New Plans Hinted At the Colorado Railroad Museum

Denver's Channel 4 (KCNC, nee KOA, currently branding itself as CBS Colorado) checked in at the Colorado Railroad Museum this past weekend and the museum is hinting at big plans. 

Denver History Still Lives ...If You Know Where To Look

Baseball fans, especially Colorado Rockies fans, already know Coors Field is special. Constructed between 1993 and 1995, Coors Field--named in perpetuity for the beer that brought baseball here--became the cornerstone of a downtown Denver revitalization project, and its effects have not stopped for nearly 30 years! This is no booster speech; it is simply acknowledging a proven fact.

Without Coors Field, it's fair to say that businessmen and builders like former-Mayor-and-then-Governor John Hickenlooper would have had much more difficulty attracting investors and generating momentum for businesses and projects that got started or are now based out of lower downtown, LoDo to the locals. Without Coors Field, the renovation and redevelopment of Denver Union Station would probably never have happened. The FasTracks rail and transit project would have been more difficult to sell and Denver's suburbs would have been as isolated as they were in the 70s and 80s, and sprawling ever outward even more than they do today. LoDo is now synonymous with revitalized and reinvigorated urbanized living. The strong popularity of such a lifestyle has produced another re- adjective: regentrification. If you have lived anywhere in Colorado in the past 25 years, you have benefitted in some small way from this LoDo effect. 

All of these "re-s" have effects both bad and good. What's also apparent is that the optimism keeps popping up and spawning new challenges and opportunities. For example, I was more than a little unnerved by the relentless construction and development. Was no one going to remember the railroads of downtown or the Moffat Road depot or the lines that ran through Auraria? The viaducts or the Postal Annex, the yellow-bricked monstrosity that sat south of Union Station is gone, hauled away in 2005. What of the Denver of before?

It may not be possible to preserve everything, but we can still build with an eye to our past as well as the future. The Oxford is still with us. Denver's Union Station has never stopped serving all passenger trains climbing and descending to the Mile High City, save for a renovation. The Union Pacific Freight Office persists (at least outside) as the Denver Chop House. But I shuddered when I saw construction barricades going up right next to it. This was hallowed ground. This was where Gen. William J. Palmer laid the first rails of his beloved Baby Road, the narrow gauge Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. What were they doing to this spot? I didn't have far to look: McGregor Square.

Yes, the west corner of the giant Colorado Rockies-built development is built right off the spot in the street where Palmer spiked his rails. So imagine my surprise when I found that one of the establishments in the complex is called "Milepost Zero!" No! I thought, This can't be! Do they really know? And although it does not mention the Denver & Rio Grande or its later incarnations by name, their site says the following:

In Denver’s early days, the railroad became the center of everything. Across the street from what is now Coors Field was where the tracks began – mile post zero. Today, McGregor Square sits in the center of everything Denver has to offer.

It all starts here. Welcome to Milepost Zero.

Milepost Zero is the simply great, convenient choice in Denver’s Ballpark neighborhood. Your home-base for shopping, dining, entertainment, gameday, exploration and everything in between, Milepost Zero serves up something for everyone in the family.

Explore the concepts in our food hall, grab a drink at the bar or pour yourself a beer from our extensive Beer Wall selections. No matter what you’re in the mood for, you can enjoy your favorites in our expansive indoor space or outdoor plaza at the heart of McGregor Square. Catch the game on our giant outdoor plaza screen or just watch the action in the square while you fuel up or wind down. 

When I next visit Coors Field and hopefully watch a Rockies game, I plan to visit Milepost Zero and hopefully partake and imbibe. It's the least I could do for such a history-minded proprietorship, even if the prices are above and beyond what I would usually pay.⚒

The Beginning of the End for UP 3985

Challenger 3985 charges south with the Circus Train toward Denver September 28, 2010
Photo: John H. Hill

While fans of the Union Pacific come down from the high of their inaugural season of Big Boy 4014, it cannot be all good news coming from Cheyenne, the heart of UP Steam just over the border in Wyoming. UP announced their intention to retire Challenger-type 3985, the other articulated steam locomotive inhabiting the UP Steam shops.

