The tour is being run using minibuses, which will allow flexibility.  We have deliberately not included meals (except where shown) in this tour – there is such a wide variety of options, and meals are so cheap by British standards (with enormous portions), we feel it is better to deal with meals on an informal basis when you decide whether a full meal or a snack is appropriate!

Saturday 8 September
We leave Britain today for the flight to Denver. There are flights from either London Heathrow or Manchester.  Arrival in Denver will be in the early evening, and we’ll take the short journey to our base for the next few days, the Motel 6 at Wheat Ridge, a suburb of Denver

Sunday 9 September
Today sees our first foray into the Rockies. We’ll head up to Moffat tunnel, calling at Blue Mountain, Pinecliffe, Rollins (for the ice-fields and the world’s smallest Tesco) and some wonderful views of the Moffat tunnel itself. We should be able to photograph the daily Amtrak ‘California Zephyr’ somewhere on this stretch.  We’ll go a little way up the old Rollins Pass route, which reached 11,160 ft and was a nightmare to work – hence the Moffat tunnel, completed in 1929.  We’ll return to the Denver suburbs for the night – there should be time for a little light shopping for those who wish.

Monday 10 September
After breakfast, we visit the Colorado Railway Museum at Golden, with plenty of steam and diesel locomotives, both standard and narrow gauge to see. Then it’s the Joint Line. This heads south from Denver is jointly owned by the two big rail companies in the West – Union Pacific and BNSF (as successors to the Denver and Rio Grande Western, and the Santa Fe).  We can expect to see coal trains – 15,000 tons with three locomotives, all working flat out going south. There are some beautiful spots for photography  and we’ll head south to spend the night at Colorado Springs – the recommended restaurant here is Giuseppe’s – it was the railway station, but now serves an awesome salad buffet (plus the usual steaks for those with big appetites!). 

Tuesday 11 September
A short road journey takes us to Manitou Springs for a train trip to the summit of Pikes Peak at 14,100 feet – the views from here are fantastic.  The line uses Swiss-built diesel units running on a rack line, much like the Snowdon Mountain Railway. The afternoon will bring a short excursion to the United States Air Force Academy. Just to the south is Cheyenne Mountain – the command bunker the United States maintains in case of nuclear attack.

Wednesday 12 September
A short journey west to Cripple Creek has us back a century or so, with this small line giving us a 45 minute ride through this old gold-mining district. We then head south and arrive at the Royal Gorge Railroad for a ride through the Gorge with its famous ‘hanging bridge’ behind an old E unit GM diesel. In the late afternoon, we’ll take the long drive towards Antonito ready for the next day’s La Veta trip.  We’ll stop for the night (and dinner) in Alamosa.

Thursday 13 September
Today after breakfast (included), we’ll take a ride on Colorado’s newest steam operation, the La Veta Pass route on the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad.  Steam (subject to availability) takes us from Alamosa station up to the summit of the pass with some incredible S-curves. The loco should be the ex-Southern Pacific Baldwin 1744 or Lake Superior 18. There’s time to look round the small town of La Veta before the return. 

Friday 14 September
A full day out on the Cumbres and Toltec Railway, Our steam-hauled train leaves Antonito at 10:00 and runs behind steam over the San Juan mountains to Chama via the fabulous Tanglefoot Curve and Windy Point, over the summit at 10,000 feet.  We’ll spend the night at the historic Chama Inn opposite the railway station in Chama.  There’s a great local steakhouse here – it’s the favourite eatery for most of the railroad staff! Breakfast and lunch are included today.

Saturday 15 September
We’ll spend the morning chasing the eastbound C&T train up the steep bit from Chama to Cumbres Pass – the grade is 1 in 25 most of the way, and the loco REALLY works hard!  We will then head west following the track-bed of the old Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge main line through beautiful Western countryside to Durango, our base for the night.

