Resource Review: Railway Productions' Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad DVD

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad DVD Review Category Rating Factual Accuracy & Detail ★★★★★ Entertainment Value and Appeal     ★★★★★ Subject Choice ★★★☆☆ Production Quality ★★★★☆ Value ★★★☆☆ Overall ★★★★☆

There have been perhaps hundreds, even thousands of videos of various quality and length devoted to Colorado's surviving narrow-gauge lines. Some of the most professional and entertaining focus on the entire state, while others just as good tend to settle on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad or the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. The latter of the two is the subject of The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad DVD by Railway Productions, the production branch of online railroad retailer www.a-trains.com. 

A 20th Century Yearbook of the C&TS

Why this DVD, a reissue of the original VHS release? There are lots newer. There's a few different reasons. The bulk of the footage was shot in the late 1990s, a specific point in time in the heritage railroad's history that has since passed. This is before the ridership dive in the 2002 fire season in Colorado, before the 2010 destruction of Lobato trestle and the epic struggle to continue service and rebuild the trestle and reconnect the terminals on the 64-mile line between Antonito, Colorado and Chama, New Mexico. It is a yearbook of the railroad at the end of the 20th century with differences in the last 14 years both small and great that familiar eyes will spot.

For example, regular consists at the time of the video's production still contained a number of converted boxcars used to haul passengers from the earliest days of the C&TS. The railroad has since built it's own, semi-standardized fleet of passenger coaches in Pullman green and later Tuscan red.

Another clear example of it's time-capsule quality is a demonstration of the use of Chama's iconic coaling tower. Probably the tallest building in Chama for the first hundred years, the coaling tower has long since been out of service, with each of the engine's tenders stocked with the use of a tractor's scoop bucket or front-end loader. The coaling demonstration alone is worth the effort to get this video. Part of a larger feature documenting each step taken to prepare the locomotives for service each morning, the coaling tower sequence (a little less than 8 minutes into the main video) is invaluable to any model railroader seeking to create their own version for their railroad or anyone wanting to understand the rigors of coal-fired steam operations on a railroad. 

End To End Coverage With Broad Appeal

Although other aspects of railroad technology like narrow gauge versus standard and outside-frame Mikados are briefly discussed, he video itself has a broader range of appeal and technical aspects are discussed but not in great detail. History, operations, scenery, landmarks and geography are woven together quite masterfully throughout the video. The shots are well-produced and the narration, while not top quality like those of say, Pentrex, still flows smoothly and easily, giving a naturally good feel to the experience. The background music also belies a budget production of the mid- to late 90s. In fact, it reminded me of the job training videos that so many businesses used to educate or motivate their employees, often having the opposite effect! On the other hand, the music is composed by a professional and remains relatively unobtrusive while still giving a sense of drama or anticipation where appropriate. 

The video is thorough despite being a bit dated. Both Chama and Antonito departures are extensively covered, with a ride on trains climbing both sides, and coverage meets at the summit of Cumbres Pass. Pacing shots of engine 484 out of Antonito are especially nice, if not entirely steady by today's digital standards. Autumn gold aspen groves show up often. Mudhen 463 makes a few prominent appearances. Fans of the engine will remember that she broke down in 2002, necessitating a costly and extensive rebuild from 2009 to 2013. Also appearing briefly is rotary snowplow OY during her possibly last-ever outing in 1997. Whiplash Curve, Phantom Curve, Tanglefoot Curve (called Cumbres Loop "in the old days" according to the narration), Windy Point, Mud and Rock Tunnels, Lobato and Cascade Trestles, and the dramatic Toltec Gorge get their close-ups with photo freights and passenger runs. In all, a very balanced and well thought-out production that makes a fine 20th century. 

