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.◊

RTD Public Safety Snafu - F-Bomb Slips Into Children's Safety Video

Denver's RTD, the mass transit for the Colorado capital's 7 counties, recently opened the West Line, a light rail line 12.1 miles long serving the west Denver suburbs as far as the Jefferson County "Taj Mahal" government center in Golden. It resurrected the rapid transit line that ran along 13th Avenue built over a century ago. This is the first line of the long term Fastracks plan to be completed. RTD deserves its fair share of congratulations. Not only did they deliver the first portion on time, but their contractors also contributed to the community through the project. Unfortunately, a public organization like RTD is not immune to mistakes.

As part of the effort to smooth the changes a newly active light rail line will inevitably cause, a safety video was created, with animation and voice-overs aimed specifically at children. The video is titled "Safe Routes To School

A specially designed mascot named Fastracks Freddy tells the kids about light rail. It's a tame, paced affair that leaves the conscious mind with little more than the basic rules of keeping oneself out of harm's way.

Still shot captured from YouTube Monday afternoon;
the offensive text has been intentionally screened

However, at roughly 1:59 into the video, a plainly visible F-bomb is displayed on the backpack of a person walking away from the camera. It's hard to imagine that with such care taken to educate the kids, something that plain could make it past the production team. If they had pixelated the text or removed the shot, no one would have noticed. The video hosted by YouTube had been viewed over 500 times.

Same shot with location highlighted

The 5 1/2 minute safety video was produced by the City of Lakewood and KLTV8 T using funds from the Safe Routes to School program.

Scott Reed, a spokesman for RTD, was not aware of the video Monday afternoon, but later contacted Colorado Railroads, saying, "We contacted KLTV8 television in Lakewood, who produced the video and posted it on YouTube through their website.  They are pulling down the video tonight and will edit it appropriately."◊

GEs Juice Train Sells More Than Tropicana

Here's a nifty little commercial that GE put together. You'd never think that they were selling locomotives. Suddenly, I have a craving for freshly juiced diesels.

Hello, Caterpillar? Nice paint job, but that's not enough. GE's PR puts EMD's image on ice.



Anyone else notice the nod the ad gives to railfans?

If you're a fan of the 80s show Knight Rider, you're in for a big treat as well. The 80's dreamed of a talking car. 30 years later, GE touts a talking train.


Again, EMD, where are you? Where's your ACe in the whole?◊

Blessed Are the Patient

Do my eyes deceive me? Can it be? Is this really happening? Yes! Yes! YES!!!

Denver & Rio Grande Western's famed mikado, Mudhen 463, is under steam and testing! That is not a misprint. According to Nathan Holmes, webmaster at DRGW.net,

...not only does it steam, but it actually runs. They did a shakedown run with her today (4/9) from Antonito out to Lava and back. 

He linked to the Friends of the C&TS discussion board post by Rich Murray with two pictures by Craig McMullen.

Tim Tennant posted details today on the delayed, canceled, on-again, off-again-now-on-again charter that finally seems to be coming true. The release also has a picture of the engineunder steam at Lava.  The engine is sans number, but I can tell it's the real deal with a lot of shiny new parts. Make plans to visit the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad this summer to catch the oldest and smallest of the surviving steam engines of the Rio Grande!

Thanks to valued reader Rich Guggenheim for the tip.◊

New Sign Using LED Tech To Grace Colorado Highways

Photo: CTC, Inc.

Railway Age says that Colorado's Department of Transportation has purchased new LED-lit warning signs to call highway drivers' attention to railroad grade crossings. A CDOT spokesman is quoted in the article:

"Any tool that we can use to save lives is a welcome addition to our transportation tool kit," said CDOT Statewide Utilities Engineer Mat Flores. "The flashing lights disrupt a driver's expectations and should draw his or her attention to the crossing, resulting in a significant safety benefit."

CTC, Inc., based in Fort Worth, Texas, provides communication and signaling systems, products and services for the highway and rail, specializing in highway-rail grade crossings that are interconnected with traffic signals.

