POTD - Snow and Steam

Chris May, known popularly as GhoSStrider, is no stranger to POTD, but the last time he was featured he was chasing the Cheyenne Frontier Days special and his feature ran in early August! Quite the change here as he catches a volunteer dismount Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad engine 346 one cold December morning.

Photo: GhoSStrider

Durango & Silverton Hosts the Polar Express 2011

The Polar Express, of book and movie fame, is coming to Durango for this Christmas season. Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad put this video together promoting it. It's worth watching, even if you're a little cynical about how much fun a train full of kids can be.



For under 5 minutes, this is one of the best promotional spots I've seen in years. It's very true to the spirit of the book and I hope the same holds true of the ride. Highball, Polar Express!

POTD - Early Snowy Weather

This week will have three Photos of the Day, all themed towards snow, since snow has already fallen--and stuck!--on most of Colorado's mountains and plains last week. So, for all you snow hounds, dust off the skis and find your snow gear, because this week's for you.

If you are looking for a seasoned veteran, Chris Nuthall has been around Colorado's railroads for quite some time now, as evidenced by the following shot of Rio Grande SD40T-2 #5358 at Glenwood Springs with green leaves to the left and snow gracing the mountains above, definitely inconsistent weather that's consistent with Colorado! Incidentally, this was taken October 31, 1981, 30 years ago today! With such composition, I have to say she still looks great!

Photo: Chris Nuthall

If you like this one, you can always go back for seconds. 

UP 844 Tours Colorado, Fuels Positive Perceptions

As I write this, Union Pacific 844, the FEF-3 that never retired, sits at the top of the world ...well, the top of the Palmer Divide, anyway. It is as high in elevation that it will get along the entire goodwill tour, edging out Altamont, Wyoming by only 7 feet in elevation, according to UP elevation measurements.

Rio Grande 463 Scheduled to Return In 2012

The Monte Vista Journal did an article that serves as an update on Mudhen 463, under restoration in the San Luis Valley. The Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic have set March 31, 2012 as the completion date, despite the restoration requiring more work than anticipated, resulting in a $240,000 shortfall. Hopefully, next season sees the smallest and oldest of the surviving 2-8-2 Mikados back on the rails!

DUSPA: Public Invited to Interior Redesign Meeting Nov 3

The Denver Union Station Project Authority is hosting a meeting to hear presentations of two competing ideas for the interior re-development of Denver's Union Station. The press release follows below.

Colorado Springs' Depot Restaurant Closing Monday

2 photos: springsgov.com

The restaurant that preserved the D&RG depot in Colorado Springs, Colorado from the wrecking ball in the 1970s is closing tomorrow. The building that was built originally to suit arrival of small, narrow-gauge trains of travelers, transplants and tourists will have a new purpose as an events center, not unlike--at least on paper--Pueblo's Union Depot.

UP Goodwill Steam Tour Has Several Colorado Stops

Update: 
10/21/2011 2:55 PM - As promised, I have a full map of the stops in Colorado with arrival and departure times.

---

Union Pacific has announced an extensive tour of the southwest US to participate in state-wide centennial celebrations for New Mexico and Arizona. Since Colorado is currently located between those two locations and Cheyenne, perpetual home of UP Steam, several stops have been scheduled in Colorado to give folks a chance to come out and see Union Pacific 844.

The Rio Grande's Tennessee Pass in 1984

In 1984, the Rio Grande was in its prime, and the video camera was just becoming semi-affordable. Primitive by today's digital standards, it stood head and shoulders above the movie cameras of the previous generations. Enjoy this blast from the past. I've added it to the Rio Grande Memories - Std Gauge playlist available on Colorado Railroads' YouTube channel (note: this is the corrected link to the active YouTube channel)

Train Shows In Denver and Along the Front Range

The aspen colors have nearly faded across the Rockies, and pro football is in full swing. The days are getting colder, and furnaces are beginning to fire up again. Indoor activities are just beginning to sound appealing. Model railroading looks like a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. What sounds good is a train show! That will get the creative juices flowing and give you a chance to learn from some seasoned modelers. Here's what's available....