Other notes: The DVD includes an extra 30 minutes of bonus footage including a bit more of OY. It is tacked on after the original 56 minutes. A preview of the video is available for Windows users at the retailer's site. Other retailers: InternetTrains.com, Colorado Railroad Museum 

Category	Rating
Factual Accuracy & Detail - Has the facts straight. Goes into sufficient detail to inform the audience without getting bogged down or over-simplifying	★★★★★
Entertainment Value and Appeal - Is the video just for the hard core fans, or can anyone sit back and enjoy the video?	★★★★★
Subject Choice - How common is the subject matter? Does the railfans' world need another video on this subject? How likely will there be another video made on the same subject?	★★★☆☆
Production Quality - Writing, editing, camera work, narration, and music must exceed nominal qualities by significant margin to achieve full marks	★★★★☆
Value - Does the video deliver a high value (with time, quality, accuracy) for the price asked by the distributor?	★★★☆☆
Overall - The average of the 5 categories. Accuracy is likely to find a contrast with quality and appeal is likely to contrast with subject choice, and value is affected by the other four.	★★★★☆

So it's a generally favorable review. I didn't find anything to fully criticize outside of the number of Cumbres & Toltec videos already out there and the MSR price of $30  ($24.95 + 5.00 S&H). With Blu-Ray gaining more of the mainstream market, I can't bring myself to part with that much for a VHS re-issue to DVD. Again, not a lot to criticize on a great 90 minute video that's eminently watchable, especially for those who remember the previous century!

Do More

Want more of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad?

• Ride the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad this year!
• Find out about the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad mentioned in the video
• Read the Wikipedia article
• Learn more about the Narrow Gauge Circle
• Find more posts about the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad on Colorado Railroads◊

BNSF Derailment Caught On Camera, Axle Rolls Into Sedalia Gas Station

The small town of Sedalia just south of Denver had a little more than it could handle Thursday, February 6th, when a BNSF freight train derailed 17 cars at the town's main intersection, tying up US 85 and Colorado Highway 67 for days afterward. As the Amarillo-to-Denver mixed freight of mostly empties pulled through the highway grade crossing, surveillance video from a gas station shows the train cars lurching high off the tracks. Next, a contractor's truck backs out of the way when an axle from one of the cars began rolling downhill toward the camera. The axle continued rolling into the gas station's covered front porch, knocking out two columns before being stopped by a third.

Unlike road-bound vehicles, railcars typically rest on their axles, rather than bolt directly to them. This makes for quick access of a part that often requires replacement or repair. A minor derailment causing an axle to roll free is considerably rare. Locals took advantage of the photo op beside the large freight wheels that weigh 1 to 1.5 tons. It was a happy ending, despite the inconvenience, because no one was reported injured.

An axle from the train rests against the gas station
where it came to a stop in Sedalia Feb 6th.
Photo: The Denver Channel/Pat Norwood

The town of Sedalia is toward the northern end of Colorado's Joint Line at the junction of US 85, and Colorado 67 just north of its connection to Colorado 105, the Truck Route between Monument and south Denver.

History of the Joint Line 

The Joint Line was built when the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad built south from Denver toward Pueblo in 1871 and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway built north from NA Junction near Pueblo to Denver in 1876. After the Rio Grande converted the line to mixed gauge service, the lines could have been used in parallel, but until World War I, there was no joint operation agreement. As part of the United States Railroad Administration's management, the two lines were converted to directional running, right hand rule, with crossovers switched to allow northbound trains to use the eastern track and southbound trains to use the western track, no matter the railroad, Rio Grande or Santa Fe, owning the train. After the USRA returned the railroads to their owners, the Rio Grande and Santa Fe saw the cooperation as mutually beneficial and left the agreement in place.

Colorado & Southern and the Burlington (CB&Q) were allowed trackage rights over the Joint Line when the the rails of the Ft. Worth and Denver City, a third railroad roughly following the same alignment as Colorado 83, were taken up around the same time. South of Pueblo, C&S and the Rio Grande had a similar arrangement as the Santa Fe. As a result, C&S and later the Burlington and the Burlington Northern had a continuous presence along the Joint Line, with the 70s and 80s showing Rio Grande gold and black locomotives and Santa Fe bluebonnets and later warbonnets along with Chinese red Burlingtons and later BN green and blacks for a truly colorful microcosm of western railroads, save the UP until the late 90s.

