Spring Cleaning On Cumbres Pass 1993

Speaking of John Bush on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic, here he is in 1991 showing Rotary plow OY.



Opening the pass the old fashioned way sure looks like a lot of work, but a lot of fun too! ⚒

Video courtesy Greg Scholl Video Productions

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

POTD - Main Line Steam at LaSalle

John Hill captured Union Pacific legend No. 844 as it crested the slight grade at LaSalle, Colorado, on her speedy way from Cheyenne to Denver on Thursday, July 19, 2018, to pick up her passengers for the Cheyenne Frontier Days special. Since its revival in 1992, the Denver Post has chartered the special to haul nearly 800 passengers from Denver over the Wyoming state line for a day of catered meals, dancing, live music, socializing, and games, and that's just the fun onboard. There's still a rodeo to watch when they get there!

Photo of the Day: John Hill

Union Pacific 844 leads diesel 1943, The Spirit, an SD70ACe painted in a unique livery celebrating the nation's armed forces and its 5 branches. The diesel commemorates a U.S. Army Air Corps B-17 bomber, The Spirit of Union Pacific, purchased in 1943 by employee war bonds to support America's winning role in World War II.

The CFD Special would not complete this year without incident. On July 21st, two days after this photo, the train clipped a woman standing too close to the rails at a crossing near Henderson, killing her on impact. Her death halted the train and passengers were bused from Henderson to Denver 2 hours later. On its site, Union Pacific requests the public keep a minimum distance of 25 feet away from any track. ⚒

The Ghost Railroad Hiding In Your Backyard

Every once in a while, an e-mail from the contact form catches my eye, like this one:

Dear Colorado Railroads,
Wasn't there a line running generally SE from Longmont, CO, generally thru Erie, then past Broomfield? If so, what became of it?


Regards,

Gregory Iwan

Dear Gregory,

Yes, there was! In fact, this area is steeped in the history of numerous railroads because the Front Range corridor between Denver and Cheyenne was the first to see development by railroads, and all of them wanted to be the first to get to wherever it was they were going! The period of 1870 to 1890 was a wild time here, with legal and financial wrangling, a great deal of courting of public opinion, strong arming, and more than a few shady dealings like kidnapping judges and taking of property by force!

I must admit that when I was initially searching, I was confused. I came across a narrow-gauge line running due north from Broomfield to Longmont. But you aren't referring to that line. The only line with all three points you mentioned was standard gauge and, strangely, it was built by the same company as the narrow gauge line! Suffice to say, this railroad has a complex, if brief, history.

The Denver, Utah & Pacific had narrow-gauge aspirations as a mountain railroad, and its ambitions were as big as its name. However, its progress seems a little more mundane. The first goal was to lay claim to a route west through the canyons and that's where their line through Longmont comes in. They were working on reaching Lyons and a potential route west over the Continental Divide. This appears to have caught the attention of the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The CB&Q was also looking to expand westward of Denver and bought control of the DU&P. Because the CB&Q was a standard gauge carrier, the DU&P began converting or flat out re-building its system to match the Burlington's gauge.

The line was constructed in 1889 from Burns Junction on the Denver, Marshall & Boulder main line a little west of Broomfield by the Denver, Utah & Pacific in standard gauge. To save time and money, DU&P used 5 miles of a grade built by the Denver, Western & Pacific but not actually used. Once complete, they leased the line to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad on September 1st of that year. CB&Q operated the railroad via its Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska (phew!) subsidiary until February 1908, when the title was obtained by CB&Q outright.

The line connected through Erie with Longmont's branch to Lyons, which had to be standard gauged along with the connection to Denver, but the Burlington would eventually link it with Montana by controlling the Colorado & Southern whose Wind River Canyon line through Casper and Thermopolis, Wyoming.

Map

The line itself served many mines that came and went, but coal mining was curtailed by miners strikes in the late 1910s and early 20s, and the mines waned in profitability. Most of the spurs were gone by 1936 and passenger traffic also dwindled. Then in 1951, 1.5 miles of the main line between the connections with the Lafayette Loop was abandoned, diverting all traffic over the loop. From then until 1970, the line remained intact, more or less.

