Force Of Nature: CDOT Films Georgetown, Silver Plume and The Far-famed Loop

When I was a teen, climbing 14ers was a scary but fun summer pastime. By scary, I mean that I can't recall an ascent where my life wasn't threatened in some way. On my first attempted ascent of Grays Peak, I can remember how my dad had told me that Grays was one of the easiest climbs within a few hours of Denver. A Climbing Guide to Colorado's Fourteeners by Lampert & Borneman said so. I remembered that while jammed inside the cleft of a large rock, 50 feet off the trail, wrapped in a heat reflective blanket, wondering if I'd see my dad again.

What does that have to do with the film below titled Force of Nature? Everything. On my way to our climb, the last towns I passed through were Georgetown and Silver Plume. G-town was where they'd likely bring our bodies, I reasoned. I breathed out curses on guidebook writers and, in the very next breath, prayed that lightning avoided men on the exposed sides of mountains and boys stuffed into rocks beneath them with equal disdain. It was only a couple of years after they had rebuilt the Loop in the valleys below my misadventure. Colorado's Department of Highways, a predecessor of CDOT, was consistently being dealt black eyes for it's handling of rock falls onto its roads. Rock slide mitigation is an inexact science with very real consequences for failure.

In 2012, rock slide mitigation is getting (significantly) better. Walter Borneman survived my curses to pen a 20th anniversary edition of the guide and appear in the film below. My dad came down off the mountain having tasted electricity and felt lightning in his fingers, surviving only to drag me up many more (with alarmingly variable results), and then safely retire last year, giving his last Jeep to my brother. You might even catch his own guide book out there. It probably doesn't mention his stuffing his son in a crevice under a rock ...but it should. After all, it taught his son to pray.



Few today seriously understand how unwilling highway designers were to give up their precious right of way to a railroad that no longer existed! This film is just a small token of appreciation for James Grafton Rogers, a preservationist, a lawyer, and a veteran on this Veterans Day 2012.

And Walt, sorry. Your advice was good. No hard feelings!◊

UP 844 and SLRG 18 Met In Walsenburg

Union Pacific 844 and San Luis & Rio Grande 18 had an unannounced meet in Walsenburg, a town that's served as the long-time junction of the Denver & Rio Grande's La Veta Pass route that links Alamosa and the large San Luis Valley with the southern end of Colorado's Front Range. The SL&RG extra with three Rio Grande Scenic cars traveled for the first time into Walsenburg under its own steam. It's likely the first time since the 1950s that two steam engines had met in this southern Colorado town. YouTube user JointLineRailfan captured the late evening-lit meet of the two oil burners on Sunday, November 4th.



Great catch, even if it was in the dark! ◊

Union Pacific 844 Tours Colorado Starting Tomorrow

The Union Pacific Steam program is a veritable powerhouse of corporate goodwill that any Public Relations department would love to have. Any live mainline steam out west is likely to happen under the UP Steam shield.

As part of their UP 150 Celebration, Union Pacific sent it's million-pound* ambassador of good will, steam engine 844 down to Texas last month for its UP 150 Express tour. It's return route will come home through Colorado, starting tomorrow. The planned route follows I-25 for most of the way up the Front Range, using the Joint Line.

Here's the itinerary from their site, followed by their locations in Google Maps.

UP 150 Express in Colorado

Location	Arrival	Departure
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Des Moines, N.M. Saavadre Street Crossing and Larkin Street		11:01 a.m.
Trinidad, Colo. County Road 75 Crossing at County Road 71.6	1:15 p.m.	1:45 p.m.
Walsenburg, Colo S. Hendren Avenue and W. 5th Street	3:15 p.m.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Walsenburg, Colo S. Hendren Avenue and W. 5th Street		8:00 a.m.
Pueblo, Colo Look for signs beginning at access road	11:01 a.m.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 On Display
Pueblo, Colo 400 B Street	Open  10:00 a.m.	Close  4:00 p.m.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Pueblo, Colo 400 B Street		8:00 a.m.
Colorado Springs, Colo 112 Pikes Peak Ave.	9:45 a.m.	10:45 a.m.
Palmer Lake, Colo S. Spruce Mountain Road at S. Perry Park Road	11:45 a.m.	12:01 p.m.
Denver, Colo North Yard (no public access)	3:01 p.m.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Denver, Colo North Yard (no public access)		8:00 a.m.
Greeley, Colo Old Depot, 902 7th Ave	12:45 p.m.	1:15 p.m.
Cheyenne, WY UP Steam home	3:01 p.m.

