POTD - Amtrak's California Zephyr Descends From the Divide To Downtown Denver

Photo of the Day: Peter Lewis

Peter Lewis' recent trip along the Moffat line in August yielded several good photos. Each worked well with the light, but I selected this particular shot because it's not the typical shot taken in this specific area. Usually shots are lower with the attempt to bracket the city next to the train. By raising the angle of attack (to borrow an Air Force term), the city and the train are in different quadrants and because one of them is moving, it was likely easier to capture the train at the right moment without forcing the focus or zoom to do the work in a tighter shot. Great work, Mr. Lewis and welcome to the ranks of POTD photographers!◊

Special POTD: Sadness On a Sunday Morning

As a finishing touch to the featured article on the 3600s, Dave Straight placed his photo "Sadness on a Sunday Morning." I can't look at it without an emotional reaction and I don't trust myself to be reliable in those moments. Yet, to not say anything would seem criminal.

Special Photo of the Day: Dave Straight

At the end of our summer, it's the end of the era of steam, specifically March 25, 1956. My father is not yet 16 years old and his days of driving an ice truck are still ahead of him (let alone parenting me and my three older siblings). Someone older, who would be in his 80s or 90s today, probably looks at the line of used steam engines as dirty, pre-war relics and thinks they look pitiful next to the modern first-generation diesels, all shiny and pristine. Oh, how different a perspective 60 years later!

Today, I still find it incredible that no one gave serious effort to save one of the largest locomotive classes in the world--and certainly in Colorado--off in a corner of a park somewhere in Denver, Pueblo, Grand Junction or Salt Lake City, someplace indebted to the Rio Grande's years of faithful service where such space would have easily been had for the asking. If they had, future generations could have possessed something tangible and real, not a paint scheme or a model, but a life-size representation of the Denver & Rio Grande Western's Main Line Thru the Rockies in an era that is gone forever.◊

POTD - Full Moon Lights An Empty Main Line

Photo of the Day: Kevin the Krazy 1

On the night of a full moon in early April, near Salida but far from the city lights of Denver and Pueblo, photographer Kevin A. Sadowski opened the shutter on his Canon for a full 30 seconds, allowing as much starlight as possible to reach the sensor at the back. Waiting in the stillness, the quiet of the Royal Gorge Route over Tennessee Pass has not been broken by a revenue freight for 18 years. At the end of the half-minute, Mr. Sadowski was probably a bit colder, and in possession of the Photo of the Day.◊

POTD - Bowie Black Diamonds

Photo of the Day: Kevin the Krazy 1

A Union Pacific coal drag leaves Somerset towards Paonia, allowing a worker of a private orchard to cool his heels while it clears his crossing. While coal from eastern states has all but played out or otherwise dropped from domestic use, "high-BTU, low-sulfur, compliance thermal coal" from Bowie on the former Rio Grande is still in demand. On the other hand, recent layoffs at the same mine have threatened to destabilize the western slope's economy and make scenes like this one vanish forever. The first of two POTDs this week by Kevin A. Sadowski.◊

POTD: Snowy Majesty From Greenland Ranch

Today we get a second shot from March 25 by Chris Paulhamus. When the weather is perfect like this, would you turn a second shot down? Taken an hour later than Monday's POTD, Chris notes that the wind has picked up a bit by blowing the heat shimmers across the center of the frame. Pikes Peak's east ridge remains in the clear. Had the auto focus been left unchecked, I wonder if we would be looking at the same picture.

Photo of the Day: Chris Paulhamus

While the loco is more maize than Armour (mustard) yellow because of the diesel grime accumulating on its nose, 4591's winged shield brings a bit of the wild blue down to the rails. The perfectly dead on shot is another great contrast, especially the organic horizontal lines compared to the SD70-M's rigid steel lines. The meridian of light and dark is also carried by the landscape, owing to the difference in altitude.