Built in July 1943 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and retired by UP in 1962, the 4-6-6-4 Challenger was restored as a volunteer-initiated project back in 1979. Returned to service with UP in April 1981 and converted to oil in 1990, it held the title of world's largest operating steam locomotive until the return of Big Boy 4014 in May 2019, although its last active run was in October 2010.

Why not keep her running? Apart from UP Steam having its hands full with 844 and 4014, the other two big steam engines, 3985 was looking at a long and extensive restoration. According to Kevin P. Keefe, "Such are the consequences of running the wheels off it," since its return to service. Weighing this against the decreased demand, there's just not that much reason to keep her active.

Nonetheless, any time a steamer goes silent, it's a sad day for the railfan. Like Keefe, I feel a need to honor the Challenger. Keefe says,

With all due respect to N&W 2-6-6-4 No. 1218 and its brethren, I can’t see how UP’s 4-6-6-4s cannot be considered the world’s most successful simple articulateds, given their sterling dual-service operational record on UP, not to mention how they begat near-carbon-copies on Clinchfield, D&H, Northern Pacific, and SP&S.

Those near-carbon-copies on Clinchfield? They were delivered to the Rio Grande as their L-97 class, numbered 3800-3805 in May and June 1943. They served until 1947 when the D&RGW sold them to the Clinchfield, renumbering them 670-675.¹ The Rio Grande didn't actually want the Challengers, either. They wanted 5 more Baldwin 4-6-6-4s (Class L-105), but the War Production board assigned the Alcos by tacking them on to the Union Pacific's order. The Rio Grande opted not to buy them, instead leasing them from the Defense Plant Corporation. They were, in 1943, the last new steam engines the Rio Grande ever received.² So, for many born after 1950, the Challenger a way for us to witness, perhaps unwittingly, the Rio Grande's main line steam in the post-war years.

Let us remember perhaps the most important aspect of the Challenger's story: the volunteer initiative to restore it to service. Few at Union Pacific saw the advantages of full restoration except these volunteers. The uses of old steamers was limited to park centerpieces to bolster civic pride. The public perception was that railroads were profit-shy and mired in regulation and bureaucracy. Additionally, eight years earlier, Amtrak had removed the last point of contact of the Union Pacific with the American public. Aside from delaying drivers at grade crossings, there was no reminder to the public of the services the railroad provided to the public. It's not a huge stretch to say that without the volunteers stepping forward, Union Pacific's public image would be far less than it is today.

While an ending, this is not necessarily the utter end for 3985. Challenger will sit in the Cheyenne roundhouse alongside her stablemates for the foreseeable future. It costs very little to preserve a steam locomotive already sheltered from the elements. Perchance it might cost little more if a slow, paced restoration was quietly undertaken? Perhaps in another 20 years, we may see the need for three steam locomotives in the steam program. It's always a possibility, especially if UP continues using steam to power its public relations.⚒

References
¹ Locomotives of the Rio Grande by the Colorado Railroad Museum p.59
² Rio Grande: To the Pacific! by Robert LaMassena p.160

UP Steam #3985 Fact Sheet
Wikipedia

Denver & Rio Grande Engine 168 Fired and Steaming Up For a Big 2020 Celebration

For the first time since most of us were born, narrow gauge Denver & Rio Grande steam engine 168 turned her wheels under steam. Trains Magazine reports,

On Friday night, 3-foot gauge Denver & Rio Grande 4-6-0 No. 168 ran for the first time in 70 years, following an extensive restoration at the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. Friday’s test run consisted of a brief trip around the Antonito yard. C&TS Assistant General Manager Stathi Pappas says the 136-year-old Baldwin locomotive was being fired up again on Monday for another test. 

