Half-off Rio Grande Scenic Railroad Tickets For This Weekend

The Rio Grande Scenic Railroad that runs between La Veta (near Walsenburg) and Alamosa, Colorado is offering 50% off tickets for all seats departing June 29, 30 & July 1, 2012. Use the code "valley radio" when purchasing your tickets. The tickets will also give you access to the concert at Fir by bluegrass act Special Consensus and singer/songwriter Anne Hills.

Manitou Springs Evacuation Ordered

Guests at the historic Cliff House in Manitou Springs were turned out of their beds in the early hours of the morning to news of evacuation orders. Manitou is the home of the Cog Wheel Route, the Manitou & Pikes Peak Railway, along with many unmarked and marked artifacts of the Rio Grande and the Colorado Midland Railroads as well as it's successor, the Midland Terminal Railway that have survived up to now. Hopefully, the evacuations are just a precaution. The test will come later this morning when the winds pick up. If the worst happens, it wouldn't be a tragedy to lose artifacts or equipment. The real tragedy would be if human lives are lost. People are irreplaceable.

POTD - Vanishing Color: Cascade Green 2 - The Burning

In July 2009, BNSF 6851 was running long hood forward in Commerce City when an ethanol truck tried to beat it through a crossing. Had it been running short hood forward (with the cab on the front of the train, it's likely that all three of the crew aboard the engine would have died horribly in the massive explosion and fire that engulfed most of the engine. As it was, only one of the crew was injured, spraining their ankle after leaping from the front of the engine.

After the fire, the engine was driven away under it's own power. Despite it's stout survival of the fire, it has sat in Globeville near the BN shops, with only the nose of the unit showing that it once was painted BNs Cascade green. Speculation is that the locomotive has sat untouched for the purposes of litigation surrounding the accident.

"Vanishing colors" barely begins to describe the misfortune of BNSF 6851 an SD40-2 that
survived a 2009 fire only to sit and rust for years afterward on a BNSF Shops spur track.
Photo: Andrew De Kruif

POTD - Vanishing Color: Cascade Green

In 1970, Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad merged to form the Burlington Northern. The new "futuristic" BN logo and Cascade green will be a ubiquitous sight along the northern Colorado plains and the Joint Line for the next quarter century.

Like Tuesday's POTD, today's photo was taken at Palmer Lake, except this time facing south. The color seems to have faded, but the engines appear in much better shape than tomorrow's POTD.

Burlington Northern #5066, a GE C30-7, hauls its manifest up the grade to Palmer Lake
 with the help of a similar vintage SD40-2 and a newer GE BNSF unit in October 2000.
Photo: Moe Bertrand

POTD - Vanishing Color: Grinstein Green

Burlington Northern ^(W) was gone only 2 years when Joe Blackwell snapped this photo of a BN triplet of SD70MACs in Executive or "Grinstein Green" livery. It's presence on the joint line didn't surprise anyone, however. Merged on December 31, 1996, BN acquired the Santa Fe's joint ownership of the Joint Line, adding strength to the adage, "the more things change, the more they stay the same."

Nonetheless, BNSF would experiment with paint schemes and in 10 years, the presence of Grinstein green with cream and red trim would become more and more rare with the orange and green/black of BNSF taking the lions' share of coal down the Front Range. Yet, as we will see, the green of BN is more persistent than yesterday's SP.

A patched BNSF SD70MAC, 9801 and two un-patched sisters lead a string of coal loads
down the single track section of Colorado's Joint Line outside the town of Palmer Lake.
Photo: Joe Blackwell

PS: While you visit Joe's photos at RailPictures.Net, stop by and take a look at my friend "Hemi's" album of Mountain Railroading in the Rockies.

POTD - Vanishing Color: Summit Tunnel

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there were four western Class I railroads. Instead of yellow or orange locomotives, there were green ones, red ones, grey ones, blue ones and even a few left over from the previous mergers. It was a much more colorful west. Strangely, others who remembered further back bemoaned the lack of diverse colors even then. We don't know what we have until it's gone. This week's theme for Photo of the Day (POTD) is vanishing colors.

Monday's vanishing colors POTD is one from "Slideshow Bruce" Fingerhood titled "summit tunnel," Early afternoon sunshine highlights half the nose of the southbound unit, yielding a nice contrast between the left and right sides and also to the smoky confines from which the unit has just emerged. This is one of the better photographs from this now silent location. Perhaps the most recent loss of color, the UP-SP merger would shutter the Tennessee Pass route from Dotsero to just west of Canon City and cover Rio Grande gold and black EMDs and Southern Pacific gray and red GE locomotives with Armour yellow paint and patches.

