The Impact of The Great Pueblo Flood of 1921

While our Centennial State of Colorado celebrated 150 years just weeks ago and a month earlier our nation celebrated its 250th birthday, "conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal," still a month earlier, Colorado's oldest city marked 105 years since the Great Pueblo Flood of June 3, 1921. 

View of Union Depot in the aftermath of the 1921 flood in Pueblo, Colorado, shows debris and destruction. Piles of timber and beams are stacked against overturned railroad passenger cars. Mud and debris from the receded flood waters extends to the railroad station platform of Union Depot. Empty and loaded railroad baggage carts are next to a group of men.
Denver Public Library Special Collections, X-10846

My favorite PBS program (at least since 3-2-1 Contact was taken off the air) Colorado Experience showed the glory of Pueblo in 1921, the height from which she fell and the ways in which she never really recovered. Who better to tell us all than the children of those who lived through it?

Of particular interest, the interspersed details of what this flood did to shape the future of railroads in Colorado. While I did know that four railroads converged on Pueblo, Including the Denver & Rio Grande, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, the Missouri Pacific and the Colorado and Southern, I was surprised to hear that the Rio Grande was disproportionately affected by the flood,  Did you know that public reaction to this flood paved the way for Denver and the Moffat Road to become the primary railroad hub for the 20th century and beyond? To create a district with the power to build the Pueblo flood-proof barrier on the north side of the Arkansas River, state legislators had to trade votes allowing Denver to create the Moffat Tunnel Improvement District. Pueblo still profited from the levy in the form of lower insurance rates for the next 100 years for the businesses of Pueblo's historic downtown. But Denver got her direct connection with Grand Junction and Colorado's western slope communities. Who profited more? I wonder.

Of course, this episode rightly focuses on the human cost of the tragedy. Perhaps the most difficult of all the facts is that we still do not know how many families and individuals were swept away by the floods. Not knowing who was lost and struggling to piece together lost lives shows that we still do not value human life, all human life no matter the color, income bracket, creed or vocation. That should change. It must change, but I wonder if it will. ⚒

Denver & Rio Grande Western Video By Pentrex Now Available On YouTube

In the last 24 hours, Pentrex uploaded their video Denver & Rio Grande Western to YouTube. It is one of the best railroad videos ever produced and has been one of my personal favorites since the days of VHS!  If you haven't seen it, you owe it to yourself to view it. I would give you the ability to watch it below, but Pentrex--understandably--wants to keep it exclusively on YouTube. While I personally can't stand the terrible ads placed by YouTube*, viewers will not be disappointed by nearly 2 hours of the Rio Grande in the 1990s. From Amtrak's California Zephyr climbing to the Moffat Tunnel to the sweeping vistas of the Tennessee Pass line and Glenwood Canyon on out to Ruby Canyon, images from this video come to mind whenever someone talks to me about the Rio Grande in its heyday. 

While readers of this blog know a prime topic explores what was so special about railroads in Colorado in the 20th century, this video should be "exhibit 'A'." I don't know how many times I've seen this video (dozens certainly, possibly hundreds), but I've left it for weeks in my DVD player to play whenever I needed a moment of calm train watching goodness. It is my absolute favorite video to watch whenever I want to relive the days of personal railfanning standard gauge from the 1970s, 80s and 90s! Is it perfect and free of errors? No, but it's damn close! Seriously, I've never seen this kind of work elsewhere. How did the videographer get permission to sit with the cab door open on what looks to be at best a 20°F. November morning in South Boulder Canyon all the way to the Moffat Tunnel? I admire the dedication in that cab, and I envy them a bit too. 

Go! Go and watch it. If railroading, especially mountain railroading, is in your blood, you will not be disappointed! ⚒

* - Seriously now, who wants to hear about promised "prostate tricks" and toilet rust ring removers? Non-subscribers seem to be mercifully spared the worst of the ads and they only appear every 30 minutes at the time of this post.

Canyon Spirit, Colorado's New Luxury Train Connects Denver With Utah's National Parks

Someone with more money than most has finally done it. They created a luxury train that connects a thriving metropolis like Denver with a beautiful resort like Glenwood Springs and a true blockbuster, the five desert National Parks in Utah. Last year, it was rolling under the name of her sister train in Canada, The Rocky Mountaineer, which still fit because Colorado anchors the southern end of the Rocky Mountains. Today, the same paint scheme and service under a new name, Canyon Spirit.

