POTD - Silent Testimony in Buena Vista

Editors note: POTD continues, but after today, most will have a photo and a brief caption without the essay. Essays need to be fact-checked for accuracy, each of which can require significant blocks of time.

Life in Buena Vista since 1997 has been considerably quieter than the previous century, thanks to the Union Pacific's decision to mothball the Tennessee Pass route in favor of the Moffat Tunnel route. It's been considerably cleaner, as well. In the 40s and 50s, the Rio Grande's monster steam engines caused a smoky haze to hang over the entire Arkansas River valley, causing respiratory issues for soldiers training at nearby Camp Hale.

Such days seem foreign to the summer scene below captured by Adam Lutt. The Rio Grande bridge has eluded the paint cans of Southern Pacific and--thus far--Union Pacific. The former main line has sat dormant for so long that nearly all the kids in this scene have never seen a coal or TOFC unit train come through this valley. The thrum of diesel engines, the rumble of a rail grinder, and the chuffing of iron horses are all as foreign as can be from this simple day playing in the creek, their echo fading from human memory as the paint slowly fades from the bridge above. It's only a matter of time before the railroad vanishes completely from Tennessee Pass, a matter of time, and money, unless a client develops on these once-heavily traveled rails or Union Pacific gets serious about preserving and maintaining their future options. Yet if they do, they could just as easily paint over the bridge's Rio Grande lettering altogether, disturbing the nostalgic reverie of Grande Fans like me.

I think I'll go skip a rock.

Locals and their guests play beneath a railroad bridge of the Rio Grande in a tame
and cool Arkansas River in Buena Vista, strictly a summer activity in Chaffee County
Photo: Adam Lutt

POTD - Big Ten 16 Years Ago

Denver's altitude is 5,280 feet above sea level, earning it the obvious moniker, the Mile High City. The railroad route directly west was built as Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railroad and came to be owned by its successors, Denver & Salt Lake Railroad and Denver & Salt Lake Railway, as well as Denver & Rio Grande Western, Southern Pacific, and lately, Union Pacific through a series of mergers. It's apex was first at Rollins (Corona) Pass at 11,680 feet ASL and then inside  Moffat Tunnel at 9,239 feet. Making up the difference (6400 and 3959 feet respectively) while at the same time keeping the gradient manageable and cost efficient was a balancing act that meant gaining altitude as evenly as possible. If there was a ramp of earth, much like Sherman Hill in Wyoming, the construction engineers would have had little trouble. As it was, construction from Denver into the foothills was the most difficult part. They had to claw and scrape for elevation to reach Boulder Canyon and the Flatirons. A tongue of land jutting out from the foothills became the stepping stone between the western high plains and the east face of the Rocky Mountains. The long, winding turns climbing onto and upon the butte are both ten degrees curvature, thus named the little ten and big ten curves.

On April 8, 1995, a Southern Pacific coal train descends through Big Ten and
approaches Little Ten curves west of Denver, 18 months before the UP merger
Photo: Rolf Stumpf

POTD - Westward To Adventure and the Unknown

Living on the Front Range of Colorado, it's possible to take for granted the access to so many wonderful, scenic places. Having been to most of them (and loving almost every time), I miss the sense of adventure I had as a child, the feeling of going to an unknown place. Someday, though, I'm going to travel to someplace I've never been before, and I'm going to feel like a little kid all over again.

The photographer's daughter, Bella, watches the scenery change in front of
her as Amtrak #5 carries them westward through tunnels toward adventure
Photo: Kevin Morgan

POTD - Isolated in Leadville

The last remnant of the Denver, South Park and Pacific being operated today is the Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad. From 1899, it was part of the C&S consolidation of narrow gauge lines--the ones not associated with Rio Grande. In the 40s, the line was standard gauged, operating for a short time with 4 rails to prevent any service disruption. From the 40s to the 60s, C&S #641 moved cars from the Climax mine at the top of Fremont Pass down to the connection with Rio Grande outside Leadville. After 641 retired, she was put on display in Leadville while a Burlington Northern road switcher took over her duties.

Colorado & Southern standard gauge steamer rests outside the Leadville,
Colorado & Southern depot in Leadville, Colorado one hot day in August 1999
Photo: Jeff Jordan

POTD - Fort Collins Municipal Railway's Birney Car 21

Before T-Rex, before Light Rail, even before buses, there were street cars. If a town had any aspirations of being a city of some importance, one of the first items on the agenda was creating a municipal railway or other rapid transit. It was a mark of distinction to have a trolley system and the bigger and more refined it was, the better the populace felt about the city.

Then, depending on who you listen to, it seems a motor company decided it wanted to sell buses. The best way to do that was to buy up municipal railways and discard them as soon as possible, doing away with the efficient steel wheel on steel rail and electric power in favor of inefficient rubber tires on asphalt and gasoline power that was cheap as dirt. No more yellow trolleys in Denver. Done to death are the streetcars of Trinidad and Colorado Springs. But a single flickering flame in Fort Collins survived.

