It was a nice scenic ride down Highway 115 where we picked up highway 50 west to Canon City. Where ever we drive in Colorado the scenery is spectacular. Our first stop was at the Royal Gorge Scenic Railway which runs out to the edge of the gorge for viewing from above. As you can see this was not a large train but fun to ride. The train holds quite a group but there was only 4 of us on board as you can see from the empty seats.
The train traveled across the fields until we reached the gorge. We are approaching the gorge up ahead.
You can see the Royal Gorge Suspension Bridge looming over the gorge in the distance. (I you click on the photo go get the full size view.)
We viewed the gorge from this platform on the edge of the gorge.
There goes a group of rafters down the wild Arkansas River.
We had fun on the kiddie train but now it was time to get on a real train and head down through the gorge. We drove to down town Canon City to the train depot and boarded the Royal Gorge Route Railroad.
Now this is what I call a train.
There are a few options to ride the train. Coach: A regular train car with access to an open-air car, Vista Dome: Glass-topped dome cars that offer fantastic views of the gorge as well as breakfast and lunch, along with a full bar. Other options are the Bar & parlor car, Gourmet Lunch, or Gourmet Dinner. We chose the Vista Dome so we could get a great view of the gorge from inside the train. Our car is in the previous photo.
Here is a view of Canon City from our car just before we headed down into the gorge.
I took photos out our window as we traveled down the gorge.
Look how close we are to the towering 1000 ft granite cliffs as we traveled down the gorge.
Here is a great view of the Royal Gorge Suspension Bridge as we passed below. Hanging 1053 feet above the wild Arkansas River, the Royal Gorge Bridge is the world's highest suspension bridge. Built in 1929 for $350,000, the cost today would exceed $15 million. At the bridge there is a park with many attractions including walking or driving across the bridge, riding an incline railway down into the gorge, riding the aerial tram, a Skycoaster which is a cable you dangle from 1200 feet above the river. (I think not.)
Bev and I went to the bridge but we did not cross it. They wanted $25.00 each to get onto the bridge. I did not want to pay just to get jittery knees.
As we continue down the gorge we passed rafters shooting the class 4 rapids. We saw one raft that tipped over but I didn't get a picture of them in the ice cold water.
We saw rafts, kayaks, and even this pontoon boat.
The rapids didn't look to bad from our seat in the Vista Dome but when Bev went below and looked out the window she said the rapids were wild.
Canon City use to get water from a wooden pipe that ran through the gorge. Here you can see remnants of the old pipe.
It was tough taking pictures through the window with the glaring sun.
We did get a great lunch on the train, a large order of nachos with pulled beef. Here I am enjoying a beer after lunch. Life is good when you can drink beer and watch this spectacular scenery.
On the way back to Canon City we passed the Colorado Territory Prison. This prison has been here for many years starting when this was only one of two prisons west of the Mississippi.
We arrived back at the station after a 2 hour 24 mile very enjoyable round trip through the Royal Gorge.
Now this is the train I would have liked to ridden on. It was parked at the train station. I bet this is the type of train passengers first road through the gorge.
The history dates back to the 1870s when two competing railroads, the Denver Rio Grande and the Santa Fe, both worked to build tracks through the Royal Gorge to reach the mining riches further west in Leadville. The only problem was that the Royal Gorge was a chasm, so deep, over 1250 feet in places, and tight, only 30 feet at its narrowest point, that there was room for only one set of tracks. An all-out war broke out between the two, along with a legal battle that raged in the courts for almost two years. (An attorney's dream come true!)
Both the D&RG and Santa Fe built stone forts in the Gorge, rolled rocks down on the men working on the right of way, and threw their tools in the river as they leapfrogged each other. The Santa Fe hired the legendary "Bat" Masterson to assemble a group of men to defend their interests, and soon picks and shovels were replaced by rifles and pistols.
On March 27, 1880, litigation was finally settled when both railroads signed the Treaty of Boston which gave the D&RG access through the Royal Gorge.
In 1976 passenger train service ended and visitors were left high and dry, with no access through the Royal Gorge.
In 1999 the tracks were purchased from the Union Pacific, allowing visitors from around the world to once again experience not only the Royal Gorge, but classic rail service, dining, and entertainment.
This was another enjoyable day of sight seeing and this time we didn't have to stop for supper on the way back home to the camper. We were still full from the great lunch we had on the train.
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