“The test went great,” Pappas says of the locomotive’s first run since 1938.

Engine 168 in Black Canyon
 of the Gunnison in 1904

The engine will be matched with purpose-built replica passenger cars to roll behind her in what will likely be a very memorable 50 year-anniversary celebration of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. In 1970, the states of Colorado and New Mexico teamed together to purchase the narrow gauge segment of the San Juan Extension that runs between Antonito Colorado and Chama New Mexico when it appeared certain that the Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad was abandoning the line. Since then, a six-member commission led by both states has supervised the investment in the C&TS, with an emphasis in history and preservation, something with which the restoration of engine 168 falls right in line. Having an active volunteer organization dedicated to assisting that mission with hands and feet, hearts and minds doesn't hurt, either.

Engine 168 is an important historic artifact to Colorado and to railroading. While it's a steam engine, something that last roamed the rails en masse 70 years ago, it's also narrow gauge, designed to run on rails 3 feet apart, rather than the standard 4 feet 8½ inches apart. There are dozens of these narrow gauge engines in the state of Colorado already, and they're all worthy of preservation. What makes 168 so unique is that it is one of two surviving class T-12 locomotives built in 1883 for General William Palmer's original vision of the D&RG connecting Denver with El Paso and Mexico City.

168 Awaiting President Taft in Montrose, 1909

The Rio Grande never reached further south than Santa Fe, but the engine would go on to haul passengers throughout the state and beyond. One of its more important roles was to carry then-President William Taft to the opening of the Gunnison Tunnel, a record-length water supply tunnel that turned the land around Montrose into a veritable garden beginning in 1909.

As railroads around the state prepare to rest or at least scale back activities for the winter, it's worth contemplating how many engines are now in steam that were dry and static several years ago. Certainly, such a recounting is worth its own post! ⚒

Billy Westall of the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad

A favorite story of mine, especially when it comes to narrow gauge lore, is that of Billy Westall. The Denver, South Park & Pacific, one of Colorado's "other" narrow gauge railroads, got rolled up in the consolidation of a number of railroads that became the Colorado & Southern.

The Columbine, Colorado's State Flower

It was around the time of this consolidation on Sunday, August 28th, 1898, that William G. "Billy" Westall was working for the railroad as an engineer, pulling a train of seven passenger cars with around 450 souls aboard. The passengers were participating in a regional phenomenon where, to beat the summer heat that regularly soars above 90°F in and around Denver, those with the means would take an excursion train to the high country. There the relatively clean alpine air, streams of cold, clear water that only hours before had been locked within snowbanks, and wildflowers like the Columbine and fauna in abundance would work their magic on the denizens of arid, dusty, and crowded Denver. Returning on a summer afternoon, it would have been perfect if not for one simple but intractable problem. As editor Ed Haley writes in M.C. Poor's Denver South Park & Pacific,

Just as the engine rounded a blind left curve near Dome Rock, engineer Westall caught sight of a large pile of sand and gravel on the track directly ahead, which had been washed down the mountain side by a recent heavy rain. He could have easily "joined the birds" and jumped in the clear, but chose, instead, to stick to his engine and try his best to stop the train with its human cargo. His fireman, Joseph Nichols, also stayed with the engine but was thrown into the clear as the engine turned over and [thus] escaped injury. Westall was successful in saving the lives of all his passengers at the expense of his own. His body was pinned to the ground by the handhold on the right side of the tender. He lived 12 hours, dying in the arms of his fireman. Westall's last words were: 'Tell my wife I died thinking of her'.

The Westall monument
at rededication

Billy Westall and Joseph Nichols are heroes for refusing to leave their positions and giving every last ounce of effort to preserve the lives for which they were responsible. His co-workers and friends were deeply moved by Westall's sacrifice and through their union, the American Order of United Workmen, they placed a large granite memorial near the site of the wreck a year later. Three separate trains were necessary to carry the passengers to the dedication of that monument. The monument sat for over a century before being adopted by a class of middle school students. They rehabilitated the monument and placed a placard detailing Westall's story for the public.

