeing activities during the warmer months. For those who love to shop, the town offers many clothing boutiques, restaurants, gift shops, bars, and the usual other enterprises.

      The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNGR) built in 1882, is the town's most famous attraction. The railroad runs from Durango to the historic mining town of Silverton, Colorado, elevation 9,305 ft. The historic coal-fired, steam-powered engines and rolling stock date back to the 1920s and earlier. In February,

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