Even on it's own, weather differences can make for a startling contrast, especially in spring when warmth along the Front Range doesn't reach the snowy climes at altitude. For the next two months, a trip to Greenland and Douglas County Open Space might be worth it for the practice. For best results, go in the morning, and bring your tripod and your scanner!◊

POTD: Snowy Drama From Spruce Meadows

A photographer can use a zoom lens to compress distance. It is one of its basic functions, but when one uses it well, it tends to produce a result that gathers notice.

If you're going to work at getting it right, one particular place stands out. The Greenland Ranch is on the far side of the Palmer Lake Divide. Descending away from the divide, the park works like a focal ramp toward Pikes Peak, while still keeping (relatively) clear of the Rampart Range. The vast area of Spruce Meadows open space with trails allows for some flexibility in setting up your shot.

Photo of the Day: Chris Paulhamus

On March 24th, photographer Chris Paulhamus used all 200 mm of his zoom lens to close the distance between Spruce (the next stop south of Greenland) and Pikes Peak. "The Mountain" is lit up fantastically with sun catching the fresh snow carried by winds off the cornices. Despite the train facing north, the morning light still allowed a higher F-stop value of 8.0 to keep both the locomotive and the mountain in sharp focus. The square-jawed, man-made brawn of BNSF 9029, an SD70ACe from EMD, contrasts with the silent splendor and natural beauty of the peak and foothills behind it. Great composition, superb elements, and technical ability make for a great Photo of the Day!

Stay tuned for another from Mr. Paulhamus later this week!◊

POTD - Grande Gold in Manitou Red Sandtone of Pueblo

I am no stranger to writing about cab units favorably. I have long loved the Rio Grande's parade of EMD F-units that roamed Colorado and Utah in the 50s and 60s. On the other hand, it took me a long time to become a fan of Rio Grande's Alco PA and PB diesel locomotives.

Arguably, they are an ugly duckling when compared with her contemporaries. The Alco's cab is broad and flat, it's windows angular. What could have been a smooth, rounded nose is marred by a square grill housing around the pilot light. Nonetheless, the Alco is not without her charm. The cab has a softening line along her grills and a land yacht-like gracefulness that could be likened as a Cadillac to EMD's Chevrolet-esque appearance, a not-completely unfounded comparison, considering EMD's ties to General Motors.

Photo of the Day: Steve Patterson

So why is an Alco PA our photo of the day? Quite frankly, because it's time I recognize the worthwhile love of Alco fans. The PA's lines and the radiant Rio Grande colors of the matched (mostly) consist are especially beautiful, balanced against the Manitou Red Sandstone of the Pueblo depot and a spotless Colorado summer sky are so memorable, that at the time of this writing, I haven't seen this picture in a week and I can still describe it with vivid clarity. That's a photo worth keeping!

Thanks to Mr. Patterson for sharing with us!◊

POTD: Big Ten in '15

Perhaps no place better symbolizes the challenge faced by railroads heading west from Denver than Big Ten Curve located on the former Denver & Salt Lake Railroad as it climbs from the western suburbs toward the low foothills of the Front Range. Almost as if nature or nature's God knew what was needed for David H. Moffat's railroad to reach the lowest rung of the Rockies, a low mesa juts out of the ramparts just south of Rocky Flats.

Photo of the Day: Mike Danneman

Today's Photo of the Day, from seasoned veteran photographer Mike Danneman, shows a BNSF manifest freight descending the Big Ten Curve towards Denver using BNSF's trackage rights over the Union Pacific's Moffat Route. Mr. Danneman managed to capture this photo only earlier this week with a couple of warm days that afforded him and his associate Rich Farewell unusual mid-winter access to a hiking trail overlooking Big Ten. It is likely this same trail that afforded Ralph Parsons almost the identical exposure for Robert A. LaMassena's signature work, Colorado's Mountain Railroads.

In the caption for Parsons' photograph, Robert LaMassena says of Big Ten,

Perhaps the most difficult location was the transition from the western end of the prairie to the eastern foot of the Rocky Mountains. This was accomplished by wrapping the track around a small mesa to form a bent hairpin curve. Six miles of track lay between two points only 1 1/2 miles apart, on the ground, but displaced vertically 600 feet.