Westall was buried in Denver's Riverside Cemetery, known as the "Pioneer's cemetery." It is connected to the other monument by the Platte River, which runs along its northwest side. On the other side, it's bound by the active tracks of BNSF, the successor to the C&S and the DSP&P.⚒

Short Film: The Railroader

This short film, The Railroader - Lessons Learned From a Lifetime of Working On a Historic American West Railroad, is currently in National Geographic's Short Film Showcase. Says NatGeo, "Filmmakers Annie and Russell O. Bush tell the the story of those who built and maintain this American tradition through the lens of lifetime railroader John Bush in this powerful short."



Powerful indeed. ⚒

Of Lines Loved and Lost

For Christmas, I received Narrow Gauge in the Rockies by Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg, sixth printing, first published in 1958. It is illustrated with photos from W.H. Jackson, Otto Perry, and Richard Kindig, and paintings by Howard Fogg. Its pages are flowing with history and elaborate, almost florid accounts of life surrounding the narrow gauge in Colorado. Its foreword speaks of the narrow gauge railfan as if they were the Hebrews of old, saying,

To perpetuate the memory of the narrow gauges a generation that would gladly exchange the com­forts of here and now for yesterday in Boreas Pass has taken steps that stand as a testament of de­votion without parallel among other antiquar­ians no matter how dedicated. The Rocky Mount­ain Railroad Club tells their story in volumes that only a toler­ably strong man may heft; there is a Narrow Gauge Museum and Motel at Alamosa toward which dedi­cated railroad buffs every­where as Moslems [sic] toward Mec­ca; there is a periodical devoted solely to narrow gauge tidings which is the de­votion­al reading of The Faith­ful, and there are narrow gauge books, pamph­lets, post cards, ex­cursions, engine models, book ends, beer mugs, paperweights and pictured likenesses of the cars beyond all counting. To have ridden the San Juan or the Silverton Train is a greater experience than to have seen Shelley plain. The Faithful sigh for the snowsheds of Lizard Head and by the waters of Gunnison they sat them down and wept.

Even though it's a bit ostentatious and maybe pretentious in its prose, I can't help but see myself in this paragraph. I have indeed turned myself toward Golden (now where the said Museum and former-motel owner moved from Alamosa), bought countless mementos, ridden the Silverton Train and the surviving portion of the San Juan each many times over. I mourned the loss of the Rio Grande Southern while walking Lizard Head Pass and sat in the depths of the Gunnison and--I kid you not--wept bitter tears silently by its banks that the Denver & Rio Grande narrow gauge is no more.

Am I embarrassed to admit to those tears? No. Those who don't understand the loss and share in the grief have my pity. Furthermore, for all the faults, both real and perceived, the days of yesterday contained, they also had gems, real and perceived, that today's progressed people have never experienced. It is truly a loss that our forebears did not retain them.

Nonetheless, I cannot stand in judgment of those who failed to keep those lost treasures, for one by one, other, non-narrow gauge lines are similarly dying in front of our eyes with only a little interest shown in preserving them. I am thinking chiefly of the Tennessee Pass line from Pueblo all the way to Dotsero. It is more than 21 years after seeing its last through revenue train, and the line is suffering from profound neglect.

This may be just my own opinion, but it seems Union Pacific cares little for jobs or industry in Salida, Leadville or Minturn. With the closure of Burnham and other points and routes, it's easy to think that the suits sitting in UP headquarters wonder why all jobs can't be based in Omaha, Seattle and San Diego. It's highly doubtful we would fare better with CSX or NS, were they to merge with the UP.

