Showing posts with label In the Roundhouse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label In the Roundhouse. Show all posts

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Now Available In HTTPS

The Colorado Railroads site is now available over a secured connection! If your ISP requires HTTPS secured protocol, you should have no problem accessing the site in the future! ⚒

Friday, April 7, 2017

And We're Back!

Sorry for that brief interruption to our site. If you landed at www.corailroads.com and didn't see the familiar banner and posts in the last week, it was because of an account snafu. Just like in railroading, not everything goes perfectly every time. Thanks for hanging in there with us!

PS: Go Rockies! Have a great home opener and make 2017 a great season!⚒

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Blue Flags Save Lives

Photo: HemiAdda2d
Thanks for your patience. There is a reason CR has sat idle for the last few weeks. In railroading, a locomotive or track that is blue flagged may not be moved or moved upon for any reason for the protection of workmen who are often under or between cars. In other words, blue flags mean that someone may be injured or killed if the equipment or connected cars are moved. Violation of a blue flag will often result in a suspension or a Trump-like dismissal. It may sound draconian, but rules are often written after someone has died for want of a common sense protection found in such rules. A clear, layman's explanation can be found in Blue Flags, an article by Charles H. Bogart, published by Trains magazine.

Ed: Regular readers of CR may wish to read further.

In May, I found myself in the position where I decided to blue flag Colorado Railroads. If I hadn't relieved myself of this responsibility (yes, it's not just a joy), I would have had a hard time balancing needs. The consequences wouldn't have been life and limb, but since I tend to sacrifice the important for the sake of the urgent on occasion, I wanted to avoid the hazard altogether because it was one of those situations where those kinds of mistakes are amplified.

Photo: Roger Durfee
At that time, someone in my extended family learned they had a terminal illness. Days ago, that person took their last breath. This person was a great encouragement to me and always showed support and kindness in everything they've said or done for me and my wife and kids. The last 5 weeks in particular have been tough because nature of the illness robbed us of communication with each other.

Now that this person has crossed into eternal life with Jesus, the wounding is complete and the healing can begin in me and mine. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers for my family as we set about finding "the new normal" for us and resume what we can when we can. For now, the blue flag is about to come off the blog and we can resume the wonder that is Colorado Railroads together!◊

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Error -- File Not Found

The computer glitch has fell'd many heroes. God alone knows how many Gettysburg Addresses and how many Purpose Driven Lives have been wiped out in the formative stages by the message, "This file may be corrupt." or "Drive not recognized - Abort, Retry, Ignore." On the other hand, how many obtuse and awful works have been justly wiped out by the same thing?

So, somewhere in between these two poles sits my work: a review of Dale Sanders' Rio Grande - Scenic Line of the World and another review of Ralph and Clarence Danielson's Basalt: Colorado Midland Town. I had these open last night as I worked in my recliner, putting the finishing touches on them, when I fell asleep. This morning, they are gone, wiped out by computer error and possibly ...my tendency to press keys in my sleep. While this "dog ate my homework" excuse is likely going to fall on its face, I have to admit that it's nonetheless true and the grief in hours of effort lost is now mine to share with countless other writers, both the famous and the obscure. My claim to fame today is that I can lose data with the best of them.

The good news about starting over is that a rewrite is almost guaranteed to be better than the first draft. It's going to be better. At least that's what I keep telling myself. I will keep working on these. In the meantime, I invite you to peruse the columns at right (on the non-mobile version of this site). There's news sources, Grande sites (Rio Grande sites), Rio Grande Southern sites, Model Railroad Club sites, Railroad Radio streaming and even a "hidden" link to a nifty wallpaper. Don't forget the poll, either. "How would you spend $5M on the Colorado Railroad Museum?"

Thanks for your patience!◊

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

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 logo v3
Colorado Railroads blog full logo © Steve Walden 2012
Colorado Railroads sm logo 1colorado railroads sm logo 2
small or "mini-logo" versions © Steve Walden 2012
What do you think? Comment in, or vote on the poll at top right!

Monday, March 12, 2012

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.

Monday, September 19, 2011

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

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

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.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Railroad Radio in Colorado

If you've never listened to Railroad Radio, you've missed an opportunity to learn all about how freight moves in Colorado. It takes a bit of patience and knowledge of the nature of railroad operations, but, having it on in the background, you'd be surprised what you can pick up.

It's also a good indicator, given how expensive gas is recently, of how busy these rail routes are on a given day. Careful listening will help you know where the trains are, and how likely a photo run will produce good results.

All three live audio feeds are linked below and in the near column.

Railroad Radio in Colorado

 

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Reader Poll Results

The poll has closed and we have our results! Of those voting on location, Here on this blog took all the votes. I'm glad, because starting up blogs is a headache. Of those voting on length and frequency it was pretty much split down the middle. With 43% of the voters picking weekly with deeper coverage and 57% picking daily and short, I might try mixing it up with deep and weekly one week and short, quick and daily the next. I'm not completely certain.

What is certain is that Picture of the Day will start on this blog on Monday. See you then!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy 4th and Talk About Picture of the Day

Old Glory as it was July 4, 1877
the first Independence Day after
Colorado joined the Union
First, Happy Fourth of July to everyone! Have a great holiday and a safe return home.

Next, just a quick note about the POTD and it's status around here. Most of you haven't noticed the periodic absence or graciously ignored the gaps. Really, it's not me. No, really. It's not. Here's the story.

Friday, June 10, 2011

New Icons

It's amazing what consumes a blogger's time. I spent most of my useful time today on one--just one!--silly icon. Nevermind that the other three took almost as much time. Icons ...that you might notice. You might even click on them.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Announcing Photo of the Day

Rio Grande narrow-gauge #475 crosses the road's
namesake in Otawi NM by Otto Perry, DPL
Railroad photography is an art that I wholeheartedly support here on Colorado Railroads. Photographers like O. Winston Link and Colorado's own Otto Perry not only preserved history with their work, but also elevated such preservation to an art form. Countless more railfans aspire to have their work so regarded.

Friday, April 8, 2011

You've Got CR In the Palm Of Your Hand

If you have an iPhone or Droid or any other mobile browser, you should be viewing the site in the new mobile version. If you're not, change your CR bookmark to the new url and enjoy Colorado Railroads without squinting or scrolling like mad. But if you're driving (whether a locomotive or otherwise), put the thing down and drive! Arrive alive, you know?

Now, if only I could get it to tell you about the railroads where you are right this moment! That's actually something I'm working on.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

No More Google Ads, No More Ads Period

There is a change coming to corailroads.com within the next day or so. It's with a bit of relief that I'm taking the ads down. A for-profit site puts me in a different realm, legally, than I want to be. Most importantly, I've always loved railroads and no one has to pay me to do this. So, enjoy the ads while they last, if you really do appreciate ads in this era of media saturation. For the rest of us, the eyesores will soon depart.

As always, thanks for reading!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Housekeeping: Minor Change to Feed Subscribers, Coming Plans

Colorado Railroads has been blogging since January 30, 2006. Since then, we've seen a lot of changes. We've seen the very last of Colorado's home grown railroad, the Rio Grande, vanish from the locomotive roster of the Union Pacific with the retirement of SD-40T-2 DRGW 5371 to UP's steam facilities in Cheyenne. This happened the year after UP We've covered Class 1 action, scenic lines, simple grade crossing incidents and major derailments. We've even seen the birth of a shortline's steam-powered tourist railroad.