Follow Up: 17 Year Old Severely Maimed In Near Fatal Stunt

Anna Beninati, the 17 year-old student who followed her friends in a near-fatal attempt to hop a freight train and fell beneath the wheels of the rolling train, suffering two severed legs, has survived and by all I can tell, she has begun rehabilitation in Utah, her home state.

Carving Up A Diesel Locomotive

I watch a lot of documentaries and non-fiction TV. Up until now, however, I'd never seen a show about scrapping locomotives. It's sad to see any locomotive cut up and parted out, but, if you have ever wondered about what's under the hood of those huge diesels, this video shows how the vultures--er, reclamation specialists carve up a KCS engine that has turned its last mile.

Play the video (in Shockwave player) above or watch the video at National Geographic

As Old As the Hills

I happened across an anecdote today that comes from the days of widespread passenger rail. It's a simple one that I've taken the liberty of re-telling here.

A gentleman boarded a train he'd never ridden before and was surprised to find that his first class ticket gave him access to the same car as second and third class passengers. What was more, the seats and other accommodations were all the same. He had heard about small railroads, but he couldn't figure out what he had bought with his ticket, at least until the train came to the first hill. The train came to a stop, and the conductor came into the car. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention. First-class passengers, please keep your seats. Second class passengers, please disembark the train and begin walking. Third class passengers, get out and push."

I hope that gave you a smile to round out the week. Have a good weekend, and happy train hunting!

Tennessee Pass Update: Rust, Dust, Weeds and Little Else

If you wonder, like I sometimes do, what Tennessee Pass looks like about now, with all the aspens aglow and fluttering in the early fall breezes, head on over to Colorado Railfan and check out Kevin Morgan's pictures taken just last Saturday. The rails are 15 years rusted and the signals are shot, but the colors are beautiful!

POTD To Resume Soon On Limited Basis

So what is up with CR's Photo Of The Day? Well, you may not like it or you may not even care, but I have an admission to make. I am realizing that while I may be at least an average or better blogger, I find maintaining a constant feature very tedious. Routine is boring, and schedules are at best a necessary evil. Do I apply that to people? No, I admire others in their dependability, their steadfastness, and commitment. These are good qualities to cultivate. I have, repeatedly, tried to do so in my own life. I have failed often enough to find that holding to a schedule limits my very limited energy and dries out my passion for a subject.

Photography and especially railroad photography have captured my passion, as you've already seen. The last thing I want to see is my passion crushed under the relentless drumbeat of a schedule, especially when it is in my ability to change it. Therefore, POTD will continue on a sporadic, unplanned and impromptu manner. If you want to see the most recent, please use this link: http://www.corailroads.com/search/label/POTD

We Remember

Rio Grande Tunnel Motor In Brazil - An Answer To Wednesday's Question

Sorry about being off-schedule yesterday for a POTD. I've been under the weather. Your prayers and kind thoughts are appreciated.

In the meantime, Wednesday's POTD question caught the attention of no less than the photographer himself, Johannes Smit, who commented in. He actually has an entire category of US railroad engines that have crossed the equator. He answered the question with a photo and caption, mixed with a bit of Portuguese:

SD40 #4820, detalhe da inscrição “Rio Grande” reaparecendo. A #4820 era Denver & Rio Grande Western #5386. Brejo Alegre - Araguari MG
Uma foto do “original”: www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=223100 

which means,

SD40 # 4820, detail of the words "Rio Grande" reappearing. The # 4820 was Denver & Rio Grande Western # 5386. Heath Alegre - MG Araguari
A photo of the "original" www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=223100 *

*(courtesy Google Translate)

POTD - A Secret Hideout From UP Patch Kits

The Picture of the Day is a bit of a secret. Did you know at least one Rio Grande tunnel motor went to Brazil? Yup.