What became of it? As near as I can piece together, vandals burnt the bridge at Idaho Creek, severing the line. Rather than rebuild it, the Burlington Northern (I presume, based on corporate timelines) elected to serve Lafayette and Longmont via their other connections made by the control and eventual merger with the Colorado & Southern. Erie lost service in the 1980s or 90s. It's vague and unsubstantiated, but that's the best I can come up with at this time.

For a serious look at the line, I managed to find a book available in Denver's Public Library called Denver, Longmont and Northwestern by Berlyn (Billy) L. Boyles of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club. I have not seen a copy of it myself but it looks promising, if a bit dated.

It's a little surprising to find this ghost railroad hiding in plain sight, running right through people's backyards. Who knows how much more history lies beneath the surface?⚒

References

Colorado Railroads by Tivis Wilkins
Tracking Ghost Railroads in Colorado by Robert Ormes
Colorado's Mountain Railroads by Robert LaMassena
Historical USGS Topo Maps
Rick Steel C&S History, UtahRails.net

Christmas Is Coming, How Are You Fixed For Cards

We might live in an era when Christmas cards are waning in popularity, a bother when so many of us are already over-committed in December. Yet, the tradition is still alive among railfans, some of whom pick cards from Leanin' Tree, a company in Boulder, Colorado for many decades now. Click the image to view the card details.

Painting - Rio Grande SD40T-2 5371 up the Front Range toward Steamboat Springs

Painting - Rio Grande Mikado 486 over Cumbres Pass

Painting - Rio Grande Consolidation 346 near Trout Lake

This post is a non‑compensated endorsement. I simply believe in supporting a long-running Colorado business that has an affinity for trains and railfans. In fact, they are offering a 15% discount to you, the reader. Use the code TG15OFF at checkout.⚒

Spring Creek Fire Ravages La Veta Pass and the San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad

Photos: RGSR

Since 2006, the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad has been taking passengers from Alamosa over La Veta Pass to the town of La Veta and back. Over the last dozen years, the railroad has developed trips and events hosted at its exclusive, off-the-grid facilities at Fir. Many non-railfan patrons have repeated trips to events like Rails and Ales and concerts by regionally and nationally known music artists have become a regular feature of summers in the San Luis Valley.

Such endeavors have become a source of revenue for Alamosa and pumped resources into the entire valley. But the passenger business is just a part of what the railroad has done for the people in this isolated region. The freight side of this short line, the San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad, has kept the valley supplied with all its vast needs. It has taken the valley's products from potatoes and produce to perlite and sugar and kept the transportation costs low enough to keep the valley competitive.

All that came to a crashing halt last week when a wildfire was deliberately set by an arsonist.

The Spring Creek Fire started June 27 and in only a week has already grown to become one of the three largest wildfires in Colorado's history. If conditions persist, it could easily exceed the largest ever. Low snowpack, inaccessible and rough terrain, and few water resources all combine to make this fire relatively difficult to fight. Residents in the area are struggling to get a handle on the destruction. They're not alone.

The railroad is already aware of several damaged structures that make service to and from the San Luis Valley impossible. In particular, a bridge located near Sierra burned and that alone has severed the link between the SLV and Walsenburg and the outside world.



Matthew Abbey, Corporate Director Passenger and Freight Development at Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC, the parent company of the San Luis & Rio Grande, says, "The bridge at Sierra will be replaced with culverts and may be open by Friday." Restoring the link to the mountain and the outside world is essential. Once the link is complete, "we will then sprint to catch up the freight service; 400 jobs around the community rely on our rail connection."

Even with the bridge out, the railroad has already been working with firefighters to get water to the remote locations of the fire. "Our railroad is filling tanker cars with water and delivering them to the edge of the fire zone. We are delivering about 125,000 gallons per day on our nickel. They can fill four tanker trucks at a time. It’s amazing," Abbey said.

Nonetheless, all the water they can muster can't save structures that have already burned. The railroad's facility at Fir, near the summit of La Veta Pass, site of the many memorable concerts and events through the years, has not escaped the fire's fury.

"The stage is gone. Utterly gone, with everything in it including all [the] back line, the solar and wind controllers, camp chairs, generators." Abbey said, "Its just all gone."