Southern Pacific locomotive 175, a GE-AC4400CW heads down from the summit of a
still-active Tennessee Pass in June 1996. UP would complete the merger in mere months
Photo: Bruce Fingerhood

POTD - Grand Junction Station Stained Glass Window

Sometimes, it just takes an attentive eye to catch the unusual or interesting in a photo. Blogger-photographer Mikoyan captured such a detail at Grand Junction, Colorado, during a scheduled stop aboard Amtrak's California Zephyr. The former owner of the station was plainly evident in the second story window. I wonder if anyone has the name of the artist who crafted the window? The logo it models is my favorite railroad herald of all time. "Rio Grande - Main Line Thru the Rockies" says it all!

The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad was alive and strong enough to be memorialized
in this stained glass window of its Grand Junction station, and still surviving its owner in 2010
Photo: Mikoyan

Gaggle In Golden: At Last Minute, Knott's Not Coming

Rio Grande Southern Motor 3, the third Galloping Goose, will not be in attendance at Goosefest this weekend at the Colorado Railroad Museum. The third Goose would have completed the first-ever gathering of all RGS Gooses, a full gaggle, as it were. Unfortunately, the museum was informed by Goose 3's current owner, Knott's Berry Farm out in California, that they would not be coming on June 8, only a week before they were supposed to arrive.

RTD Photo Contest For Denver Union Station Light Rail Plaza

Friday is the deadline for RTD's DUS light rail station photo contest. For those who haven't heard about this contest, the details are below in an RTD press release.

POTD - Coal Glides Down the Divide

Mike Yuhas is a well-traveled photographer whose site is chock-full of great photos, primarily from the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. Trains magazine has been running a number of his entries for their Photo of the Day. Considering the skies in evidence, Trains picked a well-lit  morning shot of BNSF 9226, an EMD SD70-ACe bringing a load of coal south down Gen. William Palmer's Divide into the Arkansas River drainage.

Photo: Mike Yuhas

Tickets For Goosefest Includes VIP Offer

photo by Matt Isaaks

As mentioned before, Goosefest on June 16 & 17 at the Colorado Railroad Museum is the first full Galloping Goose reunion. Tickets are $15, 5 & 10 for adults, children & seniors, or $30 for families. Additionally, there is are 40 VIP packages available for $250. CRM Executive Director, Donald Tallman, explains,

Video: Yesterday's Magic Rails To ... um, Yesterday

As the mercury slowly climbs out of winter and into our spring (hopefully), cabin fever has again sprung many images and ideas formerly locked in the human heart. Old tools and "new"Christmas gifts that have sat for some months find themselves wanted again by their owners. Whether you find yourself a veteran of the state's grand(e) scenery or a newly minted greenhorn, the Colorado high country is calling!

One reliable aspect of the Rocky Mountains is that they change very little in 50 years. For a prime example, look no further than below. If this featurette was made in our time, the travel to the Rockies would appear much different. Yet Durango and her sister city of Silverton would merely appear with newer automobiles and vivid color scenery, and maybe a few less period actors and staged gunfights.


Entire video link or skip to the good (Rio Grande) part

Films like the one above would appear before a movie--instead of gobs and gobs of previews--to entertain viewers and promote companies, concepts, and opportunities like travel by rail and tourism in remote western towns. The impact of such films on the subject, in conjunction with fictional movies using the local scenery likely can't be overstated, yet likely can't be calculated either beyond the common anecdotal evidence. Or, in plain english: this film contributed in a large way to preserving Colorado's steam tourism, but we'll never know how much.

Only 10 years later however, a trip completely by rail to Silverton would become impossible with both the abandonment of the WP portion of the California Zephyr and the abandonment of the Rio Grande narrow gauge from Antonito to Durango. Don't let those ideas die unless you have to! Next year, something or someone might not be there.

PS: Can't get enough old film? Check out The Royal Gorge.

