MBTA Sues Denver Based Tie Manufacturer

Boston, Massachusetts' MBTA is suing Denver-based Rocla Concrete Tie Inc. for an estimated $91 Million tie replacement project after the previous ties sold to them as 50 year ties with a 15 year warranty apparently now lie crumbling beneath the MBTAs Old Colony line, which leaves Boston's city center and follows a SE direction to Plymouth.

William M. Moedinger 1913 - 2010

Noted Colorado narrow gauge enthusiast and author William M. Moedinger passed away April 24, 2010. He is the author of The Road To Paradise: The Story of The Rebirth of the Strasburg Rail Road. as well as a fan of anything that ran on rails. He was the recipient of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society's 2003 Railroad History Award in photography.

Rock Slide Causes Amtrak Service Disruption

Here's the answer to a question I know that everyone was anxious to know. The question is "Is it really possible to drive a P42 engine backward?

The answer is, if you have a conductor to spot you, sure!

Amtrak P42 #67 pulls the California Zephyr consist while running backward through Arvada, Colorado, on May 15, 2010.

Cab And Trailer Utility Truck Split Decision At Ft Lupton

On April 13th, a construction worker at the Ft. Lupton Vestas plant drove his utility truck into the path of an oncoming Union Pacific container train. Jose Lucio was making a turn on an unfamiliar crossing and did not completely clear the grade crossing before the rear of his truck was caught by the lead unit. The train was traveling 50 MPH, but took only 1,000 feet beyond the crossing to come to a complete stop. John Carr of the Ft. Lupton Press covered the accident and the construction company's personnel cleaning up the resulting destruction of the truck.

John Carr, Ft Lupton Press

6th Avenue Bridge Rollout Completed Early

6th Avenue light rail bridge rolls into place. 9News photo

The 6th Avenue Bridge Rollout has finished early. Originally scheduled for 30 hours, work was completed in 14 hours, less than half the time expected. As a result, traffic resumed it's normal flow today instead of tomorrow. Denver's 9News.com has photos of the rollout as well as video coverage.

Ft. Carson Plans To Expand Rail Capacity Starting This Fall

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is planning an expansion of the Ft. Carson rail yard. Ft. Carson is a large army post southwest of Colorado Springs. In the 1940s, Camp Carson--named for explorer and soldier Gen. Kit Carson--was started to raise Army troops for combat in World War II. Around the time nearby Camp Hale near Leadville was closed, Camp Carson became Ft. Carson.

UP 844 To Visit Milliken On June 26

The City of Milliken, Colorado is celebrating its centennial this year, and the town Historical Society has scheduled a train day on June 26, 2010, to celebrate. The Union Pacific's 4-8-4 steam locomotive #844 will make an appearance that day in town. The UP Steam site shows the schedule set for June 25th and 26th, probably taking the 25th to travel to Milliken and overnight there, and then using the 26th to perform and travel back.

Aside from a town brochure (PDF) and a calendar mentioning the date and the event, more specific details are not available at this time.

Postponed: 6th Avenue Light Rail Bridge Roll-out

Due to bad weather, the RTD FasTracks team has chosen to postpone the planned roll-out of the 6th Avenue Light Rail Bridge from this weekend until next weekend, weather permitting.

Palmer Lake Meets Set For May

For those near the Front Range, a small, semi-regular gathering of railfans reconvenes at their usual spot, a small parking lot in north Palmer Lake (see map). The meet is as egalitarian and informal as possible, with no meals or facilities provided. Someone usually brings a scanner that picks up what trains are in the area.


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UP Retires ex-Rio Grande Tunnel Motors To Dead Line At Burnham

It was bound to happen. With a continued lack of demand because of the recession, old locomotives that have seen their share of railroad miles are rounded up and sent via "funeral train" to a retirement storage, known as a "dead line." Intrepid photographer Kevin Morgan chased a funeral train on April 17, 2010. This time it seems to be a large
percentage of tunnel motors that had been marked for retirement, with 17 out of 21 (81%) being SD40T-2s. The train continued on to the dead line at Burnham.

Fastracks West Corridor 6th Ave Bridge Roll Out Next Weekend

UPDATE 4/23/2010 5:00 PM: POSTPONED ONE WEEK. Due to weather, RTD has postponed the roll-out by one week.

The RTD FasTracks West Corridor team will roll out the main span of a double-track light rail bridge across 6th Avenue just east of Simms & Union the weekend of April 23rd through April 25th, 2010. All lanes of 6th Avenue between Simms & Union and Kipling Street will close at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, April 23rd to prepare the area for the roll-out, scheduled to begin early Saturday morning. 6th Avenue and the frontage road will re-open by 5:30 a.m. Monday, April 26th.

Mudhen 463 Still Under Restoration

It's been a while since we've checked on Engine 463. In fact, we've not seen much on 463 since the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad won the grant to begin work on restoration. Now, according to the Friends, we hear that restoration continues on D&RGW Locomotive 463, also known as Gene Autry's Mudhen. It is one of two surviving K-27 class locomotives originally 15 strong in the D&RGW roster, numbered 450 to 464.