Last Saturday, friends of ours from Maryland came to Colorado and we took our families to ride the Royal Gorge Railroad. This 2-hour train ride took us through 1000-foot granite cliffs, along the Arkansas river, and underneath the Royal Gorge bridge.

It was a beautiful, scenic trip and adults and kids of all ages enjoyed the experience.

We had purchased tickets in coach class, fully expecting to spend most of our time in the open air car to get the most scenic views.





The unobstructed views from the open air car were breath-taking. However, the younger kids quickly got tired of standing and of the heat.



While wandering through the rest of the train, Abby charmed the employees into giving our party access to an empty Vista Dome car. These cars typically required a $25/person upgrade fee to ride!





But after the kids ran up and down the Vista Dome car for awhile, we decided that the best views were still from the open air car, so we all headed back outside for the remainder of the ride.

Rafters on the Arkansas river raised their paddles to greet train riders and we waved and yelled, "hi!" back.




This was definitely a worth-while trip for Colorado visitors and I think everyone enjoyed it immensely.

Some history of the Royal Gorge Railroad:

It 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 1,250 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.