Driving from Durango to Silverton these days, on a fine wide asphalt highway, in something on the order of an hour, it is hard to comprehend the hardships of this trip as recently as sixscore and four years ago. It was two bruising days on the back of a mule, and that's assuming that the mule was of a mind to go. Man—the more stubborn of the pair—has prevailed and contrived through the course of the century, to contract the toll of time and effort that is extracted by Silverton for access to and egress with her riches. One step in these efforts stands salient: the blasting through the battlements above the River of Lost Souls of a slim, snaking shelf for closely spaced rails. Then man straddled these rails with his steaming iron horse and dramatically reduced the hardships of the trip.

Now millions have come to support the suspicion that further reduction diminishes the rewards. 

Photo

© James Burke