Morgan Captures UP Special On the Moffat

Kevin Morgan caught some great photos of the UP Board of Directors special on the Moffat Route. The Rio Grande Heritage unit 1989 and the C&NW Heritage unit 1995 provided the motive power. As usual, he got some great shots! He also managed to capture a rarity, an Amtrak California F59PH on the California Zephyr eastbound. Eastbounds in the afternoon are hard to catch with the right light, but Kevin's all pro.

Operation Lifesaver Special In Glenwood Springs

Operation Lifesaver ran a special on Saturday from Utah into Glenwood Springs over the former Rio Grande trackage. On point was Union Pacific #1989, the Rio Grande Heritage unit. Three short round trips were planned to take passengers from Glenwood to Dotsero through Glenwood Canyon. Those of you familiar with the history of the canyon will remember this monument to an idea. The canyon was the original location for the monument honoring the concept of creating dome cars for people to view the scenery they passed through.

Ben from Grand Junction managed to catch this shot of the special as it sat in Dotsero.

Update: Here's an article from the train's trip to Montrose. It made roundtrips to Paonia for employees of Montrose city government.

Colorado's Newest Steam Locomotive In Action!

As a follow up to my Thursday post, Stirrings of Summer This Weekend, I have one cool link to pass on to you. Nathan Zachman was one of the lucky ones to catch San Luis & Rio Grande #18 out this first weekend in May. Please take a look. Yes, that is a standard gauge engine on welded rail. Yes, that is a flying Rio Grande logo on the side of the tender. Yes, standard gauge steam is alive and well in Colorado!

Stirrings Of Summer This Weekend

Despite the previously mentioned canceled work session, this first weekend in May is shaping up to be a busy one for railroads in Colorado. Tomorrow (Friday), Durango will be having their Annual Narrow Gauge Day with BBQ and western music by the Bar D Wranglers out in front of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad depot. This ceremonially kicks off the summer runs to Silverton, which will increase to four trains a day from June to August to accommodate the demand for the black engine and yellow cars so symbolic of southwestern Colorado and of narrow gauge railroading.

On the Front Range, the Colorado Railroad Museum will open it's doors wide to the public on Saturday, offering a free admission day. For families strapped for cash, this is a nice break on the price, although the museum can always use more support. Trains will not be running Saturday. A list of their scheduled steam ups are available at the museum site and are listed on the Colorado Railroads Calendar.

Finally and most importantly, this is the weekend of the La Veta Pass Explorer expedition from Trains Unlimited. According to their site, steam engine #18 is going to make its first revenue run over La Veta Pass with this excursion. Obviously, this trip is sold out, but there is no limit on photographers on the photo line. Good luck and good hunting, gentlemen!

Video: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Digging Out Slowly

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is turning to some unique snow clearing equipment to dig out from this winter's record snowfall. With up to 15 feet and no rotary snowplows in useable condition, the C&TS has contracted out with one of its part time locomotive engineers to clear the snow by opening day. See the video below to watch the converted runway plow in action.

With the snow settled in, rather than being cleared routinely as it was in days gone by, the snow has the consistency of wet concrete or worse. Good luck, guys! Here's hoping opening day will be a full run of the line.

UP Centennial To Pass Through Denver Today

According to Kevin Morgan, Union Pacific's last active DD40AX engine #6936 is passing through Denver today, in the early afternoon. It is en route from Grand Junction, CO to Sharon Springs, KS with a passenger special that is touring the UP system. This cannot be confirmed by DRGW.net's Locotrace, however. Kevin places it in Denver any time between 12:45 p.m. and 1:45 p.m., with the caveat that such time is "subject to a lot of change."

Good hunting, Kevin!

2008 State Fair Express Canceled

Union Pacific has canceled the Colorado State Fair Express for 2008. This was supposed to be the second year of the special run from Denver to Pueblo. However, organizers have found too many conflicts arising between equipment used for the two political conventions in Denver and St. Paul and the special. Something had to give and the State Fair special took lower priority.

Last year's event drew hundreds of railfans and even casual observers to the tracks to watch a steam engine show it's heels as it swept over the rare mileage. Our chase ended at the Pueblo depot, surrounded by hundreds of other railfans and interested visitors. It was a beautiful sight. Main line steam is truly exciting. One can only hope 2009 sees it's return.

Follow up, 1:20 PM: Pueblo isn't exactly happy.

Rio Grande Scenic Gains Two More Steamers

Because D&RGW #683, the single surviving standard gauge steam from the Denver & Rio Grande Western, is preserved at the Colorado Railroad Museum, the San Luis & Rio Grande management continues to find non-native steam power for it's scenic runs on its two excursion trains, The San Luis Express from Alamosa to La Veta and the Toltec Gorge Limited from Alamosa to Antonito to connect with the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic. They recently acquired two 2-8-0 steam locomotives from the Mt. Hood Railroad in Oregon. They are former Lake Superior & Ishpeming No. 18 and ex-Grand Canyon Railway No. 20. The engines are expected to be in service by 2008 and 2009, respectively, according to their web site.