In 2015, Big Ten is a convergence of geography, technology and more than a century of railroad men and machines working to lift countless tons from prairie to the crest of the continent!◊

POTD - A Silver Lady Passes Her Castle Gate

Drew Jacksich makes his debut here with Photo of the Day. Mr. Jacksich gets around if a quick tour of his flickr site is any indication. His photos appear in Wikipedia articles, and with good reason, because not only do they have some historic significance, but the bulk of them have some real beauty.

Photo of the Day: Drew Jacksich

Such is the case with his photograph of the Rio Grande Zephyr at Castle Gate, Utah in June 1975, just 40 years ago this year. The last remnant of the Silver Lady and the last privately controlled inter-city passenger train was 4 years into her proud, tri-weekly service following the demise of the popular California Zephyr, begun in 1949 by the Burlington, Rio Grande and Western Pacific railroads as a Chicago to San Francisco train timed to view Colorado's Rocky Mountains in the daylight.◊

POTD - Classic Film

They say film is dead. Tell that to Chris May. A loaned camera, a roll of Tri-X film (Kodak black and white) and some time at Union Station with Amtrak's California Zephyr produced an opportunity to capture an image that feels timeless. "Union Station: Travel By Train." How many couples have stood on Union Station's platforms, Pullman coaches, engines and fellow passengers buzzing about them?◊

Photo of the Day: Chris May

POTD - Morning Sunlight Warming a BNSF Warbonnet

I've been following a photographer posting under the the name of "BUFFIE" for some time now. Their specialization is in industrial Denver's yards, so the scenic quality is harder to quantify, but today's photo is clearly a well thought-out effort. Here's a warm welcome and congratulations on making Photo Of the Day for the first time!

Photo of the Day: BUFFIE

When Santa Fe revived the Warbonnet scheme in the early 1990s, the result couldn't have been more positive. The now-standard full-width nose of the cab strongly resembles the EMD full cowl body that so iconically represented the railroad during the zenith of its passenger service and the hood portion retains the "blue bonnet" feel from its more recent past in terms of shape and lettering. After the BNSF merger, the eventual decision was made to switch to a new combined paint scheme that reflected the "northern heritage" of BN as well as the Santa Fe, now known as Heritage 2.

Only last Monday (the 13th), BNSF 755 wears her colors as proudly as possible, while her bolsterless trucks and undercarriage rust more closely resembles the earth around her than the fine silver that matched her flanks. The GE Dash 9-44CW has just now received the full morning light of the sun to warm up with, while a puddle reflects the red, yellow, and silver that used to roam in far greater numbers--not once, but twice!--under the blue skies of America's vast southwest.◊

POTD - Snowy Rails in Middle Park Wash the CZ in Wintry Wonder

Amtrak killed the Ski Train in a blatant fratricide. So why is it still the subject of a Photo of the Day award, especially in a place its victim once called home? Because art and reality can be separated at times and because it can be unprofessional to let a grudge get in the way of artistic triumph.

Photo of the Day: Steve Brown (sjb4photos), Amtrak in the snow - Colorado 

Amtrak Train No. 5, the California Zephyr, makes its way through Middle Park approaching Fraser, Colorado in March 2003. It is presently four hours late due to the recent snow storm and when it leaves Frasier, it will be seven hours late due to freight congestion on the Union Pacific's Moffat Route brought on by the same storm. Not the worst delays ever seen by Amtrak, but it certainly doesn't help Amtrak's sorry reputation for poor timetable performance.^1,2,3 That may have been why a grinchy Amtrak never could abide the Ski Train service from Denver to Winter Park and back that was seldom if ever so late.◊

POTD - Pumpkins Under a Wicked Sky

Note from Steve: this marks the 600th post to Colorado Railroads!

Photo of the Day: Kevin Morgan

How could POTD not lead off with a Pumpkin shot? It's October! And early fall is no time to let your guard down with respect to bad weather Last year proved that well and good. A westbound BNSF manifest is stopped at Leyden on the Moffat Route in front of an eastern horizon with a color that might just give you shivers if you were heading that way.

