Blessed Are the Patient

Do my eyes deceive me? Can it be? Is this really happening? Yes! Yes! YES!!!

Denver & Rio Grande Western's famed mikado, Mudhen 463, is under steam and testing! That is not a misprint. According to Nathan Holmes, webmaster at DRGW.net,

...not only does it steam, but it actually runs. They did a shakedown run with her today (4/9) from Antonito out to Lava and back. 

He linked to the Friends of the C&TS discussion board post by Rich Murray with two pictures by Craig McMullen.

Tim Tennant posted details today on the delayed, canceled, on-again, off-again-now-on-again charter that finally seems to be coming true. The release also has a picture of the engineunder steam at Lava.  The engine is sans number, but I can tell it's the real deal with a lot of shiny new parts. Make plans to visit the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad this summer to catch the oldest and smallest of the surviving steam engines of the Rio Grande!

Thanks to valued reader Rich Guggenheim for the tip.◊

New Sign Using LED Tech To Grace Colorado Highways

Photo: CTC, Inc.

Railway Age says that Colorado's Department of Transportation has purchased new LED-lit warning signs to call highway drivers' attention to railroad grade crossings. A CDOT spokesman is quoted in the article:

"Any tool that we can use to save lives is a welcome addition to our transportation tool kit," said CDOT Statewide Utilities Engineer Mat Flores. "The flashing lights disrupt a driver's expectations and should draw his or her attention to the crossing, resulting in a significant safety benefit."

CTC, Inc., based in Fort Worth, Texas, provides communication and signaling systems, products and services for the highway and rail, specializing in highway-rail grade crossings that are interconnected with traffic signals.

LED-lit signs do make it harder for drivers to ignore them, but I wonder whether this is just another sign (ha!) that our society is suffering from "warning fatigue."◊

Video: Triple Header On the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad

I happened across this video some time ago and, unlike some web videos, this one seems to improve over time. I've watched it several times and I have to say it's one of my favorites.

Normally, I don't feature videos that have disabled embedding. I believe sharing is something that helps your public exposure if it's done with a watermark or title cards showing whose content it is. On the other hand, this video is just too good to pass up.

Former Rio Grande Mikado locomotives, numbers 489, 488, and 487, in that order, triple-head a photo freight over Cumbres Pass in the snow. The footage is HD, sharp focus and set up extremely well. Low angle passes with a wide lens and high angle shots work together like a cinematographer's dream. It should be on a DVD somewhere, but Zack Blea, God bless 'im, has put it on the web for us all to enjoy!

(Next time, Zack, please let me show the readers your awesomeness here!)◊