LED-lit signs do make it harder for drivers to ignore them, but I wonder whether this is just another sign (ha!) that our society is suffering from "warning fatigue."◊

Video: Triple Header On the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad

I happened across this video some time ago and, unlike some web videos, this one seems to improve over time. I've watched it several times and I have to say it's one of my favorites.

Normally, I don't feature videos that have disabled embedding. I believe sharing is something that helps your public exposure if it's done with a watermark or title cards showing whose content it is. On the other hand, this video is just too good to pass up.

Former Rio Grande Mikado locomotives, numbers 489, 488, and 487, in that order, triple-head a photo freight over Cumbres Pass in the snow. The footage is HD, sharp focus and set up extremely well. Low angle passes with a wide lens and high angle shots work together like a cinematographer's dream. It should be on a DVD somewhere, but Zack Blea, God bless 'im, has put it on the web for us all to enjoy!

(Next time, Zack, please let me show the readers your awesomeness here!)◊

POTD - Classic Lines, Classic Grande

Three Grande tunnel motors are rolling into Grand Junction early on a June morning in 1980 with a short
eastbound. The 5347,5357 and 5387 are making easy work of this 35 car mix of coal and manifest traffic.
Photo and caption: Chuck Schwesinger

Classic lines of the track, ballast, locomotive roof line, and telegraph lines make for a classy perspective photo, but the kicker is the awesome Grande Gold coloring on the lead unit, an SD40T-2, with all the beauty (and grime) of Rio Grande's railroading on the western slope of the Centennial State. On a side note, I appreciate that Mr. Schwesinger took extensive notes when taking the photos or shortly thereafter, enabling him to write his own caption (saving me the trouble).◊

POTD - A Marred Subject Shown In a Positive Light

Christopher May's capture of an Amtrak locomotive at the temporary Amhut station in Denver
captures a beautiful lighting of the slightly marred Amtrak logo. Awesome work, Chris!

When Amtrak rebranded itself from the pointless arrow to the current logo, I could imagine a lot of folks trying to understand the cryptic three stripes. The creative use of negative space is a little symbolic of the way Amtrak has survived for 40+ years now. People keep trying to kill it, only to find  their actions could create a gap in the country's transportation network that would be untenable. ◊

POTD - Grande Retirement of a Tunnel Motor

Kevin Morgan, long a favorite, gets the POTD honor today, not just because of the unique perspective
of this shot, but because he remembered the detail of staying out of the reflection of Ogden, Utah.

Since it's retirement in 2008, Rio Grande SD40T-2 #5371, the only Rio Grande diesel to retire without being re-numbered or sold off, has been joined at the old loco's home by SD40T-2 #5401, which saw brief service as patched Union Pacific 9871. Though they haven't relocated the engine to the property, it's good to know that such vital pieces of contemporary railroading is going to survive in the both of the states the Rio Grande called home.◊

Museums: Inspiration Strikes Closer Than You Might Think

Photo courtesy Colorado Railroad Museum

The days are slowly getting longer and the mid-winter doldrums are nearing. Are you looking to get the creative juices flowing? Inspiration may be as close as your nearest museum. While some museums board up for the winter, the colder months still tend to be slower at the others, making for staff with the time and ability to direct you where your interests might dictate.

For model railroaders, the connection is obvious. Painters and photographers can develop a great deal of closeup work with the various textures and flavors. Historians can definitely find a new project or two. Volunteers could do with an application for work and then an application of their skills. Sometimes any unrelated field might benefit from time spent there. You just never know where lightning will strike.

Here's a short list (and a map) of year-round museums you can try:

• Colorado Railroad Museum, Denver
• Forney Transportation Museum, Denver
• Pikes Peak Historic Street Railway, Colorado Springs
• Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Museums, Durango
• Pueblo Railway Museum
• Greeley Freight Station Museum
• Glenwood Railroad Museum, Glenwood Springs (4 days/wk)
• Ridgway Railroad Museum (free)
• San Luis Valley Museum, Alamosa (railroad memorabilia)

Map: Year Round Railroad Museums in Colorado

View Year Round Railroad Museums in Colorado 2013 in a larger map

or take it with you on your phone! 

Happy hunting! ◊

Three Future Thoughts

The future isn't unknown, but how fast and well-lit
your way is will determine the surprises.

