POTD - Empty Hoppers In the Sunset

From a river named "The Animas" in the San Juan mountains to a town named Las Animas on the eastern plains, it's hard to believe they're in the same world, let alone the same state at the same rough latitude (0.5° difference). From narrow gauge Rio Grande rails hung precariously on canyon walls to standard gauge Santa Fe rails somewhere in a vast prairie, these are Colorado Railroads!

Empty Hoppers In the Sunset - Coal hoppers wait their turn for service in beside a
piece of disused rail in the quiet town of Las Animas, Colorado, on June 16, 2008
Photo: Jenny Vaughn

POTD - D&RGW 315 Crossing the Animas River

John West is an accomplished photographer with many years of experience and hundreds of publishable and historic photographs under his belt, 13 of which are available for purchase. His pictures bring narrow gauge enthusiasts immeasurable joy and pleasure.

Originally Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad engine 3, the Denver & Rio Grande numbered it 424 before the Denver & Rio Grande Western numbered it 315.  Durango Railroad Historical Society restored the engine from March 2001 until she moved under her own steam in August 2007.

On August 23, 2010, during last year's Railfest, Mr. West captured #315, a former Denver & Rio Grande Western 2-8-0 steam locomotive as it crossed the Animas River near Tacoma, Colorado, on former Denver & Rio Grande Western rails, now operated by Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which will host its 13th annual Railfest later this month.

D&RGW Consolidation 2-8-0 #315 leads a photo freight over the Animas near
Tacoma on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad August 23, 2010
Photo: John West

 

POTD - 135 Years of Statehood, Rail Tourism

Today's POTD honors Colorado and her 135 years of statehood. Prior to August 1, 1876, Colorado was a territory carved out of portions of Kansas Territory and Utah Territory with smaller parts of the Nebraska and New Mexico Territories. Since it was the only state admitted to the union that year, the centennial of the United States, Colorado became known as the Centennial state.

Property speculators and railroads were anxious to entice settlers and pioneering families to come west and generate revenue by living and working out there. While trappers and later miners were eager to make a fortune off the land, farmers, tradesmen and other people that make lasting communities weren't typically as anxious to risk all in a move out west. Unscrupulous promoters wrote fifictitious accounts, one even going so far as to claim that steam boats were departing daily at Denver on the South Platte River. As you can see from this photo, even with modern-day dams keeping the South Platte flowing year round, the river--if you can call it that--would not be navigable by such craft. Such fiction was unfortunately common and many would-be settlers would not trust written accounts. Therefore, it was all the more important that photographs were taken and reproduced as much as possible showing Colorado to be a land open to new settlers and the skills they had or were willing to learn. Photos that depicted the scenic wonders of the west were just as helpful in promoting the nascent tourism industry.

Railroad travel and tourism in Colorado got a healthy boost from the work of William Henry Jackson, whose photographs brought on a continuous flow of curious and moderately wealthy tourists who had never seen such drama and beauty. One such photograph is of Toltec Gorge along the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Jackson made trips up and down the line in a photographer's special train that usually included a mobile dark room for his plate glass negatives. His train is just barely visible (top right) from this point in the canyon, nearly 800 feet below the tracks.

A D&RG train steams above the floor of Toltec Gorge on the San Juan
Extension. The undated photograph is between 1878 and 1898 (maybe 1880?)
Photo: Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Such a view (from the top, anyway) is still available today on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, which took the Rio Grande's property and turned it into a thriving heritage railroad.

If you are interested in the history, the Colorado Railroad Museum has a new exhibit, Trains and Tourism in Colorado. It opened this summer and has a great deal of historic artifacts. Imagine columbines, Colorado's state flower, being gathered by the armful on "Wildflower Excursions" over a century ago, where the ticket was $1.50, which would be about $34.92 today.¹

¹ - Converted per scale at MyKindred.com

POTD - Maintenence

I said on Wednesday that it was a two-parter and this being Friday, I'm sure you're expecting something different. It is something different ...sort of. Actually, it's the same photographer, and the same subject, a steam engine, is involved, but that's where the similarities end.

