Imaging taking a train through the gorgeous mountains of Colorado while sipping wine, eating fruit and cheese?
Around since 1884, the Georgetown Loop Railroad was one of Colorado’s first visitor attractions. Georgetown and Silver Plume (both mining towns), lie two miles apart in a steep, narrow mountain canyon.
To connect them, the railroad’s builders designed a “corkscrew” route that traveled twice the distance, slowly gaining more than 600 feet in elevation. It included horseshoe curves, 4% grades and four bridges across Clear Creek, including the massive Devil’s Gate High Bridge. 
In 1973, the Colorado Historical Society began restoring the railroad as part of its 978-acre Georgetown Loop Historic Mining & Railroad Park. Here’s the complete history starting from the 1800s till present day.
In addition to taking one way and round-trip runs, you can also tour the Lebanon Silver Mine (accessed only by the railroad).
Trained tour guides will lead you through the mine, show you the mine manager’s office, the change room (also called a “dry”), and the blacksmith shop and tool shed. This is a walking tour lasting 1 hour and 15 minutes and the train rides are 30 minutes long, one way.
If you want to add a l’il luxury to the experience, sit in the dining car towards the back, where they’ll bring you wine and cheese as well as red and white wine.
Popping the cork of course…On board was Ray, who was entertaining and informative.
All the staff were nothing short of awesome, not to mention charming…
The railroad is a must-stop if you’re in the area. It’s perfect as a romantic add-on to an already perfect weekend, great for kids who can learn about the history of Colorado, mining and trains at the same time, and for the lazy traveler who simply wants to kick back and take in stunning landscape while drinking a Cabernet Sauvignon.
It’s also interesting to wander around the home ‘base’ as well.
I particularly love the ‘behind the scenes’ places where you can really get the history and lay of the land.
Take a look at a l’il video I shot watching the train come in.
For more blog posts on Colorado, click here. See my whiz bang tour post here. For my post on Georgetown, the ‘town’, click here.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