She seems to have been extensively modified. The trucks are B-B+B-B instead of C-C. and the signature low-level vents have vanished. The frame must have been lengthened for the trucks. Finally there's a non-standard door for the engine crew.

Does anyone out there have the story on this? Please comment.

Editor's note: The photo is "All rights reserved" on flickr. I won't use such photos typically,, although today is an exception. Even then, the photographers don't get as much exposure and I can't credit them. Too bad, huh?

POTD - Steaming On Toward Colder Days

A sudden dip in the temperature this weekend reminded me that winter is only a little over 3 months away. Former D&RGW class K-28 engine 473 makes her way northward past the tank at Hermosa,Colorado toward the wye at Cascade on a cold, clear Saturday morning in December 2003.

Photo: Kevin Wood

17 Year Old Girl Severely Maimed In Near-Fatal Stunt

Editor's Warning

This news article describes the real-life, violent injury of a person. Reader discretion is encouraged.

Amtrak Resumes Zephyr Service, ...Sorta

Since the accident last week, Amtrak hasn't been running the California Zephyr, owing both to the accident and damage from the floods further east. Today, Amtrak resumes service from Ft. Morgan west to the end of the line in Emeryville, California.

POTD - One Train - Part V

Today is Friday before Labor Day (Yeah!), and so we're wrapping up the theme for the week of One Train. Five different photographs of one train by Kevin Morgan of ColoradoRailfan.com have illustrated different aspects of railroad photography.

Perspective seems to be my favorite aspect of railroad photography, I guess, because I've been talking about it for most of the week. This shot illustrates a near perfect vanishing point.

Thanks to Mr. Morgan for the great shots and for use of these photographs to illustrate my points on perspective and railroad photography. It was awesome that even without any planning this whole series worked so well. Spontaneity sometimes works wonders, something you can also take to heart in photography. Experiment, try new things, and be willing to live with the results. You never know what you'll come away with until you try!

A meet between BNSF trains in Boulder yields a great perspective shot as
a double stack passes a dormant unit train on the siding on August 24, 2011
Photo: Kevin Morgan

If I don't post later this weekend, have a great Labor Day! Enjoy summer while it lasts, and if you can't find anything better to do, pop on by your local railroad museum. I'm sure they'd be glad to have you!

POTD - One Train, Part IV

For POTD this Thursday, I'm continuing the theme of One Train. Today's is very similar to yesterday's in terms of angle, but it has something very different. It's from a lower angle, which leaves room for the inclusion of a very unique cloud formation. While there may or may not be a statement in including the cloud, such as wings, for Boeing's cargo in the first car, at right, there can always be such angles if you work for it, using the right focal length, and so on. The elements that you include that are non-train related give you the ability to express your art however you want.

A BNSF double stack train rolls past a tied down unit coal train. The first
car of the double stack is bound for Boeing in the Pacific Northwest.

Photo: Kevin Morgan

Trainstar: Review of Unstoppable

Trainstar, says that Unstoppable is "great train porn." While I may not agree with her wording, it's a great way to sum it up. Check out her review. With two of my own favorite actors, Denzel Washington and Chris Pine (Sgt. Getraer's son, Captain Kirk) in the lead, I realize it's about time that I check it out.

POTD - One Train, Part III

Continuing with part III of this week's theme:

One train.

Perhaps the most classic pictures known in railroad photography circles are the approach photos, where a train is approaching on a single set of rails toward the photographer's position. It's a simple shot that a lot of photographers rely on as their "go-to" shot when capturing a train. It doesn't depend much on topography or distance available, unlike the previous two POTDs.