The train departs Denver and takes the identical route of the California Zephyr up the Moffat Route, through all 31 tunnels of the Tunnel District and then down through each of the exquisite canyons, finishing it off with the grand(e) dame, Glenwood Canyon before coming to a rest in Glenwood Springs. That's where the similarities to the Cal Z start to diverge. In Glenwood, you disembark for the night to stay there overnight. Dinner and a soak in the Springs? Possible. The train will be there the next morning to pick you up and take you the rest of the way to Moab, Utah and/or Salt Lake City. That is certainly a new way of doing things!

How you travel on the Canyon Spirit is up to you, but even the basic package is $1,735. This is well above the California Zephyr fare and more ambitious plans could run more than a private car rental, depending on where you go. Nevertheless, luxury and leisure, gastronomy and refined palates, you may have met your match with this train. Travis Ridgen, a youngish travel vlogger has made a detailed entry about this new experience.

If you are looking for a special date to commemorate or a landmark trip to take that is off the beaten path, Canyon Spirit is a capital idea that needs investing in, probably some saving up for. Some folks prefer to have a wide-open agenda and take things as they come, but if you'd rather let someone else do the planning once you've made your pick and then have every need catered to, this is your boarding call. All aboard! ⚒

PS: Speaking of special dates, today marks a very special date for me and my spouse. I'm very grateful for her support of this hobby all these years!

Denver's Highland Neighborhood Holds A Surprising Link to the Rio Grande's Founders

On the west side of Denver, a neighborhood unlike any other holds a surprising link to General William Jackson Palmer and Dr. William Bell, the two key figures in the early days of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. They were critical to the future of the entire state, yet this one undeveloped corner of Denver drew their attention. Sarah Mulholland of Colorado Public Radio picks up the story. 

How beautiful must that corner of land looked to these men that they would be reminded of the Scottish Highlands? One can only guess. But Palmer, for his part, described a recent morning when he had arisen, approached the window, and 

"a sight burst upon me which was worthy of God's own day. The [Front] Range, all covered with snow, arose, pure and grand, from the brown plains. As I looked I thought, 'Could one live in constant view of these grand mountains without being elevated by them into a lofty plane of thought and purpose?'₁

Clearly, the man was not above being moved by natural beauty! Such a heart is one I'd someday like to know. ⚒

1 - Rebel of the Rockies, Robert Athearn Ch 1, p.8

Tidemark Ends Colorado Narrow Gauge Calendar Publication

Today, January 1, 2026, was the first day I went without an accompanying Colorado Narrow Gauge calendar after decades of popular production. According to TideMark's post, they decided to end their publication of all calendars. 

To our friends and customers,

I regret to report that after 45 years, we have decided to discontinue our calendar program. As a result, we will not publish any calendar titles for 2026. We appreciate your interest and support through the past four decades.

Best,
Scott Kaeser
Publisher

For years, Charles E. Ditlefsen offered a calendar titled Those Magnificent Trains. In 1985, he published an ad in Trains for his calendar with scenic landscapes and Rio Grande K-28s sharing the months with standard gauge behemoths in less scenic places. Clearly, the Colorado photos and the narrow gauge photos gathered a lot of interest because in a few years, Mr. Ditlefsen introduced Colorado Narrow Gauge. 

Colorado Narrow Gauge 2025 Calendar is the last
full run in a long line of beautiful runs

The run began when CEDCO advertised his offering in the October 1991 Trains magazine issue. Titled Colorado Narrow Gauge 1992 Calendar. it sold well enough for follow-on production. CEDCO continued issuing the calendar in paper for nearly a decade before allowing TideMark to take over the popular title around 2009.

Personally, I was a great fan. I was amazed at the seemingly inexhaustible supply of pre-1970 railroad photographs from Colorado's narrow gauge past! I would always read the incredibly detailed and researched descriptions that came along with each month. Every single month the "Five Ws" of each photograph were answered in those pages. 

In regard to photographs, Al Chione seemed to take a lot of them, but he was not alone nor did the photographs seem to vary noticeably in quality or variety. It was always something new to view, and I never felt like I got a bad year. Considering such quality, a price increase would have been worth the sacrifice, especially in view of the alternative.