Chief among the losses is the concert facility's green room, an old theatrical term for the place where visiting performers wait before going on stage. It served as a sort of yearbook for the venue. The autographs, what Abbey called "the doodles ...artist graffiti," irreplaceable mementos of performances throughout the years are now lost forever.

Thankfully, the rest of the facilities at Fir are relatively untouched by the fire. "The remainder of the site is basically untouched. Needs a wash and it's ready for service." Because of its remote location, the concert facilities are off-the-grid and entirely self contained. "We have 15,000 gallons of water up there plus some pumps, so washing will commence when the evacuation order is lifted."

Despite the catastrophic loss of the stage, plans are already underway to resume the summer concerts. Though, without a proper stage in place, some compromises will be necessary. The brick dance floor will serve as the stage in the short term, Abbey said. "We will build, rent, borrow, or acquire a canopy for the dance floor so that the artists are covered. At this time, we expect that the next scheduled concert, Peter Yarrow [of Peter, Paul and Mary], will proceed as scheduled."

People who want to help do have a means to get involved. According to Abbey, a GoFundMe campaign is underway for Fir. "As pretty much everyone knows, we are a hard-working and dirt-poor railroad. So help is needed if we are to have anything after this season. It’s that simple."

A quick check of the crowd funding site showed that after 3 days, they had already raised $4,615, or 1.8% of their $250,000 goal. While resumption of the concerts is important, Abbey still believes resumption of rail service and those 400 jobs are the most important. "If we fail to re-establish this critical piece of infrastructure, we will make do for the last few shows and call it a wrap." ⚒

For hundreds of Spring Creek fire evacuees, “There’s been a lot of heartache”, Denver Post July 4, 2018.

POTD - Thin Air and Thin Rails On the Monarch Branch

In the twilight of the narrow gauge era of the Denver & Rio Grande Western, the Monarch Branch had the rare distinction of being standard-gauged in 1956 and converted to diesel operation.¹ This was the year after the Marshall Pass line was scrapped. Thus, the conversion would end Salida's long years as a 3-rail terminal and as a cornerstone of the far-famed Narrow Gauge Circle. Still, for another 26 years, the Monarch branch would continue in use until 1982 when a shutdown of the steel furnaces at Pueblo obviated the need for limestone from the quarry near the summit of the pass. The Rio Grande officially abandoned the branch in 1984.²

Photo of the Day: John Dziobko
Click image for full size, original image

Button copy and a high-nosed EMD GP-9 would be the first clues that this isn't a recent photograph. In fact, it's early September 1969 on the Denver & Rio Grande Western's Monarch branch above Salida and its junction with the Tennessee Pass Route. Our Photo of the Day shows just how intense mountain railroading on the Rio Grande could be! Tight curves prevented six-axle diesels from working the branch. Grades of 4.5% and a pair of switchbacks, the only switchbacks on the entire system, were hardly enough to keep the brakes on the limestone gondolas from smoking. The easy access of US 50--the "Backbone of America" as Time magazine called it--and its activity into the 1980s made the branch something of a legend for the Rio Grande, especially among railfans. Those who witnessed the railroad's regular herculean struggle against gravity would seldom soon forget it!⚒

Footnotes:
1 Rio Grande: To the Pacific by Robert LaMassena 2nd Ed p176
2 www.drgw.net Monarch branch by Nathan Holmes

Wildfire Halts Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Operations

The 2018 summer season has got off to a rocky start for the premier heritage railroad in Colorado. The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad based in Durango, Colorado has halted all passenger operations due to the 416 Fire, a wildfire of still-undetermined origin that started at 10:02 AM Friday, exactly one week ago. Roughly 1,500 people have evacuated for the 5,000 acre fire near Hermosa, Colorado, with approximately 600 firefighters combating the flames.



At present, the railroad has temporarily halted all operations with exception of free museum and railyard tours in Durango until at least June 17th. They have furloughed 150 employees as a result, leaving as many as 3 trains worth of passengers without a trip to take to Silverton.

If Durango is hard hit by the suspension of service, Silverton is likely desperate. The noontime crush of tourists is something most restaurants and retailers in the small San Juan county seat absolutely depend on to make or break their season. All but 62 of San Juan County's 699 residents live in Silverton, meaning Colorado's smallest county by population is not a likely candidate for growth this year, thanks to the fire.