Sunday 16 September
Our day out on the most famous of Colorado’s narrow gauge lines, the Durango and Silverton.  We’ll leave Durango at 09:15 and traverse the ‘High Line’ way above Animas River before following the river valley all the way up to Silverton.  There’s time to explore this old mining town before returning to Durango.

Monday 17 September
For those who wish, we’ll chase the two morning trains up to Hermosa for some great photos.  Then we will leave Durango and follow the course of the fabled Rio Grande Southern through Dolores (where we can stop to visit the ‘Galloping Goose’ museum – the Geese were the trademark of this remote line and if we’re lucky, we may be able to have a very short ride up the 100 yards of track outside the restored station), Ophir, Rico and Lizard Head Pass.  We’ll continue via Montrose and visit the steep Black Canyon of the Gunnison, a National Park, before spending the night in Gunnison, a real Western town.

Tuesday 18 September
Railway interest and scenery. We’ll drive over the old Marshall Pass, once on the Rio Grande’s narrow gauge main line to Gunnison.  Marshall Pass summit used to be in a complete wooden snowshed, remains of which still exist. After passing through Poncha Springs, we follow the course of the old Tennessee Pass railroad to Leadville, Colorado’s best preserved mining town.  If we make it in time, we can ride the Leadville Colorado & Southern up to Climax – it’s an experience to remember. Dinner is at Quincy’s where the only item on the menu is filet mignon of excellent quality!

Wednesday 19 September
We continue down to the Georgetown Loop, where we’ll take a train trip over the spindly Devils Gate Bridge. We then continue, pausing for a plinthed loco at Idaho Springs, via the northern outskirts of Denver, and head north (with a compulsory stop at Johnson’s Corner for cinnamon buns like you’ve never tasted before), into Wyoming to Cheyenne, the Union Pacific’s base for its steam locomotives. There should also be time to look at the city of Cheyenne. In one of Cheyenne’s parks, there is a plinthed “Big Boy”, one of the largest steam locomotives ever built.

Thursday 20 September
We’ll take an early morning trip the five miles east to the top of Archer Hill, a great place to photograph eastbounds climbing round an enormous S-bend.  We can then head west to see the best spots on Sherman Hill – Borie, Otto Road, Granite, Buford, Tie Siding and Dale Creek.  We should also have permission to visit the historic site of Union Pacific’s first crossing of Dale Creek (the main line was routed away from here in 1899) – the stone supports for the original high wooden trestles are still in good condition. Back in Cheyenne, the recommended dining spot is the Old Station Depot.  The station is well worth visiting in its own right, and we will arrange a tour – for dinner, there is a bistro, where (weather permitting) it is possible to eat on the old platform one, within a few feet of transcontinental freight trains pausing for a crew change.

Friday 21 September
We’ll visit the Union Pacific Steam Centre at Cheyenne, where we hope that both the Challenger 2-8-8-2 Mallet 3985 and the Northern 4-8-4 number 844 (together with many other vintage steam and diesel locomotives) are housed.  In the afternoon, we drive back down the Interstate to Denver. There should also be time to visit Caboose Hobbies, a railway model shop about the size of an average supermarket. As an alternative, there is conventional shopping in Denver’s city centre 16th Street Mall. 

Saturday 22 September
After breakfast and packing for departure, we’ll call at the Forney Transport Museum, which houses several steam locomotives (plus cars and many other items) on our way out to the airport for afternoon flight back to …

Sunday 23 September
…Heathrow or Manchester

We will endeavour to provide airport transfers in Denver for those arranging their own flights, but it may be necessary to take a cab.

What’s included
Flights, meals on flights and where shown, transfers, accommodation, minibus travel, train travel where indicated, USAF excursion.  Not included: travel to/from Heathrow, meals, incidentals.

Prices:

Fully inclusive price from London: £3,615 (based on two people sharing) 
Ground only price: £2,915 (based on two people sharing)
Single supplement: £490