Opinion

Considering that the crossing in question is just north of a maintenance change over between the Union Pacific (Rio Grande) and BNSF (Santa Fe), it's an interesting point for a derailment. Nonetheless, derailments because of ice buildup or sand accumulation from highway plowing are surprisingly common, especially considering the cold and snowy weather in Colorado around the time in question. Regardless, no one was injured, and that's cause for relief. Would that everyone else was so fortunate!

Footnotes

Tracking Ghost Railroads In Colorado by Robert Ormes

Train Star: Amtrak is moving back to Union Station soon!

Train Star: Amtrak is moving back to Union Station soon!: But not as soon as originally hoped. Friday, February 28 (time?) California Zephyr returns to Union Station. This date has already been dela...(continue at Train Star)◊

Video - Gerald Sharp's Run 8! Roaring EMDs On Tennessee Pass

On long, windy, winter nights, videos from summers past remind me that there are warm summer days still to come in Colorado, even in the high mountain parks and peaks, canyons, valleys and playful creeks. Only a few months remain to plan our trips to the tracks, even if it's a daydream of a trip. Winter's hold still lingers, and while it does, we can watch videos both historic and recent.

Gerald Sharp recently uploaded a Gerfmon production titled Run 8! Roaring EMDs On Tennessee Pass, Colorado 1992. Although it's considerably lengthy at 34 minutes, it may turn out to be worth your while. The video follows two trains on two different days as they take on helpers at Minturn, Colorado and proceed up the 3% grade to the summit tunnel atop Tennessee Pass, between Eagle-Vail and Leadville.

If you are short on time, the highlights include: Rio Grande SD40T-2 and GP40s pulling out of Minturn, Rio Grande manifest rounding a curve eastbound ascent, and one long, continuous shot of an SP manifest with TOFC through a high mountain park. Really, though, the whole video is worth your time, especially to see the helper operations. (Oh, Lord!)



As long as you're here, I have a small but growing number of playlists the CR YouTube channel. Enjoy!◊

POTD - New Year, New Power ...Same Switchwork

Editor's note: Ever have too many irons in the fire and not enough rags to handle them all? It seems this way for me ever since December. Still, I'm beginning to figure that no one sees the work if I don't eventually publish something at least. So without theme or meticulous research, I present today's Photo of the Day.

A manifest BNSF local makes its way east behind new power for a change. SD40-2s #1826
(ex BN 6378) and #1675 (ex BN 8025) with 3 switchmen work the turn on the last day of 2013.
Photo: John Hill, Denver 

John Hill makes his debut today at Colorado Railroads with a straightforward BNSF local turn working the Colorado Central (C&S) branch to Golden and Coors Brewery just east of Horton, at Miller Street and Ridge Road in Arvada. John has a long history of photographing trains and I hope I can share more of his work soon!◊

Scanners 101

Uniden's BearCat 125AT

If you got a scanner for Christmas, or have one but don't know how to use it, there's a couple of resources you should know about. First stop might be the site RadioReference.com. It has a "101" guide that's easy enough to understand. You also need to know the frequencies you can access. The same site has a comprehensive listing of the frequencies used by Colorado's railroad subdivisions, including yard frequencies. Have a look!

If reading's not your thing or you like a walk-through person-to-person, there's also a number of YouTube videos I've found.

Also, if anyone has some tips or ideas for scanners and their use, don't be shy about sharing it below. A novice like me could use the input!◊

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!◊

Denver Union Station Set To Re-open Spring 2014

For nearly a century, Denver's Union Station, situated at 17th and Wynkoop Streets in LoDo (map), served as Denver's gateway. After suffering neglect in the 60s and 70s, a group called Save Our Station came forward to save Denver's landmark and stood in the gap until LoDo's redevelopment in the 90s. Today, with FasTracks and a "project authority," Denver Union Station is primed to become the city's transportation star once again, juiced with hospitality and shopping opportunities that Denver's founders would dismiss as flights of fancy.