Goosefest 2012: Rio Grande Southern Galloping Goose Full Reunion

Major Event

The news out of Golden couldn't be more significant. For the first time since the abandonment of the Rio Grande Southern, all seven Galloping Gooses will be on the same rails! Goose Fest is a two day event on June 16 and 17, 2012, at  the Colorado Railroad Museum. Donald Tallman, Executive Director of the Colorado Railroad Museum writes,

Having the seven Galloping Geese [sic] together and operating is an event of both National and International significance to the railfan community.  People from around the world have contacted the Museum and are planning to “flock” to this once-in-a-lifetime reunion! 

POTD - East Portal In a Dome

Today's Photo of the Day is awarded to James Griffin of www.actionroad.net. Few images seem to strike me as the many shots passengers have taken from their seats in the Vista Dome as they are about to plunge into the long darkness of Moffat Tunnel. The beauty of the mountains are all around as I approach the bend in the valley where the tunnel plunges into the heart of the Continental Divide, and I can't help myself! I want to catch the tunnel edifice, the grand gateway to the western slope of the state and the nation. My eyes are riveted to the giant letters

MOFFAT

TUNNEL

and the dates 1923 and 1927, signifying the years the tunnel was started and completed. Click goes the shutter and the next moment the world is swallowed up in darkness.

Accomplished author and photographer James Griffin snapped this photo on
November 7, 1981, aboard the Rio Grande Zephyr just before entering the Moffat Tunnel.
Photo: James Griffin

It is a significant expression of the California Zephyr's unique place in history. Without the Moffat Tunnel, there would have been no California Zephyr. Without the Zephyr, Denver and the Rocky Mountain West would never have opened up to so many young eyes.. It's also historic, as the only remaining passenger service on the route has got rid of the domes it inherited before they ever thought of the marketing slogan telling potential riders to view "America at See Level."

POTD: A Red Nosed San Francisco Zephyr

Last Friday marked the 63rd anniversary of the start of the California Zephyr, the fabled stainless steel streamliner operated by the Chicago Burlington & Quincy, Denver & Rio Grande Western, and Western Pacific. The theme for the next few Photos of the Day will reflect on the Silver Lady and her "children."

Veteran photographer Gary Morris captured what turned out to be a bit of history 35 years ago this month on March 10, 1977. Only a few miles east of Denver on Burlington Northern tracks, the westbound Amtrak from Chicago to San Francisco rolls toward the Mile High City under the name "San Francisco Zephyr," Amtrak's woefully inadequate replacement for the California Zephyr (and the City of San Francisco of the Union Pacific). Note the lack of dome equipment as on the old CZ.

Photo: Gary Morris

POTD - An experiment with good results

Sometimes a photographer takes a leap of faith with his audience and tries something new. Kevin Morgan, no stranger to CR's POTD, took such a leap with this shot. Kevin confesses, "This was one of those unplanned shots that just kind of happens sometimes!"

A UP coal load descends the Moffat Route toward Arvada Colorado, passing through Tunnel One,
(left of center) before rounding the curve over Colorado 72 and  through Blue Mtn. crossing on March 4, 2012.
Photo: Kevin Morgan 

POTD - In the sticks for a winter special

Kevin Madore, whose photo of the E&P #4 was our POTD yesterday returns for a double today with a photo from earlier in 2011. Rockwood is becoming a popular haven for photographers of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in all seasons, not just summer. A quick hop down the rails got Mr. Madore this fine photo of what he calls "the chocolate plume from D&RGW 478." Couldn't have said it better.

Former D&RGW K-28 #478 rolls through the brush near Rockwood, Colorado on its way
home to Durango with a winter steam charter on February 21, 2011.
Photo: Kevin Madore 

An Amtrak Newbie Falls In Love With the Rockies on the CZ

A Washington DC writer travels the Capitol Limited and California Zephyr to Nevada and San Francisco. Her trip was, in my own experience, a typical, positive one. The story is captivating and enjoyable reading.
Tip o' the Hat: Robert Brewster

POTD - Is it real, or is it a painting?

Kevin Madore of Massachusetts caught the Eureka & Palisade engine #4, the Eureka, on the bridge leaving Silverton one bright August afternoon during the D&S railfest last year. The photo is so ideal, it could pass for an oil-on-canvas original. It doesn't get much better!

Extra No 4 crosses the Rio de las Animas on its way out of Silverton for the return trip
to Durango with her diminutive train and a beautiful white crown of steam on August 20, 2011
Photo: Kevin Madore 

Checking In

Back in (coal) Black
Boy oh boy. I wish I could say I was in some exotic location, blogging about so-and-so's steam special and what a blast I'm having. It's not all that glamorous to say I've been weathering my illness and playing Minecraft. Oh well. The coffee's nice and the nursing staff at my exclusive convalescence location is quite friendly and accommodating. Still, all things being equal, I'd rather be in Durango.

