Reader Poll On The Colorado Railroad Museum

The results are in with the reader poll. This was one of the longest running polls in CR history, running 200 days or 6 months, 2 weeks, 3 days (half a year, half a month and half a week!). The question was: If you had $5 Million to spend on the Colorado Railroad Museum, which options would you pick? While voters could pick more than one, they did weigh in with a majority. Here are the options ranked by total votes.

Rank	Option	Votes
1	Build a train shed, covered pavilion or super roundhouse to shelter a significant percentage of the museum's collection from the ravages of weather and exposure, preserving your collection and saving money in the long term.	57 (53%)
2	Purchase additional land to expand the museum grounds (GP30, SD40T-2 and others await restoration and display).	49 (46%)
3	Purchase right of way and build a spur to connect the BNSF Coors branch directly with the museum grounds.	39 (36%)
4	Restore a long tenured locomotive to life, such as D&RG 583, D&RGW 491, CB&Q 5629 or D&RGW 318	27 (25%)
5	Finance several main line steam excursions throughout the state to help generate awareness for the museum by showcasing some of its rail-worthy collection and hosting key donors on board.	13 (12%)
6	Fund the construction of a small satellite campus of the museum in Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Montrose, Grand Junction or another city	8 (7%)

Thank you to everyone who voted!◊

Denver Union Station Set To Re-open Spring 2014

For nearly a century, Denver's Union Station, situated at 17th and Wynkoop Streets in LoDo (map), served as Denver's gateway. After suffering neglect in the 60s and 70s, a group called Save Our Station came forward to save Denver's landmark and stood in the gap until LoDo's redevelopment in the 90s. Today, with FasTracks and a "project authority," Denver Union Station is primed to become the city's transportation star once again, juiced with hospitality and shopping opportunities that Denver's founders would dismiss as flights of fancy.

ColoRail, Colorado's primary passenger rail advocacy group, reports that Denver Union Station's project under DUSPA is nearing completion of several steps in its renovation. For approximately 30 months the historic building, parts of which date from the 19th century, has been gutted, busted up, and besieged by earth-movers and construction cranes, but not for much longer. From ColoRail's latest brief,

While an exact date has not been announced, Amtrak trains, ticketing and baggage handling are expected to be back at the historic Denver Union Station building by mid-February 2014. Here is the line-up of events as it appears today:

⊗ Mid-February 2014, in a blizzard of track-work, the "cut-over" will take place, re-connecting Tracks 4 and 5 with the national railway network. Amtrak trains currently use Track 8. Station activities will be moved into the historic building. This will begin a new period of awkwardness, due to the surrounding construction activities, with special efforts needed to define safe pedestrian routes.

While RTD is mainly concentrating on the next step, national interest is focused on the Amtrak move, after relocations in both Miami and St. Paul were fouled up. One ColoRail member riding on the Southwest Chief found himself being grilled by his sleeping car attendant as to whether Denver would be able to handle this in a timely manner or not. ColoRail board members receive many questions along the same lines.

At this phase, customers should have access between the 16th Street FREE MallRide and the Wynkoop entrance to the historic building, or a 3-block walk up 17th Street for Market Street Station connections with skyRide and Boulder-Longmont buses. Thruway buses will have to park along Wynkoop Street during this stage of the project.

⊗ On May 9th, a big grand opening ceremony will be held for the Bus Concourse, which is to link the thousand foot walk between the historic building and the relocated light rail platform.

⊗ On May 11th at 2:00 a.m., the Market Street Station will close forever and the Union Station Bus Concourse will open for business. The significance for rail travelers is that it will be possible to walk under cover from the Amtrak facilities to the plaza at the Millenium Bridge light rail station. This change will also bring numerous bus connections closer to Amtrak trains, including:

• Amtrak Thruway bus connections for Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Walsenburg, Trinidad, and Raton.
• CDOT sponsored bus connections for US 40 points including Winter Park-Fraser and Granby
• CDOT sponsored bus connections for US 285 points including Salida, Gunnison and Alamosa
• RTD FREE MetroRide bus connections for Civic Center Station and the Denver Bus Center
• RTD Regional bus connections for US 36 and North I-25 points, including Boulder and Longmont
• RTD skyRide bus connections for DIA
• A variety of Local, Express and Regional RTD routes

For the future, at least two other bus companies have expressed interest in serving the station. On the other hand, residents of Lower Downtown, recipients of millions of tax dollars in the form of a landscaped plaza in front of the historic building that replaces the taxi and bus loop, are objecting to "increased" bus traffic. Actually, there is no LoDo increase, but the project changes which streets are used, as buses would no longer be going to Market Street Station.

