Sunday, December 31, 2017

Glenwood Springs Museum Closes

The 14 year-old Glenwood Railroad Museum closed forever as of  Monday, November 27th, 2017. Since 2003, the museum operated in the former Women's Waiting Room in the east end of the historic Glenwood Springs railroad depot, built by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in 1902.

Until 2016, it had always enjoyed a $250 per-year lease, educating the public and providing a place for Amtrak passengers to visit while waiting to embark. Glenwood Springs is Colorado's most popular passenger destination, second only to Denver's Union Station. However, Union Pacific decided it didn't want to foster goodwill and interest in western railroading as much as it wanted $30,000 per year in what it believes is a market rate for the space.

Their last hope was a bond issue that failed in the 2017 election cycle. The month of December was spent finding homes for all the artifacts and exhibits collected over the years.

Thanks to Trains Magazine for the tip.

Thursday, December 28, 2017

Coffee Table Layouts -- Moving Outside Their Own Little World

We're fully into winter now and with the weather moving some activities indoors, it's prime time to bring up a model railroading topic: Coffee Table Layouts.

Expansive, inspiring, but oh-so difficult to
set your nachos on during the big game!
For the model railroader without an extra room, options for engaging in the hobby are severely limited. Coffee table layouts appear to solve that problem, at least on the surface.

What coffee table layouts I have seen are usually the "small" steamer trunk variety that's about 5 feet by 2 wide and another 2 feet deep. They have a small but usually complex pike with a few turnouts and a loop or two for a basic train to navigate. The scale of these model railroads can run as large as one dreams, but usually, for realism and economy, only smaller scales are used. The trusty HO to N scale and even the tiny Z scale are all on the table--ha!--for modelers to build these railroads in the living room.

One very tangible shortcoming of these pint-sized pikes is the "glass-bottom boat" feeling a person gets from looking down into them. There is no way to get down on the level of the rails, so there is no opportunity for engaging the patron (person viewing the layout). It's impossible to enter the world created inside this small space. It's tiny and confined, so it is easy to dismiss. Adding windows on the sides or dropping the sides attempts to address the problem, but it compromises on integrity of the layout or sturdiness of the table. There's still that railroad-under-glass feeling too.

Fortunately, some crafty modelers have found a solution. Their N-scale layout is a computer-controlled m-arvel, but that is not the best part. At 1:50 in the video below, the entire layout except the background rises out of the table's chest and allows full eye-level viewing! The coffee table layout stops being a toy or a curiosity and becomes an immersive world that all true layouts aspire to be.



Even in a Christmas afterglow, it was impossible for me not to seek out a price tag listing for the layout. Apparently it's not for sale, much to my wallet's relief. Still, I would wager they've received an offer or two for the one they have made.

HT: John Hill and Hackaday

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Timeless Lines To a Locomotive

The following poem, a "prophetic tribute," written by Hon. William D. Lewis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was composed around 1840, a dozen years after the first railroad in America. It was first published in the Evening Bulletin (Philadelphia) and reprinted in Trains magazine's December 1964 issue on page 35. While technology has changed all but the most basic concept of the railroad in the 177 years since, and time itself has rendered the verse archaic, the imagery and themes are vivid and timeless and just as easily apply to the railroads of Colorado today.

Lines To A Locomotive
by Hon. William D. Lewis

Sublimest courser of the plain,
Whom toil can neither daunt, nor tire,
Onward thou bear'st thy lengthened train, 
With iron nerves and lungs of fire.

Boldest exploit of daring man,
Whose restless and impatient mind,
Infringes nature's general plan,
And leaves with thee the winds behind.

No match for thee in airy race,
The eagle, borne on sounding winds,
Envying he views thy lightning pace,
Most wondrous of earth's wondrous things.

As some bright meteor of the sky, 
Or some unsphered and shooting star,
Thou, locomotive, seems to fly,
Beheld by dazzled eyes afar.

Science and skill their aid impart,
Trained, hills to level, valleys rear,
Thy pathway smoothed by laboring art,
To urge thee in thy swift career.