The feeling is one of imminent anticipation. The train is a traveler, passing in only moments. It bears a load from incognito toward parts unknown. It is arriving in only seconds, unrelenting and unhesitating toward its eventual destination. In the moment, it is everything we know of railroads.  It can be a brawny diesel, like this one, or a speeding 4-8-4, a miniature 4-4-0 of the wood-burning, narrow gauge variety, or an F-7 (or even an E-8) with the graceful curves and beauty that made her an icon of American railroading.

By stepping down next to the right of way, Kevin Morgan has put the point of view into the same vantage point most of the world sees trains in their most powerful and acclimated setting. 

Headed by locomotive 5338, a BNSF double-stack intermodal train comes in
for a meet, holding the main with a rather quiet train tied down on the siding
Photo: Kevin Morgan

POTD - One Train, Part II

This week's theme is:

One train.

I have always been an acolyte of long lens work. There's something about being able to take a great distance and smash it into one 2-dimensional image. It's photography doing what it does best, and photographer Kevin Morgan makes it work well here.

In this case, a telephoto shot that doesn't close the distance, but instead takes a great distance of rail (a half mile?) and shows all the wobbles, variances and sags in something that--at least conceptually--should be stable, straight and strong. The haze on the horizon and subtle air distortions close to the rails makes the shot feel all the more heat laden as the rails all but melt into pools of silver.

A BNSF stack train trundles along under an ardent August sun
toward a meet over rails that look too hot to ride this afternoon
Photo: Kevin Morgan

POTD - One Train

I've had this idea for a theme of POTD, and I'm going to try it out. It's simple:

One train.

That's it. One train for the week. Obviously, we'd need five photos, and not just any photos. Five good photos that show different aspects. What's even better? The guy doesn't even know he did it for me.

Kevin and I have spoke very seldom, but he knows I am a fan. If you've read here for any period, you'd know it too. His web exposure is great because he has his own web site. This site lets you do searches by railroad, location, and even by weather. He e-mails his subscribers when he has new work, describing--sometimes in great detail--his shots and the stories behind them. He's doing what he can to get a core of loyal followers that take an interest in his work. Is he a regular producer? No, but if your work is of sufficient quality, that shouldn't matter. My point in this little diatribe is that it takes more than a good camera and average skills in railroad photography to make things happen.

In the decades before the internet, it took photographers the effort to find receptive clubs to come display their work, to sit down and organize their slides in trays, then haul them off in their car to the club meeting place, usually in the dead of winter, set up a projector and sit in the dark with a bunch of other grown men, and even women, and put your talent on display in front of everyone. Today, it requires a little less physical work, but effort is still a vital part. Learn how to use the tools like Blogger, Twitter, Flickr/SmugMug, Facebook, FeedBurner, Constant Contact, web forums and other, often free tools to increase your ability to interact and bring out your better photos. Making full use of the internet can change everything for you as a photographer and artist.

Diatribe over. Thanks!

Today's Photo of the Day is the basic high-angle, shot from a hill, overpass or other feature that enables a high view showing the tops of the locomotives and cars. Shot usually from the same side as sunlight, the effect is to show the train in the context of it's route. Interesting features of landscape fall second to the features of the train itself. This particular shot has the added benefit of the train curving between two trees that create a natural frame for the shot. The train is now part of the land, not just passing over or through it. What looks like just a shot of train at first glance is instead a carefully composed subject in its context.

Time: 11:52 AM

BNSF Double stacks are rare on the Front Range of Colorado
but this train seems as much a part of the land as the earth itself
Photo: Kevin Morgan

Amtrak's California Zephyr Hits Crane, Derails - 22 Hurt

Photo: Nebraska State Patrol

Amtrak's California Zephyr left Colorado and ran into a crane. That's essentially what happened to Thursday's train out of Denver in the early morning hours of today in Benkelman, Nebraska. At least 22 people were injured. The AP has the complete story.