Kept by volunteers, the Fort Collins Municipal Railway plies Mountain Avenue, connecting City Park with the central business district on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays during the summer months. There once was much more to this municipal railway, but it's lost to the march of time and mankind's notion of progress in the 1950s. It once crossed the rails of the Colorado Central (now BNSF), and traveled in a loop, from Mountain and College, east to Peterson, south to Magnolia, east to Whedbee, south to Pitkin and Ft Collins High School, west to College and back north to Mountain. It covered a lot of ground and, had it survived intact, it would be an even greater asset to Fort Collins than it is today.

Ft Collins Municipal Railway #21 makes its familiar trip down Mountain Avenue
passing the siding at Mack Street, long out of service, on July 23, 2011.
Photo: James E. House

Railroad Yards Contain Locomotives, Rolling Stock, and Danger

BNSF Police
shoulder patch

As a railfan just 15 years ago, it was hard for me to appreciate the railroads' point of view when it came to allowing access to their yard. I can remember at least one encounter when, looking into a railroad policeman's eyes, I could tell what frustration and anger my "idiocy" had caused. Moments before, I felt I was safe because it was a hot summer day and no one was out there making any moves. No one except the police man, I found out. His face reminded me of how my father's looked when I had one time wandered into danger. I didn't enjoy either experience.

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

• BNSF Front Range Sub - Denver to Cheyenne
• BNSF/UP Joint Line - Denver to Pueblo
• UP Moffat Line - Winter Park to Tabernash

 

POTD - D&RGW 315 Leads the Parade of Trains

Denver & Rio Grande Western Consolidation 2-8-0 pulls the first of several
trains into the depot at Durango during Railfest on August 21, 2010
Photo: Kevin Madore

POTD - Grande Colors In Strange Places

Just south of where I-70 and I-270 meet, there's a place unknown to most Denver railfans. It's even--probably--unknown to most Denver Railroaders. If you would think this is Commerce City, you would be wrong. First, very few areas in Commerce City are capable of sustaining green plant life. Second, the junction of I-70 and I-270 is roughly 1,400 miles to the east of Commerce City in Frederick, Maryland. Why then is this the Photo of the Day on CR?

When you look closely, Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway has no connection to Colorado with the exception that many of the upper management of W&LE used to call Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad home until they followed head executive Larry Parsons to the smallish short line in Ohio. Their love of their old railroad comes through in big and small ways. Recently, the railroad's ample power pool and tenacity in business led to their units showing up in other locations, including CSX trackage in Point Of Rocks, Maryland, many miles east of Rio Grande's old headquarters in Denver.

Wheeling & Lake Erie shows her Rio Grande colors in the muggy heat near
Point of Rocks, Maryland last week on July 30, 2011 waiting for a green light.
Photo: George W. Hamlin

PS: Interested in the Grande scheme of things in Ohio? Check out this fan page detailing the Wheeling & Lake Erie's motive power. It's a big page!

Mudflow, Debris Shortens Route of Durango Train

Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad had to shorten its route today after high water and debris--mostly mud--from rains made a mess of things in the Animas River canyon. Tuesday's trips had already made it to Silverton when the mudflows occurred, tying up the track and forcing at least two trains to return to Silverton and wait for buses to take them from there back to Durango via US 550.

POTD - Empty Hoppers In the Sunset

From a river named "The Animas" in the San Juan mountains to a town named Las Animas on the eastern plains, it's hard to believe they're in the same world, let alone the same state at the same rough latitude (0.5° difference). From narrow gauge Rio Grande rails hung precariously on canyon walls to standard gauge Santa Fe rails somewhere in a vast prairie, these are Colorado Railroads!

Empty Hoppers In the Sunset - Coal hoppers wait their turn for service in beside a
piece of disused rail in the quiet town of Las Animas, Colorado, on June 16, 2008
Photo: Jenny Vaughn

POTD - D&RGW 315 Crossing the Animas River

John West is an accomplished photographer with many years of experience and hundreds of publishable and historic photographs under his belt, 13 of which are available for purchase. His pictures bring narrow gauge enthusiasts immeasurable joy and pleasure.

Originally Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad engine 3, the Denver & Rio Grande numbered it 424 before the Denver & Rio Grande Western numbered it 315.  Durango Railroad Historical Society restored the engine from March 2001 until she moved under her own steam in August 2007.

On August 23, 2010, during last year's Railfest, Mr. West captured #315, a former Denver & Rio Grande Western 2-8-0 steam locomotive as it crossed the Animas River near Tacoma, Colorado, on former Denver & Rio Grande Western rails, now operated by Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which will host its 13th annual Railfest later this month.

D&RGW Consolidation 2-8-0 #315 leads a photo freight over the Animas near
Tacoma on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad August 23, 2010
Photo: John West