ColoRail, Colorado's primary passenger rail advocacy group, reports that Denver Union Station's project under DUSPA is nearing completion of several steps in its renovation. For approximately 30 months the historic building, parts of which date from the 19th century, has been gutted, busted up, and besieged by earth-movers and construction cranes, but not for much longer. From ColoRail's latest brief,

While an exact date has not been announced, Amtrak trains, ticketing and baggage handling are expected to be back at the historic Denver Union Station building by mid-February 2014. Here is the line-up of events as it appears today:

⊗ Mid-February 2014, in a blizzard of track-work, the "cut-over" will take place, re-connecting Tracks 4 and 5 with the national railway network. Amtrak trains currently use Track 8. Station activities will be moved into the historic building. This will begin a new period of awkwardness, due to the surrounding construction activities, with special efforts needed to define safe pedestrian routes.

While RTD is mainly concentrating on the next step, national interest is focused on the Amtrak move, after relocations in both Miami and St. Paul were fouled up. One ColoRail member riding on the Southwest Chief found himself being grilled by his sleeping car attendant as to whether Denver would be able to handle this in a timely manner or not. ColoRail board members receive many questions along the same lines.

At this phase, customers should have access between the 16th Street FREE MallRide and the Wynkoop entrance to the historic building, or a 3-block walk up 17th Street for Market Street Station connections with skyRide and Boulder-Longmont buses. Thruway buses will have to park along Wynkoop Street during this stage of the project.

⊗ On May 9th, a big grand opening ceremony will be held for the Bus Concourse, which is to link the thousand foot walk between the historic building and the relocated light rail platform.

⊗ On May 11th at 2:00 a.m., the Market Street Station will close forever and the Union Station Bus Concourse will open for business. The significance for rail travelers is that it will be possible to walk under cover from the Amtrak facilities to the plaza at the Millenium Bridge light rail station. This change will also bring numerous bus connections closer to Amtrak trains, including:

• Amtrak Thruway bus connections for Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Walsenburg, Trinidad, and Raton.
• CDOT sponsored bus connections for US 40 points including Winter Park-Fraser and Granby
• CDOT sponsored bus connections for US 285 points including Salida, Gunnison and Alamosa
• RTD FREE MetroRide bus connections for Civic Center Station and the Denver Bus Center
• RTD Regional bus connections for US 36 and North I-25 points, including Boulder and Longmont
• RTD skyRide bus connections for DIA
• A variety of Local, Express and Regional RTD routes

For the future, at least two other bus companies have expressed interest in serving the station. On the other hand, residents of Lower Downtown, recipients of millions of tax dollars in the form of a landscaped plaza in front of the historic building that replaces the taxi and bus loop, are objecting to "increased" bus traffic. Actually, there is no LoDo increase, but the project changes which streets are used, as buses would no longer be going to Market Street Station.

⊗ On or about October 1st, CDOT expects to begin interdistrict commuter bus service between Fort Collins, Denver and Colorado Springs, with stops at Union Station.

⊗ In 2016, three commuter rail lines are due to begin service, including the DIA/East Line, the Westminster Line, and the Gold Line (Arvada - Wheat Ridge). These would replace several Express bus routes in Union Station, as well as the Rte AF skyRide coaches. Also improved would be connections to Aurora, via the I-225 light rail extension. Aurora stops will be accessible either via an East Line transfer at Peoria/Smith Station or via a C/E-Line to H-Line transfer at I-25 & Broadway Station.

⊗ In 2017, it is possible that commuter rail service to Thornton will begin.♦

With the completion of the West line earlier this year, Denver Union Station already ties the Light Rail lines together. Once Amtrak and the commuter lines are active, it truly will be the regional hub envisioned by FasTracks.◊

Museum Poll Reminder

Only hours remain for you to vote in the Colorado Railroad Museum poll "What would you do with $5 Million at the museum?" Take a look at the top of the right-hand column and voice your opinion!◊

Railfans Hope For A Little Coal In Their Stockings

If you're a railfan, you've likely dreamed of firing up a steam engine and highballing it on the main line. Christmas brings those dreams especially close. To all my railfan readers and friends, enjoy this for your personal use.