When operations do resume, it's more than likely that the narrow gauge steam mikados will not immediately return to service. The sentiment is that with one wildfire already active and consuming resources, stray cinders from the coal-fired locomotives run the risk of igniting a second wildfire, even with the precautions of fire-suppression equipped speeders and a stand-by helicopter. Instead, and a result of the impact of the 2002 Missionary Ridge Fire, the D&SNG is planning to use diesel engines to haul what trains it can. It's not ideal, and the D&SNG knows that the stars are its legacy Denver & Rio Grande Western K-28 and K-36 class engines burning coal as they always have. It just may not be for June 2018. ⚒

Run For Cover - A Grande Western

Run For Cover, a Paramount Pictures western was put into wide release on this day in 1955. It stars Jimmy Cagney as a drifter intent on giving a grown orphan (played by John Derek) a chance as a partner in a western town. In the early part of the story, Cagney's and Derek's characters are mistaken for robbers holding up the train. Enter the starlet of the picture, the highline of the Silverton Train. I say starlet because her time on the screen is all too brief! Nary a foot of extra film is spared for Mikado 473 and the entire holdup sequence is tightly covered. It may be a Grande film, but it's still one on a budget.

Matt Dow (James Cagney, left) and Davey Bishop (John Derek, right) talk over trains and rumors of hold-ups while old Number 7 (Denver & Rio Grande Western 473 center) simmers on the high line near Rockwood, Colorado [under Fair Use]

Silverton, however, gets broad coverage under the more ambiguous name of Madison, and most if not all of the town sequences were filmed there. Even the most recent visitors to Silverton would be able to spot the depot and some of the buildings used, and certainly most of the outdoor shots have Sultan Mountain, Galena or Kendall in the background. Cagney even chases a thief over the yard tracks east of the town. With the exception of the climactic chase, it's Silverton or a small farm, likely in a valley nearby.

Number 7 of the Rio Grande (played ostensibly by K-28, 473) rounds the bend before the erstwhile ambush of two gunmen, Dow and Bishop. Barely on the screen for two passes, it doesn't seem nearly long enough for a railfan. [under Fair Use]

Cagney is a legend in early Hollywood, an established star in the firmament of the Golden Age in his last few years as a leading man. John Derek was a younger heartthrob at the time, but most of us would probably recognize his fourth wife, Bo. If you're into westerns, Run For Cover would certainly pass for the second of a double feature evening, or as main fare if you're planning to ride and hope to spot the holdup location in the next few days. As a railfan, the train itself is not given nearly enough time, but then, when is enough ever enough for such a grande place? Nevertheless, it's worth noting that not only was the Rio Grande among those railroads that built the west, but it took a central role in creating the myth of the Old West in film and story.⚒

Run For Cover on Wikipedia
...on iMDb

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad where most of the film took place

What Happened To The Caboose?

What happened to the caboose?

The question is not unusual, especially outside of the railfan community. Locked deep in the American consciousness is the memory of the caboose, typically red and with the signature cupola on top, trailing at the end of a freight train.

As a young boy, one of my favorite children's books was a Little Golden Book called The Little Red Caboose. It tells of a caboose that's sad it sits at the back of the train, instead of up front where people see the big black engine or in the middle where people watch and listen to the cars. Instead, it's stuck at the end where people are turning away to go on with life. Yet life changes for the caboose when it uses its brakes to keep the train from sliding back down the mountain. Its heroic act causes everyone to give it recognition, which is what it always wanted.

Such a bright and cheerful picture has staying power, long after the last caboose disappeared from main line railroading. But in order to understand why the caboose has largely vanished from railroading, it's necessary to look at a number of its functions in the context of the century of railroading from 1865 to 1964.

Iron Men, Hotboxes and Dangerous Cargo

In the grand scheme of a railroad, men were often called upon to make things work together. In the beginning, car manufacturers didn't have industry-wide specifications beyond the basics of gauge and connections like the coupler and the brake hose. Because the construction and design of rail cars varied widely, railroads required more manpower to make things work together. Yet, no matter the manpower, sometimes things went wrong.