POTD - Beneath One Bridge and Over Another

Rounding out this week's theme for Photo of the Day of Tennessee Pass, Carl Weber returns to Colorado Railroads with a worthy photo indeed! How could I not include Red Cliff? Those who haven't been, should, despite the lack of rail traffic. The town is as aptly named as any. Good way to go out on a Friday.

It's September 4, 1990 and the warmth belies the proximity to autumn and aspen gold.
Rio Grande SD40T-2 5379 passes beneath the soaring US 24 bridge at Red Cliff, Colorado
Photo: Carl Weber, B_And_A_Fan collection

PS: If you love Tunnel Motors, check out 5379's factory fresh paint job in 1977.

POTD - Minturn Years Later and Months Before

We are in Minturn for the second time this week for Photo of the Day and our theme of Tennessee Pass. This time, however, we are only a few months away from the Southern Pacific merger with the Union Pacific, 5 years to the day before 9/11.

The sun glares off the remarkably clean and unaltered nose of Geep 3099 as
she leads a colorful consist and train into the yard at Minturn in July 1996.
Photo: John Jauchler

POTD - At the Summit, Cresting the Continent

Colorado Railroads continues the theme of Tennessee Pass for Photo of the Day by going to the summit of Tennessee Pass, where a tunnel pierces the divide, emerging after half a mile on the other side of the pass.

Railblazer is a veritable shrine to the Rio Grande. It hasn't been updated in 4 years and the photos are small by today's standards, yet I can't help but go to it to find vintage photos of the Grande in her glory.

Geep 3117 a GP40-2 is westbound on Tennessee Pass in September 1980.
In seconds, she'll plunge with her stable-mates into the tunnel beneath the summit
Photo: Railblazer

POTD - Has Anyone Seen My Right-of-way?

It's hard to believe that only 10 years before this photo was taken, this right-of-way was part of a well-maintained transcontinental railroad system, a vital national link carrying goods and commodities from Pueblo and points east to Salt Lake City and points west. In 2006, It's hard to see it among the weeds as nature attempts to reclaim the land for its own use.

A ballast train eases itself along the weed-choked main at first is east of MP 325
east of Eagle,Colorado on June 29, 2006. Rusted rails makes you go slow as snails
Photo: Todd Busse

PS: If you'd like to see more of Todd's trip, he posted some of his photos on RailroadForums.com.

Mudhen 463 Frame Mated To Boiler In Mammoth Crane Event

Some great news has come out of Monte Vista this month! Denver & Rio Grande Western steam engine 463 has taken a major step in her return to steam. The frame and boiler were finally mated back together at last. Everything appears to be on schedule for the K-27 class Mudhen to return to steam at the beginning of the 2012 Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad summer season.

POTD - Theme of the Week - Tennessee Pass

This fourth week of August, our POTD theme is Tennessee Pass. I know that a lot of folks would like to see the line return to service. Conversely, I know a lot of Eagle valley residents would just as soon it never run again. Yet Minturn was a railroad town from the start, and that's where we start today. Tomorrow, we'll visit Eagle.

EMD SD45 #5319 pulls into Minturn, a crew change point, on 11/12/76.
Rebuilt to SD40M-2 by MK Rail, she now works for the UP as 4704.
Photo: John Carr, CarrTracks Data: UtahRails.Net

Colorado Railroad Museum To Lay 300 Feet of Track August 27th

This next Saturday, August 27th, Colorado Railroad Museum will be laying 300 feet of track in one day, with some help. Here's the news straight from the Telegrapher,

FasTracks West Rail Line Contractors and Denver Transit Construction Group are donating all the materials, including track, ties, and ballast, equipment, and labor to build 300 feet of standard gauge track in a single day.