Chieftain: A Day At the Museum

I just read a very good "local living" article floated by the Pueblo Chieftain. It describes a day at the Colorado Railroad Museum and, if you've ever been there, you might find yourself remembering along with the author.

Visit the Chieftain article, or visit it in a new window.

Knott's Celebrates 60 Years

Photo by Mark Rightmire,
The Orange County Register

Over 60 years ago, Walter Knott, an enterprising man with many years' experience in the growing tourism industry in California, had a vision. Built to give guests waiting to eat the famous chicken dinners made by his wife, his growing Ghost Town was attracting many visitors in its own right. Yet the Ghost Town didn't feel complete to Knott without a live steam locomotive.

Death of Young Railfan Pinned On Bullying By Schoolmates

Editor's note for younger readers: The following story deals with the death of a 13 year-old by suicide. For younger readers, I recommend you discuss the issue with your parents, pastor or another counselor before reading this post or it's related links.

Now, to proceed...

POTD - All Is Calm, All Is Bright

 It's late on a snowy evening in December 2007. Union Station is lit up in all her glory, but the lights belie the cold rails and deserted platforms that await any weary traveler looking for warmth or maybe a room at the inn. The station sleeps in early winter slumber, a few years before the redevelopment claims the platforms seen here and subterranean concourse under DUSPA.

Amber hues and blowing snow stretch out in this somber photo
of Denver Union Station the night of December 8, 2007
Photo: Patrick Boury

POTD - Looking Down The Line Toward Christmas

The Polar Express is making runs three times an evening all this week from Durango to "the North Pole." It's approach toward the platform at the Durango station mirrors the approach of Christmas, now just a few days off. Rather than get caught up in the business and hassle of the season, it's my hope that you take a moment to step out on the platform with a cup of coffee (or hot chocolate) and gaze off down the track at the coming beauty and wonder of Christmas. It may not be convenient, or even on your schedule. Nevertheless, it may be necessary.

The Polar Express makes it's way past the back of the roundhouse on its way to
pick up scores of children and their parents in Durango on a frosty evening
Photo: DHLake

POTD - Winter Snows Roll Freely By Amtrak's California Zephyr

In honor of those who will be travelling this week, I thought I'd see if I could turn up a Photo of the Day or two on the subject of travel.

It was near my birthday that rail photographer Mark Hyams took this terrific shot of Amtrak's California Zephyr rounding the corner at Cliff, Colorado. I know it doesn't look like it, but the train is in the middle of a near 180° turn and,  a few moments after the picture is taken, will pass through tunnel 29, directly beneath the photographer. The remains of Tunnel 28 after it was daylighted are behind the first two sleeper cars at left. All the while, Boulder Creek is swollen with winter snows and it runs freely away from us and down the canyon for the Gulf of Mexico.

Amtrak's California Zephyr pulls through Cliff, Colorado late for it's appointments at
Fraser, Granby and Glenwood Springs at the height of summer, July 11, 2011
Photo: Mark Hyams

POTD - 50 Years Ago, Waiting In A Winter Wonderland

Well, it's been a while since I've posted any Photos of the Day, hasn't it? Too long, I know. Let's get back into it, shall we?


John West is a favorite photographer of mine, and it's not just because he had the good sense to be in Colorado photographing Rio Grande narrow gauge in the 1960s. It's because he didn't have any common sense standing out there in the cold snow waiting for two Rio Grande locomotives to chatter past with a load of Gramps Oil cars headed for Cumbres Pass and the oil fields beyond. Remember, pain is temporary, but film is forever. Thanks, Mr. West!

A double-headed narrow gauge freight headed by K-36 No. 480 puts on a wintry show
as it charges across the San Luis Valley tangent track 50 years ago this month
Photo: John West

Follow Up: State's Sale of Railroad Has Colorado's Citizens Fearing the Future

Following up on last month's post, State's Sale of Railroad Has Colorado's Citizens Fearing the Future, V&S Railway has indeed thrown the switch, taking the Towner Line, a rail route connecting Pueblo with Kansas and the east, one step closer to oblivion by announcing its intention to abandon service and rip up the rails. The Pueblo Chieftain has more with "Owner plans to scrap Towner Line." If Colorado wants to keep the line operational, it has the option. But finding $15 Million, what the Chieftain claims it may take, in a budget already fairly stripped down, may take some serious effort. On the other hand, the alternative may be more costly to the future of Colorado.