Christopher May got my attention with this black-and-white image of two volunteers at the Colorado Railroad Museum during Shay Days. It is titled very simply, Maintenance, and it highlights a fundamental truth that it is not just a steam engine that works to keep the steel wheels in motion over steel rails. Each iron beast, steam or diesel, standard gauge or narrow, represents many, many man-hours of hard work, heat, pressure, oil and tools exhausted in keeping the rails plied with people, consumables and goods. Sometimes it's a gantry crane lifting a multi-ton assembly for a 2-dollar part replacement that gets focused attention. Today, it was near a cylinder on the geared drivetrain of a Shay locomotive at a narrow-gauge haven in Golden.

Incidentally, there are times when a photograph invites a black-and-white shot treatment, but this one fairly stands up and demands it. Great work, Chris!

West Side Lumber Shay engine #12 gets a hand or two during some Maintenance at
Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, CO on May 14, 2011 during "Shay Days."
Photo: Christopher May/GhoSStrider

POTD - An Hour Or Two Earlier Makes the Difference

Today's Photo of the Day is the second by GhoSStrider, as Christopher May is known on flickr. This was apparently on the same trip, taken earlier in the day as the sun was still in its sunrise mode. As you can see in comparison with yesterday's POTD, which was taken later, the passage of a "couple hours" can change everything. Change the light in color, angle or both, you change the photograph. The rich color really comes through, even with the grass and the grain elevator.

Northern Colorado, which varies in area with whom you ask, is part of the Colorado Front Range Urban Corridor. Despite this "urban" definition, the people and landscape of this strip between Cheyenne and Denver is a mix of semi-industrial, suburban, and commercial islands strung like pearls along the I-25, US 85, and US 287 lifelines linking the two cities, surrounded by vast agricultural ventures that epitomize rural, non-urban life. Any journey out east will tell you that urban isn't what they should call the Front Range piedmont. Coming out of Brighton as the 844 works its way north, the landscape shifts agrarian for the first but not the last time.

The best part--from a railfan's point of view--about the old Denver Pacific line is that, despite its history, it's not all that old. UP maintenance crews have kept this line in good shape, and the relatively level grade lets 844 pick up some speed on its way.

Union Pacific 4-8-4 #844 paces down the rails through Brighton on a beautiful
Saturday morning July 23, 2011 on her way to Cheyenne's Frontier Days in WY
Photo: GhoSStrider

Recent Moonlight and Wine Tasting With Prime Rib At Osier

The Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is a volunteer organization that supports the historic equipment of the Cumbres & Toltec. Every year, they host some great trips and dinners, raising funds for the historic restoration and maintenance by volunteers. This recent video is a prime (rib) example of the Friends trip, open to all who love the railroad.

POTD - Terry Ranch Road

Today's picture of the day comes from last Saturday's Cheyenne Frontier Days special chartered by the Denver Post. Chris (GhoSStrider on flickr) has been building himself up as another of Colorado's young and talented railroad photographers for several years now. He deserves a two-parter, the second you will see tomorrow.

Denver Post's Cheyenne Frontier Days Special approaches Terry Ranch Road, just
north of the Colorado border on its final miles to Cheyenne Frontier Days 7/23/11
Photo: GhoSStrider

POTD - Silver Sky Vanishes Into the Dark

Some photos need to be cropped and others don't. I've learned that it's a good idea when shooting to leave some extra space around what you're shooting. Like my barber said, "We can always go shorter." Risk a slight loss of definition for a better chance of making a great photo. Not having the right size is nearly always the cause for an awesome photograph missing the cover of a magazine. A primary example of this is today's Photo of the Day: Silver Sky farewell at Moffatt Tunnel.

Former California Zephyr Sleeper/Observation/Dome car Silver Sky
just before vanishing into the darkness of the Moffat Tunnel, 1987
Photo: Chip colorado zephyr

Trainstar: Guide to Temporary Train Station

What changed at this year's Cheyenne Frontier Days Special (here/there) was the location where passengers boarded, near the temporary Amtrak station. Helen Bushnell, blogger for Train Star, completed a very helpful guide to Denver's Temporary Train Station, in place for the duration of DUSPA's remodeling of Union Station, due to end in 2014. She's put together a fairly decent travel guide in her post. Of note, she pays attention to details that are meaningful to most, including the disabled and the folks that are onboard and jumping off to grab a few items at the nearest convenience store. Thanks, Ms. Bushnell, for helping folks Travel by Train. If anyone is still looking for official information, here's the best available directions ^(PDF) and the site.

