Durango & Silverton | Springtime in the San Juans

Spring has long been considered a time of rebirth and renewal. For the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, that means shaking off the winter dust, opening the full route to Silverton, and readying the fleet for the busy tourist season ahead. While summer is typically the busiest time of year for the D&S, the spring season is by no means a lull period as people from around the world flock to southwestern Colorado to take in the mountain scenery.
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In this video, we'll look at some springtime operations on the D&S on May 28th, 29th and 30th, 2026 with footage from all three days combined. K-28 no. 473 and K-36 no. 482 were the main steam power at the time, and they both pulled their own separate trains to Silverton. 473 ran with a diesel helper on the 28th and 29th while 482 ran solo for all three days. The locomotives and their respective crews put on an incredible show of narrow gauge steam railroading in the rugged San Juan mountains.