On then, majestic, mighty steed,
Speed thy fast flight from clime to clime,
To thee,the glorious task decreed,
To cancel space, to vanquish time.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Cumbres & Toltec Scenic To Run Special Christmas Trains In Toy & Food Drive

If there weren't ads out there telling us "the season" is coming, the weather itself is reminding us: Christmas is on the way! Retailers depend on Christmas to make their annual margin and use ads to drive the sales up. While there's always a family we seem to know that spends itself silly in a celebration of excess, there's a very different reason for the season, and that is driving why I am supporting the following.

Christmas can be stressful for parents. Some plan and spend, other parents worry and wish. They know their family isn't going to get much of a Christmas, no matter what they do. They need help just to keep food on the table and heat in their home, let alone toys or clothes for the kids. Many families in the San Luis Valley know especially the problems of scarcity. What's more, this year, many charities have been stretched thin by the hurricanes and floods. That's why I was excited to read about the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad's Toy & Food Drive. Here's what's happening:

Celebrate the Season on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad’s Santa Train

Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Collecting Toys or Food Items to Benefit Toys for Tots & Food Bank
Antonito Departures on Dec. 9 & 10; Chama Departures on Dec. 16 & 17

ANTONITO, CO & CHAMA, NM -- To help make the holiday season a little brighter for those in need, the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad (C&TS RR) will again be running holiday trains to collect food and toys to distribute in Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico.  The one-hour rides are free for children (11 and under) and only $5 for adults (ages 12+). A donation of either
  • a non-perishable food item, or...
  • a new boxed toy
per person is requested.

Last year, the railroad collected more than 5,500 pounds of food and 1,000 toys, which were all distributed in the San Luis Valley of Colorado and in Northern New Mexico.
Last year in Chama
Photos: Roger Hogan
The highest and longest narrow-gauge steam railroad in America is owned jointly by the states of Colorado and New Mexico with stations in both Antonito, Colorado and Chama, New Mexico. This is a wonderful opportunity for families to experience the thrill of a steam locomotive in winter, while also helping those in need in the community.

There will be two different opportunities to experience the C&TSRR Christmas Trains, either

  • departing from Antonito, Colorado on December 9 or 10, or...
  • departing from Chama, New Mexico on December 16 or 17
The Antonito departures will climb the foothills of the San Juan Mountains to the Ferguson Trestle and back, while the Chama departures will run to the Lobato Trestle and back. Santa and Mrs. Claus will visit with children onboard and Santa’s elves will serve complimentary hot chocolate and cookies during the ride.

All food and toy donations are distributed to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation from Antonito and the Antonito Food Bank to recipients in the local area. Food and toy donations in Chama are distributed locally by the Chama Fire Department Toy Collection and the local Chama Valley Pantry operated by the Rio Arriba County Echo Food Bank.

To make your reservation on the C&TS RR Christmas Trains, go to http://cumbrestoltec.com/schedule-fares/special-events/ and click on the Christmas Train link or call the train depot at 888-286-2737. Train rides start at 10 a.m., with the last train departing at 4 p.m.

Wouldn't it be great to take your children shopping for a toy they would like to give? It's great to hear the insights they have as they pick out the right one. Then, let them bring it to the station as part of your Christmas celebration. Sometimes the biggest reward is seeing the warmth in your child's heart. ⚒

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

POTD - A Plow In Aspen Gold

Photo of the Day: James Belmont
With the weather turning colder again, it's only fitting for the mind to turn to the one thing that made Colorado winters famous--or infamous, to the minds of railroad presidents and their accountants: snow. First in the line of defense of the high mountain passes and deep canyons were the plows, of which the Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad's X-67 is one of very few built for them by the Russell Car & Snow Plow Company. Further, she was listed by the Rio Grande as a plow, rather than a plow and spreader. Nevertheless, she looks fantastic sitting in Minturn on a relatively hot spring day in June 1981, awaiting the call to action in a fresh coat of Grande Aspen gold with wide-vision caboose 01509. Since Tennessee Pass has been dormant for 20 years now (grrr!), X-67 has been summering in Glenwood Springs, not a bad way to spend one's time!⚒