In short, this calendar was an inspiration to me in presenting the best I could to my readers. Including myself, Colorado and Narrow Gauge fans are in considerably poorer shape this year. It's my hope that someone takes up the challenge, directly or indirectly, to add more quality offerings to this legacy.

On a side note, in 1995, CEDCO even managed to sell a CD-ROM version of its train calendar that allowed the user to put together and print their own calendars using desktop printers. A few narrow gauge photos were included, but the pictures were limited in size and quality. It may have been asking much of the technology of the time to fit BMP format pictures on a CD together with the software. Nonetheless, I always thought using a JPEG format might have saved the Trains Calendar CD-ROM from being a single issue, brave as it was.

Western Slope Derailment Dumps Crew, 4400 Gallons of Diesel Into Gunnison River

On a remote stretch of former Rio Grande rails in Mesa County, a Union Pacific train struck a rock slide and derailed, dumping the locomotives, the crew, the fuel and at least a few hoppers in the lower Gunnison River. Denver's 9News said the sheriff's office had to use a drone to locate the train owing to the remote location of the derailment. Tom Hesse of Colorado Public Radio reported of the snowy rescue of the crew by hi-rail truck. 

Animas River Over Tracks At Needleton

Weeks of tropical moisture rolled up into southwestern Colorado earlier this month, causing flooding of the San Juan River in Pagosa Springs and the Animas River along the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, severing the line temporarily at Needleton. The railroad ran trains as far as Cascade Canyon for a few days until the line could be restored, resuming full service to Silverton today hopefully to finish the 2025 summer season.⚒

Colorado Seals 25 Year-Deal With Union Pacific For Moffat Line

The State of Colorado has signed a lease with Union Pacific of the former Denver & Salt Lake main line in lieu of rent for the Moffat Tunnel between Tolland and Winter Park for 25 years. This follows a memorandum of understanding that was issued from Governor Polis' office on December 23rd last year.

High piles of snowmelt sit beside the railroad tracks at the Amtrak depot in Fraser, Colorado on April 10, 2025. The spring zephyrs have yet to warm this little icebox and melt all of winter's icy grip. Amtrak's train 5 the westbound California Zephyr awaits departure. Photo: Steve Walden

The contract allows for 3 daily trains executing roundtrips from Denver. Stations in Fraser and Granby would already use the Amtrak stations in place, and this operation should begin next year, according to Gov. Polis. There are plans for stations 

• Denver A
• Arvada
• Rollinsville 
• Fraser A
• Granby A
• Hot Sulphur Springs
• Kremmling
• Oak Creek
• Steamboat Springs Resort
• Steamboat Springs Downtown
• Hayden
• Craig

A - existing Amtrak service via California Zephyr

All stations for cities without existing Amtrak service will need to be built, and there is no exact timeline, or indeed any active contract for building these stations. Gov. Polis believes the trains will be in service next year. Hopefully, Colorado's "Mountain Rail," a restoration of local passenger rail transportation, is finally becoming a reality. 

At the risk of naming chickens before they're built, maybe we can name one of the three daily trains for the Rio Grande's Yampa Valley Mail? ⚒

All the news coverage by:

• Colorado Newsline (um, Colorado?)
• Colorado Sun (Steamboat focus)
• CBSNews Colorado (Denver)
• Colorado Public Radio (Denver)
• Sky-Hi News (Grand County)
• Craig Daily Press (Moffat County)
• Yampa Valley Bugle (Routt County)
• Trains 🔒paywall

Amtrak's Cal Z Helps Keep Travel For Travel's Sake

People magazine is not my first choice for railroad news, but something got my attention in this article. The traveler, from western Europe, writes, 

“Traveling by train is about fully accepting where you are — not counting down the time until you get ‘there.’ This feels very different from flying, where it’s all about getting to your destination as fast as possible. I’ve noticed that I don’t even check the time while being on this train,” she wrote. 

“People here seem more open to talking to strangers, exploring, playing cards and engaging in real human interaction instead of staring at a tiny screen," she says. "They may not realize it, but they are fully present in this moment. Not trying to kill time, because on these trains, it feels like time doesn’t exist.”

The place she wrote this insight, the article says, occurred between Denver and San Francisco. That train can only be number 5, the California Zephyr. I have ridden the portion between Denver and Glenwood Springs more than once and I can attest this is a beautiful experience worth every moment. 