POTD - 737 Fuselages Rolling On Steel Wheels Make a Sight

There's something about loading a main battle tank on a plane, or a train crossing a bay by ferry, or more commonly, containers shifting from ship to train to tractor-trailer. It's a mixing of modes, showing that one mode just isn't going to make it all the way there. A hatch of 737-8 fuselages, still fetal but leaving no guess as to what they are, traveling by train is perhaps the oddest pairing. Rails are extremely efficient, yet confined to the path laid down. Jet flight is very inefficient but offers freedom in all 3 dimensions, yaw, pitch and roll. Juxtaposing the two is our Picture of the Day.

Boeing's latest iteration of the venerable 737 makes it's journey from Kansas City
to Denver strapped securely aboard the spacious and quiet flatbed cars of BNSF
Photo: Joe Blackwell

I'm Still Gathering Steam

Well, guys and gals, I'm still catching up from this weekend. Sorry there is no POTD yesterday or today. I don't travel well like I used to, so what looked like a simple trip on Sunday afternoon became something I needed all of yesterday to recover from. It's very frustrating, but it can't be helped, I guess. Thanks for your patience while I gather some steam to tackle the rest of the week.

POTD - Silent Testimony in Buena Vista

Editors note: POTD continues, but after today, most will have a photo and a brief caption without the essay. Essays need to be fact-checked for accuracy, each of which can require significant blocks of time.

Life in Buena Vista since 1997 has been considerably quieter than the previous century, thanks to the Union Pacific's decision to mothball the Tennessee Pass route in favor of the Moffat Tunnel route. It's been considerably cleaner, as well. In the 40s and 50s, the Rio Grande's monster steam engines caused a smoky haze to hang over the entire Arkansas River valley, causing respiratory issues for soldiers training at nearby Camp Hale.

Such days seem foreign to the summer scene below captured by Adam Lutt. The Rio Grande bridge has eluded the paint cans of Southern Pacific and--thus far--Union Pacific. The former main line has sat dormant for so long that nearly all the kids in this scene have never seen a coal or TOFC unit train come through this valley. The thrum of diesel engines, the rumble of a rail grinder, and the chuffing of iron horses are all as foreign as can be from this simple day playing in the creek, their echo fading from human memory as the paint slowly fades from the bridge above. It's only a matter of time before the railroad vanishes completely from Tennessee Pass, a matter of time, and money, unless a client develops on these once-heavily traveled rails or Union Pacific gets serious about preserving and maintaining their future options. Yet if they do, they could just as easily paint over the bridge's Rio Grande lettering altogether, disturbing the nostalgic reverie of Grande Fans like me.

I think I'll go skip a rock.

Locals and their guests play beneath a railroad bridge of the Rio Grande in a tame
and cool Arkansas River in Buena Vista, strictly a summer activity in Chaffee County
Photo: Adam Lutt

POTD - Big Ten 16 Years Ago

Denver's altitude is 5,280 feet above sea level, earning it the obvious moniker, the Mile High City. The railroad route directly west was built as Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railroad and came to be owned by its successors, Denver & Salt Lake Railroad and Denver & Salt Lake Railway, as well as Denver & Rio Grande Western, Southern Pacific, and lately, Union Pacific through a series of mergers. It's apex was first at Rollins (Corona) Pass at 11,680 feet ASL and then inside  Moffat Tunnel at 9,239 feet. Making up the difference (6400 and 3959 feet respectively) while at the same time keeping the gradient manageable and cost efficient was a balancing act that meant gaining altitude as evenly as possible. If there was a ramp of earth, much like Sherman Hill in Wyoming, the construction engineers would have had little trouble. As it was, construction from Denver into the foothills was the most difficult part. They had to claw and scrape for elevation to reach Boulder Canyon and the Flatirons. A tongue of land jutting out from the foothills became the stepping stone between the western high plains and the east face of the Rocky Mountains. The long, winding turns climbing onto and upon the butte are both ten degrees curvature, thus named the little ten and big ten curves.

On April 8, 1995, a Southern Pacific coal train descends through Big Ten and
approaches Little Ten curves west of Denver, 18 months before the UP merger
Photo: Rolf Stumpf