I believe the citizens of Colorado and her government need to be able and willing to use their powers to preserve the thoroughfares built and maintained by generations before so that the means of moving people and goods through Colorado does not waste away. Even the Moffat Route is not impervious to the forces of consolidation and removal. Am I looking at a future in which Granby and Craig sit isolated like Gunnison and Dolores and the Moffat Tunnel lies in ruins like the Alpine Tunnel? I sincerely hope not.⚒


Beebe, L., & Clegg, C. (1970). Narrow gauge in the Rockies. Berkeley, Calif: Howell-North

First Advertisements Of the Colorado Railroad Museum

As near as I can figure, I think I have found the first ad ever placed with Trains magazine by the Colorado Railroad Museum, all the way back in June 1959! Robert W. Richardson and Cornelius W. Hauck were fans before the end of the Rio Grande Southern broke the thousand-mile Narrow Gauge Circle, and they kept lit the flame of Colorado's railroad history even before they opened the museum that year.

They first had a go of it years before near Alamosa, operating the Narrow Gauge Motel, complete with steam engine and station. Often using their own funds, they worked to preserve railroad history without much else. They fought tooth and nail for artifacts and records from railroads and operators who couldn't understand why old forms and paperwork wouldn't just as well be burned with yesterday's trash.

This ad followed the next year in 1960.
I'm pretty sure the offer has expired!

Thanks to the work of these "rabid" fans, the details and means by which a lot of these railroads operated hasn't been lost to time. Most importantly, their efforts to build a place for future generations of railfans sits nestled between the table mesas of Golden as a Colorado railfan's paradise. It's here in the western reaches of metropolitan Denver that some of the next generation of railfans discover the mystique of faraway places like Marshall Pass, Cerro Summit, Ridgway, Rico, Pandora, Dolores, Mears Junction, and so many more. These aren't just places on a map; they're gateways to a time when the clang of a bell and the wail of a whistle echoed beckoning the willing to follow where the rails would lead.

In July 1960, barely a year after the ad, Trains published Cornelius Hauck's photo of the museum's modest beginnings in Golden. Sharp eyes will spot several "original" pieces still at the museum 57 years later.
Photo used with permission from Trains magazine.

What I appreciate about Richardson, Hauck and many others is that they didn't wait for someone to give them permission or a commission to go out and save the narrow gauge. They saw a need, looked around and then stepped forward to help. Common men doing uncommon things. ⚒

Burnham Shops In Final Countdown To Closure

For more than 140 years, the at-first narrow gauge Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and its standard gauge successors have maintained a locomotive maintenance facility and yard at 8th and Pecos in central Denver. In less than 3 weeks, that facility will turn it's last wheel.

Such news is a bitter pill to take.

It's no secret that declining coal traffic in Colorado and the unlikely prospect of its revival, at least in the domestic sense is driving the business decision. Nearly a year into a continuous drop in earnings, Union Pacific isn't shy about falling back on the tried and true method of shoring up a soft bottom line by consolidating operations and reducing expenditures. The bitter pill is the number of "relocated" jobs--at least 210--and the location, which is to some Rio Grande fans, sacred ground.

In his comments on the Denver Post news article announcing the closure, rail historian Dillon A. wrote

I propose that the Burnham yards be put on the Register of Historic Places. This facility is where hundreds of thousands of steam and diesel locomotives were overhauled and repaired. A good example of why this needs to be saved and saved NOW are one of the locomotives that came from this facility. These locomotives still survive on the Cumbres & Toltec scenic Railroad in Chama, New Mexico, Durango & Silverton scenic Railroad in Durango, and one at the Colorado Railroad Museum.  ... These locomotives were the narrow-gauge K-37 class of the Denver & Rio Grande Western. Out of 10 made, 8 still exist and one is currently operational. #491 is operating at the railroad Museum in Golden. These locomotives are the greatest example of the power and craftsmanship that this facility produced. That is why this facility needs to be saved NOW. It might just look like an old rail yard, but it holds MANY secrets and hold LOTS of opertunity [sic] for future historic rail preservation.