For one thing, car axles were held by solid lead bearings with grease wells that were prone to overheat, especially when maintenance was lax. When a solid bearing did overheat, it would smoke, glow red and eventually melt or burn with the heat of the friction. Such an incident was called a hotbox, and they caused a great deal of grief for the railroad and its neighbors. A caboose manned with eyes and noses could catch these hotboxes before they developed to cause real trouble.

As seen in this photo published in the December 1961 issue of Trains Magazine, a hotbox was often a hot mess! Even in black and white, the heat of the grease fire comes through.
Original Photo: Howard S. Patrick, Trains Magazine, used with permission of the publisher

On the other hand, it wasn't always a hotbox. Despite even the best care in loading railcars, tie-downs and straps loosen, bolts break, and cables fray and snap. Once that happens, a simple curve is all it takes for a loose load to shift. When it does, look out! A shifted load can lean out of the car's profile, causing the freight to collide with anything nearby: a signal mast, a bridge truss, a tunnel wall, or even a passing train or people on a station platform. Like a knight in a jousting match, a load can skew across and clip anything or anyone unfortunate enough to be in its way.

Therefore, in the same way as hot boxes, a caboose served as a watchful guardian shepherding the loads on the cars to limit the accidents that would happen. This lookout role is the primary reason for the cupola on top of the caboose and the bays on the "side bay" cabooses.

Braking

When introduced, Westinghouse air brakes made the process of slowing a train safer and more reliable, and it remains in use a century later. When the engineer needs to slow the train, he moves a lever that reduces the pressure in the brake pipe. All the cars along the train read that reduction in pressure and apply the brakes in proportion to the reduction. Inside the caboose, the pressure in the brake pipe is visible in a large gauge, typically up in the cupola, and a brakeman or conductor has the ability completely dump the air pressure, making an emergency application of the brakes (and causing a big headache for everyone).

The air brake alleviated the need for brakemen on the roofs of cars, a dangerous and hazardous position, especially in the winter when cars developed sheets of ice that could cause a man to slip or worse, break loose under a man's foot. Remember, shoes and boots were not the all-terrain grip monsters worn today. Hazards were real and safety was not as important as getting the work done.

Housing

Freight railroading in the 19th century was inefficient and piecemeal from today's standards. Brakemen would ride on top of cars and brake the cars by hand coming down hills in all weather, year round. The caboose was one place to warm up or cool down, take a leak and fill up when the train was between significant hills. A couple of bunks, a pot belly stove (coal fired, of course) and a locker for tools helped make the brakeman's job possible.

Yet another function of the caboose was as an office for the conductor. Rail cars picked up, dropped off, set out, and sorted all had forms for the railroad to document what that train did. Conductors oversaw these movements and made sure everything was done as ordered. A desk and filing holes helped the conductor impose order on the daily chaos of railroading.

Change

In the 20th century, and especially after the World Wars, railroads began to modernize, using technology and standardization to improve the railroad's performance. Sensors, remote controls, radios and other applied technologies began to help replace the human element.

At first, it began phasing out positions manned by limited duty, semi-retired or partly disabled workers operating switches or guarding crossings. Then, once railroad executives realized the savings and reliability afforded by automation, they began to implement it everywhere they could. The caboose would be one of many such traditions to vanish with automation. Strange acronyms like TDDs and FREDs began to reduce or eliminate the need for a caboose.

TDDs
Talking Defect Detectors are devices affixed along and between the rails at specific locations along the railroad. They are programmed with a voice pattern that is broadcast on the standard railroad VHF radio frequency used by all trains along the route. The TDD apparatus is rigged to detect defective parts that are critical to a train's operation, such as a wheel bearing that is overheating or a piece of equipment that is dragging underneath or alongside the train. Most TDDs are designed to broadcast a warning only when a defect is detected.

TDD apparatus, Zonker's Defect Detectors page

Talking Defect Detectors were installed on the railroads of the United States starting in the 1970s. Along with the replacement of solid lead bearings in favor of superior roller bearings in the 1950s and 60s, the TDDs eliminated a large percentage of hot boxes. In fact, TDDs could detect an elevated temperature before the bearing could smoke. Once TDDs were in place on a particular rail route, many of the services provided by the men in the caboose were no longer needed.