Denver & Rio Grande engine 168 sits under a fresh blanket
of snow in Antlers Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
2100 px PNG file, right click and choose "Save link as" to save it to your wallpapers folder

1600 px PNG file

Have a warm, safe and blessed Christmas, and a happy new year!◊

Hovercams Growing From Toy To Tool

I get a little excited about a new technology on occasion, or an old technology that suddenly made the leap into an affordable price bracket. Since yesterday, I've been contemplating the Parrot AR Drone 2.0. Yes, you read that right: a drone.

Looking more like an insect than a camera, is a drone
the next step in railroad photography and video? 

Like a model helicopter, it flies using rotating blades. Like some copters, the drone takes pictures or video in HD. Unlike a helicopter, it has software and a hi-tech control suite that keeps the drone from crashing as easily. Notice I didn't stop at the word crashing, because I'm sure it's possible to crash these. Yet how many potential photographers have shied at the prospect of model aircraft or rotorcraft due to the likely prospect of turning a $1,500 work of art into a decorative bench ornament or worse, that eyesore sticking out of a neighbor's roof.

Head gear? Guards give the drone a
more visible if ungainly appearance

Is a Parrot Drone or any of its competitor's creations just a toy or is it a valuable tool that photographers can use to check out locations or even use to produce an image? Could this toy/tool be used to photograph trains, or capture video of sufficient quality? One store is already quite willing to let serious photographers find out.

Imagine a dolly shot starting on one side, going up and over a moving intermodal and down the other side moving against the trains direction of travel ...without the dolly or the time and effort it takes to build such a rig and put it in place. What about programming a course to fly via GPS when the train comes by, hitting "Go" as the train passes a certain spot and, while the drone does it's thing, you rip as many frames as your dSLR will let you, just like before?

I'm beginning to wonder about other uses. How could Union Pacific or BNSF, or even San Luis & Rio Grande use this? Railroad police could use it to inspect those areas of the yard that aren't as accessible or safe as they'd like it to be. What about using one with a track crew to survey ahead of a boulder that's blocking their high rail vehicle or getting access to see if the string of coal cars are all empty and not just the first three? Some benefits might just be worth the expense, especially if a company smartphone or tablet can control it with no special training for the employee. There are applications that may only present themselves after they spend a few weeks out there. I wonder if there's a division or sub already using these.

What about you? Would you buy one or rent one?

Thanks to B&H for letting me steal the photos of their fine product.◊

POTD: Once and Future Glory

Our last POTD this week is from ...drum roll plea--nah, nevermind. It's Chris May again. But the theme has been a new way to look a things. Chris is good at making you look at things in a new way. He's not content to merely log photos as a scribe of the way things are; he's looking for ways to challenge himself creatively. That's what makes me a fan of his work.

The rusting cab of Denver & Rio Grande Western GP30 engine 3011 sits near the museum's
restoration roundhouse awaiting the day when she will be brought back to life again.
Photo: Christopher May

For today's photo, we return to the Colorado Railroad Museum on a different day, November 11, 2006. There is no title for it, but for me it speaks to the "once and future glory" that I believe in. Personal disclosure ahead, which may make you uncomfortable. You can skip to the next paragraph if you choose. A year to the day before Chris made this photograph, I was standing in front of over 1,000 people telling them about my young son's friendship with a six year-old girl, sharing the fun little things kids of that age do as a way of comforting them because that beautiful, vibrant and imaginative girl had passed away due to a freak medical condition that no one could have anticipated or avoided. She died 8 years ago today. Like the rusted locomotive hulk, her body was inanimate, decaying and breaking down even as we mourned that day. 

EMD GP30 illustration by Tom Fawell

Engine 3011 was a GP-30, a beautiful, vibrant and strong engine, one of the class that inspired the art of EMD's illustrator Tom Fawell. See how the power flows from it, the angular lines of the locomotive charging forward? That's the once part of the glory. The future part is when we see 3011 perched again on standard gauge rails shining with new paint and number boards looking for all the world like the day in 1961 when it rolled out of the plant. Or maybe, just maybe even hauling a passenger special for the museum. It's a picture of what my faith tells me is real.◊