On this inaugural week, a lot of folks might wonder what the future holds. Personally, I feel that Optimism and Obama are two words that begin with O, have an M in the middle, and that's where the similarities end. On the other hand, as an unpaid outsider with a somewhat obsessive interest, if I were to look into the future of railroading in the USA, particularly the west, I'd say that:

• Fuel and consumption will continue to impact other modes of transportation far more than railroads and, as a result, fuel prices will push greater demand toward the railroads, including shortlines, in a drive to control costs. The demand may exceed pre-Great Recession levels
• Locomotive design will not focus on doing more with less so much as it will focus on doing the same with reliability, especially with Tier 4 approaching
• Freight cars will continue to stretch as much as they can to haul as much as possible without snapping in two. Innovations such as the Trough Train weren't so misguided as they were mis-applied. A single, articulated car with two or three bogies in the middle could find a place in unit coal train use because it's principle of reducing tare weight and initial investment. Proving its reliability would be critical to its acceptance

Fortune cookie, anyone?◊

Join a Model Railroad Club By Attending An Expo

Photo of UP Heritage unit MTH model
by James Griffin, actionroad.net

If you're looking to connect with like-minded railfans and, in particular, model railroaders, a train expo or meet is ideal, like TECO (Train Expo Colorado). Where else can you visit with guys (and potentially gals) who love railroads and trains so much that they spend great deals of money and free time to emulate them in scale? The expo allows you to "shop" prospective clubs or groups you might join. Practical questions to be resolved might include:

Proximity To Base Of Operations 

If you have to drive 40 miles or more to get to the group's meetings, is it really feasible in the era of the $4 gallon of gas to expect that you'll make more than one or two trips in a year? Bloom where you're planted and find one convenient to you. If there isn't one, maybe you might consider starting one.

Track Record 

How long have they been around? Who are their long-time members? Joining a group with a past means they're more likely to have a future.

Athearn SD40T-2 D&RGW 5342
Ready-to-Roll lets the Grande live on

Scale 

Codified and expanded by the NMRA since the 1940s, scale is the ratio of size reduction between the real-life prototype and the model. The two most popular modular layout scales are HO (half-O scale) and N, which are also the two most popular scales people use for their home layouts. If you have tools and rolling stock in one of those two scales, you will have a few different clubs to choose from. If you have no equipment to speak of, or you are willing to start over, scale pretty much comes down to that to which you feel drawn. The larger the scale, the more detail is shown in the models. The smaller the scale, the easier it is to fit within the ever-present constraint of space.

Gauge

Sometimes mistaken for scale, gauge refers to the width in scale feet/inches between the rails.  Typically, it's standard gauge, but narrow gauge has a special place in the heart of Colorado's railroading past. HO scale can be adapted to HOn3 (n for narrow, and 3 for scale feet between the rails) or N scale to Nn3. Rolling stock, such as locomotives, cars, cabooses and even maintenance of way vehicles are built to a scale and the axles can only fit one gauge. Oddly, a boxcar built in On30 has axles that can run on HO track, but its scale is twice the size of HO rolling stock and structures.

Layouts

The club likely will be exhibiting their mobile, modular layout at the expo, which is a collection of modules built to pre-determined measurements to fit together, corner to corner, track with track so that they can be connected in a line or loop. This may be their only layout or one of two or three layouts based on scale, specifications or portability.

Activity

Is the club formalized with officers and official meetings, build nights and running nights? Or is it more of an ad-hoc group that gets together whenever they feel like it. You may hate one style of operation or thrive on it, but knowing what you prefer will help when deciding on a club. 

You

Your level of commitment and what you can offer can affect the club as well. Do you have skills such as electronics, painting, or decorating? What about friends of yours who are into railroading that your joining could present opportunities to the club? Do you have real life experience or knowledge that could be helpful? What a person brings to a club can often be what is least considered when they are joining.

Personal Note: This is post is train number 600 for Colorado Railroads.

Useful Links

Model Railroad Hobbyist - A free, model railroading magazine
Model Railroader - sister to Trains Magazine
Railroad Model Craftsman - sister to Railfan & Railroad
Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette
N Scale Magazine
Building Your Model Railroad
Model Railroad Scale Converter ◊