FREDs
A Flashing Red End-of-train Device is placed on the last coupler on the train to let the engineer monitor brake pipe pressure by remote radio link. It also has, as the name indicates, a flashing red beacon focused in the opposite direction of the normal motion of the train. The beacon is the last line of protection for a train on the main line. If the track warrants and signals have not protected the end of the train from collision, the FRED should give at least some warning to any approaching trains.

The Human Cost

One other--but often overlooked--reason for the end of the caboose came down to injuries caused by riding in a caboose. As train technology has advanced, freight train length has grown substantially. The reason for growing train length starts, ironically, at the other end of the train. Unlike steam locomotives, diesel electrics can be set up in multiple unit mode, giving one engineer control over several locomotives together. More locomotives pulling together meant more horsepower per train, which can increase your speed and your capacity for more cars per train. More loads moved over the road with fewer people involved meant savings and higher profits.

The longer trains were not without their drawbacks, however. Some of the physics involved with these longer trains were having a detrimental effect on the health of the crews. It was what industry professionals called in-train forces.

Roy Gelder, in an opinion piece for Trains magazine in March 1987, wrote,

Immediate change of train speed is magnified to the rear end [of the train] like a whip. This phenomenon--slack--is merciless in its injuries to people, regardless of how well the trains are handled or the crew may be braced [for the impact].

In the steel framed cabooses of the 50s and 60s, it was possible for a death to occur because of a sudden stop at the front of the train. The engineer would be free of injury, but because of a slack action, a caboose moved so suddenly and violently that the occupants were severely injured or killed.

The End of the Caboose?

Photo: BUFFIE

With the automation of the last 50 years in place, the brakemen became fewer until it was a single brakeman on most trains. The brakeman and the conductor still occupied the caboose into the 1980s.

Beginning in the 1970s and finishing around 1992, FREDs began replacing cabooses and the brakeman and conductor moved up to the locomotive. Nevertheless, the caboose has not completely vanished from railroading.

Today, the caboose fills a niche for local trains and short lines. Where there is a number of switching maneuvers or a significant need for backing the train, cabooses fill the role by providing a platform for the brakeman or conductor to ride and watch for hazards.

Cabooses also form a very diverting part of railroading lore. Not only are there books like The Little Red Caboose, but there is an entire branch of railfans who focus mostly on the caboose. Where it is often too large a challenge for railroad preservation organizations to care for a locomotive, a number of these groups focus their attention on rolling stock with special attention paid toward cabooses. A number of museums, chambers of commerce, hotels, and bed & breakfasts feature cabooses as curiosity draws and yes, you can often visit or sleep in one! See the map and links below. ⚒

Map

Links

• Colorado Railroad Museum's Caboose page
• Zonkers Defect Detector page - detailed information on TDDs
• TDD wikipedia article
• TDD video demonstration
• Hospitality Businesses with a Caboose
• Blue Spruce Caboose Inn - Cascade: A single caboose from IC renovated as a luxury suite
• Strawberry Park Hot Springs - Steamboat Springs: Rustic lodging above a hot springs spa
• The Wyman's Southern Pacific Bar & Grill - Silverton: A popular bar & grill anchored by an SP bay window caboose

POTD - BN Caboose Two Miles High

Photo of the Day: Mike Danneman

It is 1984, and the Climax local has just returned to the two-mile high city of Leadville under threat of rain from a July cloudburst overhead. Winter snows still cling to Mount Elbert above the covered hopper and Mount Massive (at far right), the two highest peaks in Colorado. The summer storm belies the fact that summer, if it comes at all, is far too brief at this altitude to make much of an impact. Nevertheless, as noted photographer Mike Danneman notes, this line survives as the Leadville, Colorado & Southern, a summer tourist railroad in business long after the neighboring Tennessee Pass Route has fallen silent.

The isolated segment of the Burlington Northern system, 150 rail miles from its nearest connection at Pueblo, is still generating revenue many decades after coming into the fold of Colorado & Southern as part of the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad. To get there, the DSP&P climbed from Como in South Park over the Continental Divide at Boreas Pass, down through Breckenridge and Frisco before heading up over Fremont Pass (and the Continental Divide, again). Such up and down, north and south wanderings are why they had such turbulent corporate histories and why Colorado narrow gauge railroads are so beloved. ⚒