Colorado Experience - The Ski Train

Colorado Experience, the Rocky Mountain PBS series is now in its 11th season, having run since 2013 on Public Broadcasting System stations in Denver, Colorado Springs / Pueblo, Steamboat Springs, Grand Junction, and Durango. It's 11th season is a promising addition to the series, but what most of the readers of CR would be interested to know about is the episode titled "The Ski Train," which premiered at the Colorado Railroad Museum on October 15th and broadcast throughout the state later the same week. The episode is viewable via YouTube below.

Like all television programs, its difficult for producers and editors to decide what parts are essential and what parts are niche interest or broadly appealing but only tangent to the subject covered. How are you going to convey the subject, and whose narrative are you going to use to tell the story? Sometimes practicality limits the voices involved, and sometimes politics--public or merely human polity--limits what you can say. If you claim to represent the public interest, how far do you run down certain trails before you decide you're going too far from the audience? 

I had to ask myself these questions given my own perceptions and concerns about a very difficult time for Denver, for the Ski Train, and for me. As detailed in the episode, Denver's Ski Train, an institution started by Rio Grand from the the 1940s and earlier died a hard and painful death in 2009, when Ansco decided it could no longer continue the operations. That much is in the episode.

It was a difficult time for Denver because in 2009, it was in the throes of the Great Recession. On what is no doubt a related decision, Ansco determined it could no longer support The Ski Train, which admittedly had become more a labor of love by Denver philanthropist Phillip Anschutz. For me, 2009 had me 4 years into a disability determination case in which I had gone deep into debt trying to keep my family housed, heated, and fed while struggling to do any meaningful work in the face of my gradually increasing physical disability. Those times have thankfully passed for all involved with varying extents of recovery, yet some questions of the past still remain unanswered. 

The disposition of the fleet was for the most part to one operator, the Algoma Central for use in their Agawa Canyon train tour near Sault Ste Marie, Ontario in Canada. The possibility of relaunching the Ski Train as it was had gone forever. There would only be the future attempts to launch a new service. Attempts, plural, which were not covered in the episode and which I won't detail here because indisputable facts are hard to come by. 

Nonetheless, the current incarnation, known as the Amtrak Winter Park Express is not the first effort, but by far the most successful. No doubt much is owed to Amtrak Conductor Brad Swartzwelter, who is in the episode below. I have chatted with personally and I hope you get to meet someday. He is a rare breed and one I hope will continue to ride the rails throughout Colorado.

I am glad the tradition of a ski train, whatever the name, still survives. The goal has always been so people can still avoid the traffic snarls and treacherous roads on their way to ski one of the best large ski areas ever created. And these people get to see the wonders of the Moffat Tunnel Route, one that I personally think among the finest in the world. It remains a part of the Scenic Line of the World.⚒

Registration Req'd: Special Event Oct 15th

The Ski Train is a coming episode of a special show. Having seen multiple episodes of the Rocky Mountain PBS show Colorado Experience, I know that the following event is going to be special. Tickets are free. However, this event requires registration by following the link below. The showing is early, early evening, but I'm not putting the time down because you must register in advance. 

Register for Special Screening at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colorado.⚒

PS: The event was well attended! Thanks to all who came!

The Future of Colorado's Front Range Ties To Passenger Rail

For over 25 years, I have heard rumblings of expanded passenger rail service happening for the state of Colorado in various forms. From relocating freight rail out east along with a new "superslab" highway that got filled with more lead than Soapy Smith, to the ill-fated Rocky Mountain Rail Authority's intention to route rail both north-south and east-west through the state and never drove one spike, let alone a train, they were all disappointments. 

This time, I have a bit more hope for Colorado's longsuffering citizens. We have real funding passed and in place. Additionally the builders are focusing on one, realistic route in the area most likely to need it most by then. From a brief conversation, Nancy Burke, representative for Front Range Passenger Rail, said, "We are expecting a portion of the passenger rail corridor for service along the Denver-Boulder-Longmont line to begin in 2030." 

My thoughts are that this might be optimistic, but it certainly could happen if they get moving. If they do turn a steel wheel on a steel rail, they'll do more for Colorado than any of their predecessors, at least since the Kite Route stopped. 

FRPRs 2-minute promotional video follows below.⚒