POTD - Photo of the Day Debut

Today, we start a new format for POTD, Photo Of The Day. The purpose of POTD is, lest we forget, to give photographers more exposure and to get them noticed. There is no commercial interest driving this feature, just a love of the art. All clicks on the photo will be directed to the photographer's hosting site whenever possible.

The first Photo of the Day for the new format is a personal favorite. I was present at the unveiling of the Union Pacific's Heritage fleet's tribute to the Denver & Rio Grande Western, SD-70ACe UP 1989. Kevin Morgan was also there, and I'll admit, his skills--and camera--are better than mine.

UP SD70ACe 1989 on June 17, 2006 at the Union Pacific equipment yard
Photo Kevin Morgan

Reader Poll Results

The poll has closed and we have our results! Of those voting on location, Here on this blog took all the votes. I'm glad, because starting up blogs is a headache. Of those voting on length and frequency it was pretty much split down the middle. With 43% of the voters picking weekly with deeper coverage and 57% picking daily and short, I might try mixing it up with deep and weekly one week and short, quick and daily the next. I'm not completely certain.

What is certain is that Picture of the Day will start on this blog on Monday. See you then!

Cheyenne Frontier Days Winds Down

UP 4-8-4 #844 and Centennial DD40X
#6936 in Cheyenne, photo: UP

The Cheyenne Frontier Days Special has just about wrapped up its runs for 2011. They are heading south on their final run of the final day as I write. The last run is scheduled to leave Denver tomorrow at 1 p.m. for an arrival at UP Steam's headquarters in Cheyenne at 6:00 p.m. It is the first Cheyenne Frontier Days train since the tradition restarted in 1992 to run without the oversight and steady hand of Steve Lee, recently retired.

Steam-to-steam Transfers On Wednesdays Until August 17th

Here's a video from 2008 when the steam-to-steam transfer at Antonito was quietly tried out using a caboose to take riders into Alamosa.

Valuable Model Railroad Damaged In Union Station Floods

The HO-scale Platte Valley & Western model railroad and the O-scale Colorado Midland model railroad, both located in the basement of Union Station, were flooded earlier this month. While only a few inches, the flood caused damage to electrical equipment of the Platte Valley & Western as well as damage to display materials stored in a closet.

Hear That Whistle Blow

One of the more interesting groups of railfans are the ones that are into locomotive whistles and horns, the signaling devices used by engineers to communicate and warn the world outside his cab of what he's doing. An entire industry has grown around a collection of railfans who collect and, at times, sound off their affection for trains.

Happy 4th and Talk About Picture of the Day

Old Glory as it was July 4, 1877
the first Independence Day after
Colorado joined the Union

First, Happy Fourth of July to everyone! Have a great holiday and a safe return home.

Next, just a quick note about the POTD and it's status around here. Most of you haven't noticed the periodic absence or graciously ignored the gaps. Really, it's not me. No, really. It's not. Here's the story.

Cumbres & Toltec Serving Up A Hot Fourth of July

If you have not made any solid plans for next weekend's Fourth of July festivities, consider heading down to the Cumbres & Toltec for a weekend that promises to be unforgettable. They have a full plate of Independence Day activities. A photo from last year's celebration found itself on the back inside cover of Trains Magazine. If you need any more encouragement to go, read on!

Model Commuter Rail Car Closes After Extended Stay

As of 2 p.m. today, the full-scale model of the commuter train that Denver's Regional Transportation District (RTD) has had on public display for five weeks at Denver Union Station has finally closed. The model depicts the front third of an actual 85-foot commuter rail car. On Monday, a crew will lift the 10,700-pound unit onto a trailer for transport to a storage facility. The model was placed on display for the public to give feedback on the planned interior design of Denver's commuter rail cars.

California Zephyr Crash in Nevada

All the details have yet to emerge, but a semi collided with Amtrak's California Zephyr in Lovelock, Nevada.

New Railroad Construction In Denver

It's always a good sign when your friendly neighborhood railroad, usually BNSF or Union Pacific west of Chicago, starts adding capacity in your region. It could be a second main line between two points only a few miles apart, or it could be a third or (wow!) fourth main for 20 miles or more. After a century of contraction and abandoned routes, railroads are cautiously upgrading and adding rail routes.