While my heart strongly echoes these sentiments, interested parties must either hastily coalesce into a preservation group or contact the existing preservation organizations like the Colorado Railroad Museum or History Colorado to get involved. Otherwise, we have little right to complain. 

At this point, UP spokeswoman Callie B. Hite says the railroad plans to prepare the 70-acre locomotive repair yard for sale. There are about two dozen buildings on the site, which is zoned for industrial uses. "The 70-acre property is located in an area experiencing renewed urban development," Hite was quoted in the article.

Opinion

More than 20 years ago, I can remember gliding past the "dead line" on neighboring tracks operated by Denver's pilot Light Rail line, scrolling past the many Southern Pacific and Union Pacific locomotives, searching intently for a Rio Grande in among the dirty grey and dingy yellow engines awaiting their fate to be rebuilt or sold. It's hard to imagine that the next time I do ride past, the dead line, shops and structures could be all demolished and plowed under for a scenic strip mall or trendy retail "infill." This was a place that birthed the Rio Grande's narrow gauge conversions, refit and rehabilitated the mighty 2-8-8-2's and their kin during the heyday of steam and rebuilt and repaired the generations of diesel locomotives that defied gravity over the spine of the continent. For generations, men punched in, endured hours of hard, sweaty work in grimy iron horses, some loving every minute of it. Their sons and grandsons remembering their work with pride. This place probably will now be re-developed and paved over with not even a hint that such history transpired there, except perhaps the irony of the same name, Burnham Shops.

If you disbelieve me, consider that today's Elitch's was in 1993 a very different place, the Colorado & Southern yards. Abandoned and quiet, they still had history waiting inside structures that had stood for decades. In two years, the only hint that remained of it's railroad past was a heavy, through-truss turntable, and in only a few more years, it was gone, replaced by a mediocre bat swing ride. It became a forgotten corner in a park that itself has suffered under a series of lackluster owners and stagnant growth after moving from it's own home in 1994 over a century old in the West Highlands of Denver. Is that really what should happen to Burnham?◊

Rio Grande 491 Operational! Celebrates with Tour of the Museum Loop

Ahem. After a few friends have poked me in the ribs, asking if I indeed knew this was happening at the Colorado Railroad Museum (I did, but family matters kept me away). I'm a little too excited, but I will keep my detached decorum. I will not geek out over a certain bit of news that just begs to be shouted from the summit of Mt. Elbert.

Instead... I will let the video speak for itself.

Just listen to that whistle halfway through. Oh, baby!◊

D&RGW 491 at No Agua tank on the museum grounds this summer
Photo: Colorado Railroad Museum

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!◊

The Vanishing Rock Island - Colorado Springs Civic Leaders Steal Their Own City's Future

Gazette.com photo by Michael Ciaglo

While trolley supporters up in Denver view their preserved trolley car this weekend, trolley supporters in Colorado Springs are fighting desperately to save the stub end of the Rock Island Railroad for future use as a commuter line, but short-sighted city officials just see an eyesore and a source of scrap iron revenue they could step in and steal.

Claude Wiatrowski, Springs resident and author of Railroads of Colorado and Railroads Across North America wrote in a comment on the Gazette article,

This is part of the Rock Island railroad that once ran between downtown Colorado Springs and Chicago. Recently, the tracks have been intact as far as Limon. I think it is very short sighted that they were not saved at least as far as Falcon. With all the residential development in the Falcon area, this would have made the perfect commuter rail line, connecting a developing residential area to downtown. Instead we will add yet more lanes to Woodmen or Constitution.

Indeed it would make the perfect commuter line! The entire north and east sides of Colorado Springs residents would benefit. Instead of routing traffic to US 24 and forcing more commuters to sit in their cars and travel a longer route, Colorado Springs could keep this line and implement light rail or commuter rail at a fraction of what Denver would have to pay for right-of-way acquisition. What are the civic leaders of Colorado Springs thinking? Is it really time to eat the seed you saved for planting?

