Durango was a railway town back in 1800s, set in the beautiful wooded Colorado Mountains in the USA.
The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad features a bright-yellow train that snakes through the mountain passes – the golden colour of beer, in fact. Passengers get to jump on and sample the hops and ales produced by local brewers. It’s sensory learning experience with beautiful scenery along the way.
The restored steam trains are now powered by diesel, and the ‘brew trains’, as they are called, invite you to a sample craft ales from Colorado craft brewers. Tours run during the summer and autumn seasons. The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad route starts at Rockwood and runs through the beautiful Cascade Canyon where sublime photos can be snapped. In winter the waterfall freezes, but in autumn, the cosier harvest season makes beer drinking all the more enjoyable.
The railway has been offering scenic tours since 1882, and was never really a freight train, suited instead for passengers. The train’s top speed is 30 kilometres per hour, with the slowest on the highest passes going a slow 8 to 10 kilometres per hour.
Quite a few films were shot onboard the train in the 1900s, and as recently as 2017, with the most famous of these perhaps being Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).
If you’re in the area, this beer express will set you back about R2,000, but the experience in the mountains and forest groves aboard this centuries-old train, not to mention the beer, could very well be worth it for a day out. The lineup varies, but you’ll also be serenaded by onboard entertainment with live musical bands while tucking into your Bavarian-style lunch.
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Images: Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad via Facebook