Speaking of color, even if it wasn't power-short BNSF providing no shortage of color (orange predominantly), it still would be a profoundly colorful shot. Dark blue, gold, white, red, green, and all are mirrored in the train itself! Manifests, pumpkins and dark skies. Worthy, indeed!

On a side note, Kevin Morgan says about this train,

The westbound BNSF manifest was stopped on the main at Leyden because the head end had lost its comm link with the rear DPU. The conductor walked back to the DPU to try to get the link to re-establish. It was determined that the comm radio on the lead unit was broken, so a new unit had to come out of Denver to rescue the train.

Those darn GEs!  You'd almost forget that at one time GE made radios.◊

POTD: Brawny Muscle At Mitchell On Tennessee Pass

Perhaps nowhere--at least not in the last 40 years--is the idea of railroading in Colorado more realized than Tennessee Pass. A former narrow gauge route surveyed as a way to reach the riches of Leadville's mines and supply them, punched through the summit with a tunnel bore and classic lopsided profile of 1.7% grade on one side and 3% on the other, Tennessee Pass runs right through the heart of the state and until the Union Pacific merger in 1996, served with distinction as the highest mainline in the nation.

Photo of the Day: Mike Danneman

A whopping ten units on Tennessee Pass pull and shove their coal train up 3% grade at Mitchell, Colorado, September 5, 1995. With new AC4400CW and two manned helper sets, Mr. Danneman says, "This was Tennessee Pass at SP’s best!" It's hard to disagree, Mike.◊

PS: For those interested, Fred Frailey (one of the best) writes about the Long Autumn of Tennessee Pass in his blog at Trains magazine (2012).

POTD: A Classic Reborn and Lit With Elegance

Denver's Union Station was almost slated for a date with the wrecking ball in the early 1980s. Then, someone responded to the call and formed a group called Save Our Station. And thank God they did! After millions of passengers, Union Station was due for an overhaul and RTD needed some way to tie FasTracks into one neat bow. Look no further than the Beaux Arts classic great room of Denver Union Station.

After millions of passengers, Union Station was due for an overhaul and RTD needed some way to tie FasTracks into one neat bow. Look no further than the Beaux Arts classic Denver Union Station.
Photo of the Day: Christopher May 

Looking for all the world like a cross between a wedding cake and a grand library, the inside of Denver Union Station is something to behold. Christopher May captured the newly restored, antique elegance that rivals any rail hub of any city anywhere. The great hall has never looked better! The timed exposure almost leaves the impression that the area is deserted. Always open, even late on a summer night for this photograph, Union Station may never close again.

A great place for ColoRail to have a party! They are, after all, the ones who inherited Save Our Station.◊

Special POTD: Big Boy's Last Sherman Hill September

Just north of the border of Colorado near US-85, about equidistant between the outskirts of Cheyenne and the state line is Speer, Wyoming. Like most railroad places, it's just a spot on the map, a waypoint between here and there. In this case Speer is the junction where the north-south route of the old Denver Pacific connects with the main east-west Union Pacific Overland Route over Sherman Hill. This past week, 56 years ago, a Union Pacific Big Boy rolled westbound from Speer toward Sherman Hill with its manifest freight, and Dave Straight was there to photograph it.

Photo of the Day: Dave Straight, contributing photographer to Colorado Railroads

Another September would never come for most of the Big Boys to haul freight. Just 10 months and 2 weeks to the day after this photo was taken, the same 4015 would make the last revenue run for any Big Boy over these same rails before being retired and eventually scrapped. Only 8 Big Boys were spared, including 4005 sitting at Forney in Denver and the celebrated 4014 undergoing restoration (as this is written) in Cheyenne, just a cinder's glide from where this was taken.

Special thanks to Dave Straight (and John Hill) for sharing this finely aged photograph with us.◊

POTD: Summer Fun Via the Summer Ski Train

The Ski Train, that wonderful but lost Denver institution, once ferried Denverites and not just a few tourists to the mountains of Winter Park every winter for a day of skiing. It also ran during the summer, giving harried and heated residents some nature and natural air conditioning by ascending to the high country where the air is always a bit cooler. Sadly, in 2009, it all ended.* Nonetheless, in the waning years, the F40 engines and a matched consist made for a beautiful and glorious sight!