UP 150 Express in Colorado Nov 2012
Map presented by Colorado Railroads, for informational purposes only, information as announced by Union Pacific on 11/3/2012


Remember that Sunday morning at 2 a.m., Colorado leaves Mountain Daylight Savings Time (MDT) and returns to Mountain Standard Time (MST). All times are taken from the UP Steam site and should be MST. For informational purposes only

* - 905,000 pounds, give or take

Happy hunting to all main line steam fans!◊

Answer to Tuesday's Trivia

The answer to Tuesday's trivia question:

D&RGW predecessor Denver & Salt Lake circled Yankee Doodle Lake over Rollins Pass. Map, Pictures (select the text to view) ◊

Trivia: Railroads Used Alpine Lakes To Climb Higher

Here's a bit of trivia for you. In Colorado, two railroads circled a lake to gain altitude for their main line, one narrow gauge, the other standard gauge. Probably the better known among the two is Trout Lake, which was circled by the narrow gauge Rio Grande Southern. What other railroad circled a lake in Colorado to gain altitude?

Comment in with your answer! Or, if you don't know, check back on Thursday to view the answer.◊

Lessons from 1993's Wreck of the Sunset Limited

Amtrak's "pointless arrow" in 1993

I watched the following about the 1993 Sunset Limited disaster* that killed 47 people near Mobile, Alabama. What I want to know is how long, how many disasters it will take before alignment sensors are put in place to guard the rails? We're nearly 20 years on, and the only fix implemented was regional. What truly chills me is that this could happen anywhere, even in Colorado, given the perfect storm of conditions.

My essential point is: Alignment-based derailments are too common to not be fixed.




* Spoiler: A loaded Amtrak passenger train at speed rammed a defective bridge truss that was knocked off its 84 year-old gravity-held mooring only 8 minutes before by a barge that was steered by an inexperienced pilot in dense fog. The Wikipedia article has more details for the those who don't have an hour to watch.

Moffat Tunnel In September

Skip Weythman posted a quick video of a westbound UP manifest freight at East Portal. Check out the beautiful aspen gold above the tunnel entrance. The trackside shed is missing a little paint and the concrete is showing it's age. Of course, everything ages faster at 9,240 feet ASL!

Georgetown Loop Oktoberfest Offer

If you like microbrews, the Georgetown Loop Railroad is offering beertasting and brats weekends until November 4 (view CR Events calendar). Here's more of the offer from their notice sent to Colorado Railroads.

How about these beers for the Beer & Brat tasting train!

• Great Divide Rumble Pilsner from Denver, Colorado
• Crabtree Serenity Amber Ale from Greeley, Colorado
• Upslope India Pale Ale from Boulder, Colorado
• Lefthand Brewery Nitro Stout from Longmont, Colorado

Dinner
Grilled Avalanche Ale beer bratwurst and all veal bratwurst, fennel sauerkraut, caramelized Granny Smith Apples, roasted red potatoes, and Dijon cream
Our bratwurst are specially prepared for us by the Continental Sausage Co. of Denver, CO

Book your reservation for the Beer and Brat train or the Dinner train.