⊗ On or about October 1st, CDOT expects to begin interdistrict commuter bus service between Fort Collins, Denver and Colorado Springs, with stops at Union Station.

⊗ In 2016, three commuter rail lines are due to begin service, including the DIA/East Line, the Westminster Line, and the Gold Line (Arvada - Wheat Ridge). These would replace several Express bus routes in Union Station, as well as the Rte AF skyRide coaches. Also improved would be connections to Aurora, via the I-225 light rail extension. Aurora stops will be accessible either via an East Line transfer at Peoria/Smith Station or via a C/E-Line to H-Line transfer at I-25 & Broadway Station.

⊗ In 2017, it is possible that commuter rail service to Thornton will begin.♦

With the completion of the West line earlier this year, Denver Union Station already ties the Light Rail lines together. Once Amtrak and the commuter lines are active, it truly will be the regional hub envisioned by FasTracks.◊

Museum Poll Reminder

Only hours remain for you to vote in the Colorado Railroad Museum poll "What would you do with $5 Million at the museum?" Take a look at the top of the right-hand column and voice your opinion!◊

Railfans Hope For A Little Coal In Their Stockings

If you're a railfan, you've likely dreamed of firing up a steam engine and highballing it on the main line. Christmas brings those dreams especially close. To all my railfan readers and friends, enjoy this for your personal use.

Denver & Rio Grande engine 168 sits under a fresh blanket
of snow in Antlers Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
2100 px PNG file, right click and choose "Save link as" to save it to your wallpapers folder

1600 px PNG file

Have a warm, safe and blessed Christmas, and a happy new year!◊

Hovercams Growing From Toy To Tool

I get a little excited about a new technology on occasion, or an old technology that suddenly made the leap into an affordable price bracket. Since yesterday, I've been contemplating the Parrot AR Drone 2.0. Yes, you read that right: a drone.

Looking more like an insect than a camera, is a drone
the next step in railroad photography and video? 

Like a model helicopter, it flies using rotating blades. Like some copters, the drone takes pictures or video in HD. Unlike a helicopter, it has software and a hi-tech control suite that keeps the drone from crashing as easily. Notice I didn't stop at the word crashing, because I'm sure it's possible to crash these. Yet how many potential photographers have shied at the prospect of model aircraft or rotorcraft due to the likely prospect of turning a $1,500 work of art into a decorative bench ornament or worse, that eyesore sticking out of a neighbor's roof.

Head gear? Guards give the drone a
more visible if ungainly appearance

Is a Parrot Drone or any of its competitor's creations just a toy or is it a valuable tool that photographers can use to check out locations or even use to produce an image? Could this toy/tool be used to photograph trains, or capture video of sufficient quality? One store is already quite willing to let serious photographers find out.

Imagine a dolly shot starting on one side, going up and over a moving intermodal and down the other side moving against the trains direction of travel ...without the dolly or the time and effort it takes to build such a rig and put it in place. What about programming a course to fly via GPS when the train comes by, hitting "Go" as the train passes a certain spot and, while the drone does it's thing, you rip as many frames as your dSLR will let you, just like before?

I'm beginning to wonder about other uses. How could Union Pacific or BNSF, or even San Luis & Rio Grande use this? Railroad police could use it to inspect those areas of the yard that aren't as accessible or safe as they'd like it to be. What about using one with a track crew to survey ahead of a boulder that's blocking their high rail vehicle or getting access to see if the string of coal cars are all empty and not just the first three? Some benefits might just be worth the expense, especially if a company smartphone or tablet can control it with no special training for the employee. There are applications that may only present themselves after they spend a few weeks out there. I wonder if there's a division or sub already using these.

What about you? Would you buy one or rent one?

Thanks to B&H for letting me steal the photos of their fine product.◊