In 1860, a group of prospectors ventured into the San Juan Mountains seeking riches. They discovered gold and silver deposits along the Animas River, naming the area “Baker’s Park”. Despite news of the discovery spreading, the Civil War, and the fact that the land belonged to the Ute Indians, delayed miners from returning until the early 1870s.

But in 1874, Silverton’s town site was established, quickly becoming the hub of numerous mining camps. Alongside miners, the town attracted the attention of a Denver railroad company with the ambition to build a track up this formidable canyon.

Eight years later, the inaugural train from Durango, operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, arrived in Silverton. This extraordinary achievement was a testimony to the ability of 19th century engineers. By 1883, Silverton boasted a population of 2,000, featuring 400 buildings, including two banks, five laundries, 29 saloons, hotels, and the notorious red-light district, Blair Street.

Sitting proudly at 9300 ft, Silverton is hard enough to reach by car in 2025. Whenever I travel up to this gem of a town, I raise my glass to the fortitude and courage of final frontier capitalists and, of course, the railroad workers themselves. There can only be a few train journeys in the world that evoke a greater sense of 19th century human ambition.

The beauty and grandeur of the canyon up to Silverton makes the railroad one of the world’s great visual treats.
The world was introduced to it through Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid way back in 1969 and ever since I first filmed there five years ago, I have been fixated.

In this shot, we staged a robbery high up in the canyon. We know our angles and our lighting and we know the cowboys we can trust on top of that historic train.