Here's more from the site:

Oktoberfest

Oct 27, 28 & Nov 3,4
Question: What’s better than free hot dogs, bratwurst, and beer?
Answer: Riding the Georgetown Loop Railroad® and having free hot dogs, bratwurst, and beer. Ticketed passengers get free hot dogs and bratwurst, and you get to sample different micro brews or root beer. If you are lucky you might catch a glimpse of our new bighorn sheep herd that has just relocated to the south side of I-70. You've heard of moving up town, how about our “Bighorns” moving up track. Last week they were standing in the middle of Loop Drive by the High Bridge, Wow.

Sounds like a good time! Now, I just have to find my lederhosen.

OPINION: Reflecting on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic's Experiment

A lot has happened this year and particularly this summer for Colorado's heritage railroads. Nowhere more than the San Luis Valley.

American Heritage Railways, the company that owns and operates the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad had it's first season operating the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. This marked the first time since the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad abandoned its San Juan Extension in 1970 that the two remnants have been operated by the same company. Since the contract was announced in October last year, AHR's management of the railroad has not been an ideal fit with it's government-owners. As a result, AHR has largely bowed out of the contract, choosing to allow one AHR management employee, Ken Matzick, to report directly to the railroad's commission. It's hoped that this will simplify the situation and save the Commission money. Whatever happens, the impact of the change is likely not going to show very clearly for the riding public, especially if the Harper's statements about the commission and the C&TS culture are accurate.

It's not surprising that a private venture would have trouble operating under a government commission and a railroad that has been dependent on public funds for nearly it's entire existence. It's a problem as old as Keynes and Marx, capitalism and socialism. Worse, there is some entrenchment within the ranks of the C&TS Railroad. This isn't said in condemnation of the railroad. You try surviving in Antonito for more than a month without some form of assistance and trust me, you'll find your trenching tools fast. Nonetheless, neither of the two issues loan themselves to capitalists who like to innovate. Something tells me that of the two railroads, Gen. William Palmer, founder of the D&RGW Railroad, would find it slightly easier to recognize the physical plant of the C&TS, and find much easier to fit himself within the operating model of the D&SNG. Could it be the irony of the high iron that in seeking to preserve the history of the Rio Grande narrow gauge, the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic commission, the Friends, and the employees have actually lost something far greater?

If the C&TS commission attempts to bring back capitalism to the San Luis and Rio Chama valleys, it's going to have to sell to an enterprising young man who can grow, live, and possibly die with the narrow gauge. In valleys like these, no one is willing to risk that for an ideology, at least not so long as the government funds continue to flow. I really hope someone is willing to prove me wrong.

New: Colorado Railroads Logo (v.3)

I have long thought about the idea of designing a logo for this site that emphasizes the state it serves. Part of the reason this blog has been as quiet as it has recently is that I've been teaching myself how to work in SVG, an extension which is an industry standard in graphic design. That and trying to learn the legalese of protecting my work once it's out there. I hope you like it, and, if they're well received, I'm going to work on how I can integrate these logos into the site. If your feed does not display the logos below, click here to view the logos in their original post.

Colorado Railroads blog full logo © Steve Walden 2012

small or "mini-logo" versions © Steve Walden 2012

What do you think? Comment in, or vote on the poll at top right!

Rio Grande Scenic Renders Help To Flying W Wranglers

Rio Grande Scenic Railroad is offering relief for the recently displaced Flying W Wranglers. They lost their bread-and-butter when the Flying W Ranch and their chuckwagon supper facilities burnt to the ground in the Waldo Canyon Fire. From the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad site,

BNSF To Protect Joint Line With Fire Train

According to Trains Magazine's News Wire, BNSF is sending a "fire train" to assist with protecting sections of the Joint Line threatened by the Waldo Canyon fire, which is currently threatening several communities, most notably Colorado Springs. The sections of the Joint Line under threat are actually owned by Union Pacific, which inherited the originally narrow-gauge main line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in the UP-SP merger September 11, 1996. Despite this, BNSF's trackage rights go back to the USRA and World War I, and keeping the line in service is paramount to keep Powder River and Yampa coal flowing south to Texas.

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...