Royal Gorge Railroad

My wife and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary with a ride on the Royal Gorge Railroad.  With reserved seats on the Vista Dome car we arrived early at the station for a late afternoon dinner on the train.

Seating is done in traditional railroad style, so we were seated with another couple on vacation from San Antonio.  Although this could have been awkward depending on the luck of the draw, Wes and Julie turned out to be delightful dinner companions, taking this picture and even buying a bottle of wine to help us celebrate.

The Vista Dome car was comfortable with fantastic views out the curved windows and the food and service was excellent.  The train moves at a leisurely 12 miles per hour so we enjoyed our meals and conversation as the canyon walls closed in around us.

The conductor occasionally pointed out natural and historical sites, including the old water pipe that was constructed to supply water to Canon City, and a group of mountain goats high up the canyon walls.  He also explained that while we would ordinarily see river rafters, the river was closed to commercial rafting due to dangerously high water conditions, flowing at 3,500 feet per second.

As we enjoyed our dinner, in what seemed like no time but was actually over an hour from boarding the train, we caught our first glimpse of the star attraction Royal Gorge Bridge.  Like other natural and man-made monuments, the towering scale of the span 1,053 feet above the river makes you feel small and the train like an HO model instead of the massive double-decker cars we climbed into at the station.

Shortly after passing under the bridge, the canyon narrows to 30 feet across and unbelievably, the hanging bridge built in 1879 is still in use.  The conductor had earlier pointed out an abandoned house that was slowly being overtaken by the canyon walls which he said are moving in approximately an inch per year.  If the same is true of this section the bridge would eventually be reclaimed by the canyon as well, but I suspect the volume of water flowing through will keep the passage open.

After making its way through the canyon the train stops in Parkdale, CO, and reverses course to make the return trip through the canyon.  We took the opportunity to venture out to the open car which provides a completely different experience from the Vista Dome.  Here the movement of the train and the fast flowing river is much more evident.  You can even feel spray from the river in some places and you get an unobstructed view of the canyon.  On the return trip the train stops on the hanging bridge, providing an excellent opportunity for taking pictures and a short video.

Arriving back at the station approximately two hours later, we received souvenir glasses that came with our pre-purchased meal and bought the picture that was taken by the photographer when we boarded the train.  For a special occasion, the Vista Dome car with a meal was the way to go.  However, to keep costs down for a family or just an ordinary sight-seeing trip, either the coach or club cars would be equally enjoyable and everyone can go out to the open car.  Some people even seemed to spend the whole trip out there.

Neither my wife nor I had ridden a train since we were kids, but now we are thinking about other train trips we could take together.  Bidding our dinner companions goodbye, we joked about meeting again to ride the train together in another 30 years.  The Royal Gorge Railroad provided a wonderful way to celebrate 30 years of journeying together in marriage by the grace of God.

“There are three things that are too hard for me,
    really four I don’t understand:
the way an eagle flies in the sky,
    the way a snake slides over a rock,
the way a ship sails on the sea,
    and the way a man and a woman fall in love.”  — Proverbs 30:18-20, NCV