The Union Pacific took the engines over the Moffat Tunnel route only to dump them in the Winter Park siding due to a clearance issue with one of the tunnels through the Front Range below the main tunnel. They are presently in Denver, according to DRGW.net, after a re-route through Wyoming, and will likely be in Walsenburg on Thursday evening, the 17th.

The San Luis & Rio Grande has also started construction of a maintenance facility. The irony is that after Union Pacific bought the Southern Pacific in 1996, it leveled the historic Alamosa facilities. Now, only 10 years later, the short line has turned Alamosa into it's hub of operations and needs a facility to maintain its fleet.

On a side note, the San Luis & Rio Grande also purchased five Santa Fe Big Dome cars from Holland America. The cruise line sold some similar domes to the Royal Gorge Route in 2005, which have greatly added to their passengers' experience. The Budd domes last ran between Anchorage and Fairbanks via Denali National Park on the Alaska Railroad. They should look much nicer than the "vintage" equipment the RGSR has used the last two years.

I think I speak for railfans everywhere when I say I appreciate the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad's efforts to expand the railroad tourism in southern Colorado. I've got to scrape a few nickels together to get a ticket to ride. Speaking of, if you'd like to contribute to Colorado Railroads, you can purchase some items from the Resource Siding at right. A portion of your purchase will help keep this railroad blog running!

Pictures:

• For photos of excursions with the SP #1744, visit the Flickr pool for the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad.
• The 24 hour webcam on the SL&RG yard in Alamosa.

Grande Web Photographers Craft Their Art

Kevin Morgan of ColoradoRailfan.com snapped these shots on Friday the 21st while the Colorado Rockies had their last homestand against the Arizona Diamond Backs. Though the D-backs would top the Rockies 4-2 that night, it wouldn't prevent the Coors Field staff from setting off some fireworks, lending a spectacular backdrop to Kevin's shots of Grand Luxe rail's passenger cars at Union Station a few blocks away.

Meanwhile, CJ Lamas has been playing around with stuffed animals (or is the proper term "mascot" or possibly "character of dubious gender?") down in Antonito and Chama on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic. The costume didn't interfere with these shots, as he picks some beautiful views of Colorado narrow gauge steam. The autumn rains really add to some of these shots too.

Congratulations to both photographers for excelling in their art!

UP 844 To Lead Colorado Mountaineer

Don't forget this great opportunity for Front Range railfans!

http://www.coloradostatefairexpress.com/

By the way, the UP 844 will be substituting for the 3985. While we won't see an articulated in action, it should still be worth the time to see it. Here is the schedule.

Kyle Plow Train In Action

A plow train for Kyle out on the eastern plains of Colorado busts 20 foot drifts in this awesome 2 minute video. It's hard to ignore this much horsepower, but snow can plow like cement sometimes. FYI, the plow was not permanently stuck.

HT: Friscobob

Governor Takes UP Train Today

According to the Denver Post's coverage of freshly inaugurated Governor Bill Ritter, the Governor is embarking on a special UP train today from Brighton to Pueblo. The Post says,

Early Saturday, Ritter and O'Brien plan to continue the inaugural festivities with a whistle-stop tour along the Front Range. ... They'll board a vintage Union-Pacific train - described as the Brown Palace Hotel on wheels - in Greeley and make stops for rallies and speeches in Brighton, Littleton, Colorado Springs and Pueblo. The day will end with a spaghetti dinner at the Pueblo Union Depot.

DRGW.net reports that the power for this trip is unknown. However,

The tentative schedule, as posted by "mojaveflyer" on Trainorders, is as follows:

• 9:30 AM - Train arrives in Greeley
• 10:00 - Depart Greeley
• 10:45 - Arrive Brighton
• 11:20 - Depart Brighton
• 12:00 Noon - Arrive Denver (19th and Little Raven St. The train will not apparently be able to use Denver Union Station)
• 12:35PM - Depart Denver
• 2:35 - Arrive Colorado Springs
• 3:05 -Depart Colorado Springs
• 4:45 - Arrive Pueblo
• 5:00 - 7:15 Reception and spaghetti dinner at Pueblo Union Depot
  

The freshman Governor will be touring the rest of the state by plane next week. There are no indications as to whether this indicates Ritter's openness toward commuter rail service along the Front Range or a rail-oriented option for the I-70 corridor, but given most liberal's favorable predisposition towards collective mass transit, it is certainly a possibility that there may be new passenger routes within the Centennial state by the end of his term.

Update: 4:12 PM - Nevermind.
Update: 9:42 PM - DRGW.net has a trip report

Plow Trains

Kevin Morgan of coloradorailfan.com has photos of the plow train extras that were run by the UP on the old Kansas Pacific line to counteract the effects of the Christmas and New Years Eve blizzards. As always, the photos are excellent. Here's a sample:


Of particular note is the DRGW Jordan spreader, which Kevin notes was used on Tennessee Pass before the UP closed it.