Wow, this brings back memories. In 1975, my family visited Durango, and as a newly minted 15 year old rail fan, I did the same thing with my grandfathers old 35mm Argus camera.
Without advance reservations, my dad had heard that if you showed up at the depot early AM, there was a chance you could get tickets.
So we headed down there as soon as the sun was up. While he waited, I took that Argus and started wandering around the yard shooting.
Looking back, I’m amazed no one said a word to me as I poked my way around, getting up close to all the locos and rolling stock. It was another world, the smell of coal smoke and the crunch of cinders under my feet. It was wide open to explore and I saw no security.
Next time I visited in 1984, the yard was locked up tighter than Fort Knox.
I’ve got those slides around somewhere, but the quality is poor as I didn’t understand lighting, F stops, and framing back then, and the camera just wasn’t up to snuff.
And yes my dad got tickets and we were soon off to Silverton.