If we have to take up the tracks, stockpile them at the Springs Trolley museum for protection and eventual restoration. Then pass city legislation preserving the entirety of the route for future transit. If Colorado Springs truly wants a good future, it's elected leaders shall preserve and protect it today.◊

''Tell My Wife I Died Thinking Of Her''

Over a century ago, the tale of Denver, South Park & Pacific engineer William Westall was a popular story and eventually people retold often enough that it entered into folklore. The common version is simple but memorable enough:

• A train filled with people was headed down the track
• Rounding a curve, the engineer saw an alarming sight. The track was obstructed with rocks and boulders
• Too late to stop in time, the engineer ordered his fireman to jump while he stayed and rode the brakes, in an attempt to spare his passengers
• While the train was slowed enough to prevent certain doom, the engine still struck the obstruction, mortally wounding the engineer
• Dying in his fireman's arms, the engineer's final words were, "Tell my wife I died thinking of her."

Westall Monument, photo by Milly Roeder

While typically devoid of details, the folk tale is nonetheless true. It might have been lost forever to history, if it weren't for a cryptic monument and a tourist's curiosity. The full story of the monument, the tourist and the engineer who saved 450 passengers from death is recorded by Milly Roeder in an article, The Story of Billy Westall and the Westall Monument, originally published in 1998 by the Jefferson County Historical Commission.

The next year after Westall's death, the DSP&P was absorbed in the 1899 merger creating the Colorado & Southern. That same year, the monument was placed along the right of way near the spot of the derailed engine. For the next century, it stood, surviving not only the C&S, but the Burlington, BN and all the people who ever knew Westall. The monument itself, according to the 14 year-old article, was in peril of falling into the river.

Enter a group of students, the National Junior Honor Society from West Jefferson Middle School in Conifer. Over the past year and a half, they've been planning and working to restore the monument. Notably, the way they're going about it seems to be working. They've involved a number of folks, like Denver Water's Neil Sperandeo, and historic groups, including Colorado Preservation Inc. and the Denver South Park & Pacific Historic Society. As of this month, work has progressed to the point that they have a new site picked out and could use some grant money to restore the monument to its new location. Those interested in getting involved or donating to the project should e-mail Mr. Frank Reetz of West Jefferson Middle School.

All this cooperation and learning is happening because of history, preservation, and adults who are willing to get involved. Certainly, a lot of good is coming out of the tragic death of an engineer.◊

Royal Gorge Fire Claims Narrow Gauge Caboose

Editor's Note: Normally, I would add more details on the previous post in the comments, but this warrants it's own article.

Fox21 image showing space behind
499's tender where caboose 0584 sat

In my smoke-clouded mind, I had forgotten about a detail in the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park until I had hit the publish button. I waited on bringing it up because I hoped the fire had missed it (making it a non-issue). Well, not entirely.

Nathan Holmes of www.DRGW.net reports that the wildfire totally destroyed caboose 0584, part of a display of Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge equipment in the parking lot. Visit the DRGW.net site for the full story (click here to search his site for the story if the other link fails).

In related news, the Royal Gorge Route commented on Colorado Railroads' Facebook page that they've resumed operations, saying "we're back on track!" Great to hear they're back in business in the same week.◊

New Reader Poll: How To Improve the Colorado Railroad Museum?

Near the top of the other column on www.corailroads.com, there's a new reader poll with a few ideas about the Colorado Railroad Museum and, in terms of mega-projects, I ask you, "What could possibly improve the place?" Some of these ideas are a little "out there" and some are practical. Cast your vote for two or three you like. Keep watching, as the poll will go for more than 6 months. 

Have I left out anything? Comment in with your ideas. If the right eyes are watching, who knows what could happen? Besides, I really want to hear about your ideas on this.

For ideas and thoughts, try looking through this roster-like photo album on rrpicturearchives.net.◊

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!◊

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!◊

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.

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,

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.