Photo of the Day: Mike Danneman

If the trees in the background look familiar, they should because yesterday's photo of the day was shot at nearly the same location. The Ski Train is pointing east toward the still rising sun while westbound toward the Moffat Tunnel and Winter Park on July 31, 2004, just 10 years ago. The brilliance of the Ski Train's aspen gold and silver looks just as fine as ever it did on the Rio Grande F7s and F9s. "In a few moments," Mr. Danneman says, "it will be traveling through Clay on the upper track at the top of the photo." You may need to click the photo to view it full size to discern the grade.

POTD - Morning Rays Make Magic Even More Rare On UP Westbound

The rising sun is one of the best ways to color your photographs. During maybe a  half-hour at most, the sun shining through more of the atmosphere than any other part of the day as a natural filter, bathing everything in a golden, almost fiery glow. This is especially true on the Front Range because mountain shadows make evening shots with that natural glow next to impossible.

Photo of the Day: Mike Danneman

Trains magazine Sept 2014

Mike Danneman is no stranger to POTD. Also his brother Tom Danneman had a single-photo, double-page spread on pages 36 and 37 (sample at right) in September's Trains magazine. So you might say it runs in his blood. His consistently good work has him sitting near rock star-status (if there is such a thing in the railroad photography world). Why are rock stars famous? Because they take something that is difficult and make it look easy. Today's Photo of the Day is a perfect example.

The Union Pacific sends its track inspection car over the Rio Grande's Moffat Route from Denver. Fair enough, except that the Moffat is west of Denver, putting the locomotives and the train heading west in the morning in their own shadows. But Mr. Danneman has shot the Moffat often enough to know that, in a quest for altitude, the track layers of over a century ago reversed direction to run the rail around the tongue of a mesa. This reversal is now called Little Ten Curve and Big Ten Curves, ten referring to their curvature. In that one spot, the westbound train would be facing geographic east. Be there at the right time and the rays of the sun will bathe the yellow train in a golden glow! Mike met the train in that 30 minute window and we see the magic results. 

He makes it look easy.◊

POTD - Late Summer Glory Days

The summer sun is quickly fleeting away for 2014. Have you made it out to catch a few trains at work? Me neither. ☹ All is not lost, however. Labor Day weekend is fast approaching and that means that a lot of us have a few extra hours to slip away and photograph something that will last a lot longer than what most of us do for work. No one dies wishing they'd spent more hours working.

For inspiration, I offer a few POTDs for your consideration!

Photo of the Day: David Sheppard

David Sheppard captured this bronzed bunch of Union Pacific locomotives led by 5711, traveling with a full load of coal southbound at Greenland, Colorado on the morning of August 20th, 2014. It's a common sight on the Front Range south of Denver, but does that make it any less glorious?◊

POTD: Putting A Bow On A Colorful Week

BNSF 5391, a GE Dash 9-44CW struggles up the grade toward Palmer Lake with only one of her two teammates pulling along. Something tells me its not the brand new powerbar in the back! Additional color enhancements by God.
Photo: Joe Blackwell

Photographer Joe Blackwell has gone 3 for 3 in POTD the latter half of this week, although it wasn't by coincidence. BNSF and rare colors have been the theme and Joe seems to capture a great deal of it near his home in Palmer Lake. When he first retired, one of his first shots in July 2009 was of a BNSF train   struggling to make the summit of the Palmer Lake Divide separating the Arkansas and Platte River drainages. Neither BNSF pumpkins nor rainbows are unusual colors to Colorado, however. Yet just behind the lead engine is a CSX locomotive, just like Monday when another struggling BNSF train was led by the Central of Georgia NS heritage unit with a CSX engine in the second spot. One could say I put a bow on the entire package with this shot, but it wasn't planned. I wish I was that good.◊