Englewood Selling Its Santa Fe Station

Editor's Note: A cold, chronic illness symptoms, and Christmas shopping have had the cumulative effect of blocking at least two major posts and a few POTDs from reaching you this week. I hope to get them out this weekend.

---

"Anyone want to buy, renovate and use a historic train depot?" So begins an article from the Englewood Herald.

UP 844 Goodwill Tour Videos Show A Classy Main Line Steam Engine, Crew

Rail photographers Skip Weythman and Dan Barker work as a two-man video team that does a very good job capturing the beauty of locomotives as their trains travel the broad expanses of western railroads, especially in Colorado. Their pacing shots of Union Pacific Steam are exceptional, considering the difficulty of steadying the shot, keeping an even rate of speed, and the physically demanding nature of the work. Their work stayed true to form despite the cold weather during Union Pacific's goodwill Centennial tour of the southwest states, which is winding down in Ogden, Utah, at the time of writing. Their work shows in the first four videos in the playlist below.

Railroads Celebrate A Colorado Christmas

The Polar Express arrives at Durango's 125 year old station

Colorado has many traditions and celebrations associated with Christmas. Denver's Civic Center, across the park from the state capitol, is lit each Christmas season with an impressive display that brings thousands to the city center on every night it's lit. Christmas stars light several Colorado towns like Castle Rock and Palmer Lake. As I've noted other years, Colorado also has a global role with Christmas as NORAD tracks Santa Claus while he travels around the world each Christmas Eve.

Also as with years before, I have a list of railroads and layouts across Colorado that host special Christmas events. This year I have them grouped by metro area. One final note before the listings: Reservations, where possible, are strongly encouraged as these events have a tendency to sell out at the last minute.

State's Sale of Railroad Has Colorado's Citizens Fearing the Future

Eads, Colo. Sept 30, 1989 Photo: Jeff Van Cleve

There was a time, 25 years ago, when a long stretch of rail in eastern Colorado was a vital link for Rio Grande, connecting Pueblo to Kansas City via trackage rights that Rio Grande picked up when Rock Island fell into Union Pacific. Long before that, the Colorado Eagle brought countless passengers across the Kansas prairie to Pueblo Union Depot and up the Joint Line to Denver's Union Station using Rio Grande crews. The Missouri Pacific built 152 mile-route to Pueblo in 1887 as a means for Jay Gould to rival the Union Pacific.

POTD - How Does One Fire An F9?

The characteristic curve of the window should be a tip to the railroad-minded about the location of the photographer when they snapped this picture of the Colorado River and the railroad right of way in July 1977. The shot is from the fireman's seat aboard the Rio Grande Zephyr in the cab of EMD F9 5771 heading east out of Glenwood Springs into Glenwood Canyon. In 25 years, the last remnant of the old California Zephyr will be a distant memory and the last of the Rio Grande covered wagons are preserved at the Colorado Railroad Museum..

Photo: Eric Sherrill

Thank You, Veterans

Today is 11/11/11. At the 11th hour on November 11th, 1918 hostilities were concluded in the Great War, World War I. In March 1917, the United States committed itself to the war when the Zimmerman Note was intercepted and made public. As many as 9 Million combatants died. Today, it's almost a footnote, which troubles this historian.

POTD - Ski Train F-40s Led Home By Familiar Face

Jim Burrill presented at the Hugo roundhouse meeting in March with Steve Lee on UP Steam. Back in December of 2000, he managed to catch Rio Grande GP-60 3154 resting at the southern end of Union Station with the then-active Ski Train after one of the F-40PH engines developed trouble on the run to Winter Park. Only recently replaced by the F-40s purchased from Amtrak by ANSCO, 3154 was a common sight on the Ski Train up to the 2000 season.

Photo: Jim Burrill

POTD - Snow And Hunter Orange On the Western Slope

If there was one thing this picture reminds me of, it's hunting! Yes, to keep their crews safe during hunting season, BNSF paints their locomotives in hunter orange! Well, maybe. But even so, it makes for a nifty side benefit, right? A BNSF coal drag makes it's way past Dotsero early on in February 2010.

Photo of the Day: Scott McClarrinon