POTD - A Crossover Before Crossing Over Palmer Divide

It's been quite a while since we've had a Photo of the Day, so it should be a good one! A new photographer has been making quite an impact over at RailPictures.net. His name is Timothy Tonge and his photos, while not all from Colorado, hold nothing back in the way of beauty and sight lines! A prime example of this is his photo of a BNSF grain train heading south at Spruce, Colorado on the Joint Line between Colorado Springs and Denver late on a summer evening, July 11, 2019.

Photo of the Day by Timothy Tonge

As Mr. Tonge also points out, Spruce was one of the locations where the main lines of the Rio Grande (lower, left) and Santa Fe (right) crossed over each other. By the middle of the frame, the former Rio Grande main is the curving grade on the right! All of this was a fight to gain the elevation needed to crest the Palmer Divide just a couple miles distant.

Those familiar with the line will notice something a little strange about this shot. Although there are 4 locomotives, they are all trailing as pushers. The train is following the right-hand rule that is almost always in place on the Joint Line, allowing both UP and BNSF to use the former Rio Grande and former Santa Fe main lines as a double-tracked expressway for most of its distance between Denver and Walsenburg. It is remarkable that despite mergers, this has remained a two-railroad district for over a century!

PS: There is a theme to the Photos of the Day over the next week. While they all feature the same photographer, railroad, and section of the Joint Line, there is also a hidden theme that will be revealed on the 15th.⚒

Follow Up: Transcontinental Railroad Symposium

As a follow up to my previous post from April 26, it's worth noting that the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden is conducting a symposium on the weekend of June 7-9 on the Transcontinental Railroad.

Celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad with a decidedly Colorado twist.

Friday, Saturday & Sunday June 7-9, 2019

The top scholars in railroad history explore the struggles undertaken to build one continuous line of track from coast to coast and the resulting impact this had on our nation’s settlement and economy.

Speakers currently on the schedule include filmmaker Richard Luckin, David Bain, Peter A. Hansen, James Ehernberger, Kyle Wyatt, Dick Kreck, and Jim Wrinn, editor of Trains magazine. Of particular interest is Saturday afternoon when Al Dunton is scheduled to present The Colorado Connection, speaking on the Kansas Pacific and the Denver Pacific Railroads. Presiding, of course, is the director of the Colorado Railroad Museum, Donald Tallman.

The symposium will be held off-site from the museum for Friday and Saturday, and seating is limited. Reservations required by Friday, May 31, 2019, only 10 days from this post, so do not wait! Visit the event site for all official details.⚒

Was It Truly A Transcontinental Railroad?

In two weeks, dignitaries and pundits will call attention to a small bluff in western Utah named Promontory Summit where rail crews from two different railroads met and held a golden spike ceremony on May 10, 1869, 150 years ago. These facts, and more like them are certain. Among the statements and praise for the men--great and small--who commissioned and built it, statements will be passed as fact with hyperbole and oversimplifications mixed in. It's important in these times to remember the facts and, among them, Colorado's special place in America's transcontinental railroad history.

Photo: Andrew J. Russell, Restored by Adam Cuerden

While we could review much of the history of 19th century America in how the transcontinental railroad changed the course of history and formed the world we live in. Without it, much of America--and the world--would be different. It's not really possible to overstate it's role in forming the United States. But is it possible to oversimplify it or overstate certain facts? Absolutely! While we celebrate the transcontinental railroad with the Golden Spike ceremony, most of it is more symbolic than the actual formation of a transcontinental railroad.

True or False: The Golden Spike joined the nation by rail

FALSE -- The Golden Spike joined the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific railroads, tying Omaha and Sacramento. A trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific by rail was not possible on May 10, 1869. While the Central Pacific did connect to Sacramento, it would not reach San Francisco Bay until much later that same year. Even with that gap filled, you would be forced to disembark your train at Council Bluffs, Iowa, to take the Council Bluffs & Nebraska Ferry across the Missouri River to Omaha. While your travel time was cut from months to weeks, it would be over-simplifying to say the nation was joined by rail.

How was the nation joined by a truly coast-to-coast railroad connection? On August 15, 1870, two crews of the Kansas Pacific Railroad met at Comanche Crossing at Strasburg, Colorado. By joining their rails together, it was possible to embark a train at Jersey City, New Jersey and disembark at Oakland, California. The Union Pacific would not complete its Missouri River Bridge until March 25, 1873. Until that date, the true transcontinental railroad actually passed not through Omaha but through Kansas City and Denver.

Ready for more?

True or False: Promontory Point has a museum run by the National Park Service

TRUE -- You can visit the museum and watch a re-enactment of the Golden Spike ceremony most days out west of Salt Lake City. Just don't look for parking on May 10th.

T/F: The Union Pacific still uses the Golden Spike route

FALSE -- While much of the route is still the same, the route by Promontory was shifted to a more favorable grade well to the north of that historic location. The Comanche Crossing site east of Denver, however, is still in use, even with a museum.

T/F: Union Pacific owns the full route of the transcontinental railroad today

TRUE -- On September 11, 1996, Union Pacific Railroad purchased and merged with Southern Pacific, which had itself been purchased by the Denver & Rio Grande Western only 8 years before. Southern Pacific purchased the Central Pacific in a series of maneuvers beginning in 1885.

T/F: Union Pacific is bringing a special locomotive to the party in May

Are you kidding? TRUE! Union Pacific took one member of the largest steam locomotive class in history from Pomona California back in 2014 and has put it through a full restoration. The Big Boy 4014 will be heading to Utah this May for the ceremonies. Union Pacific's "never-retired" steam locomotive 844 will also be on hand for the celebration. For more information, visit Union Pacific Steam. 

In conclusion...

So was it truly a transcontinental railroad? Depends on your point of view. Politically, yes. Businesswise, maybe yes to a degree. As a passenger? Well, if I had to hoof it over to a ferry and then wait six months for Sacramento and San Francisco to join... then no, not hardly. But, from Atlantic to Pacific in 1870 through Denver on the Kansas Pacific with my private railcar? Sure! I'd call that a railroad.⚒


Special note: Though the Comanche Crossing web site has been down for more than a year, it's archived page still survives and from all indications, the museum is still in operation, opening June 1st through the summer every year.

On Wikipedia:
Promontory, Utah
Comanche Crossing on the Kansas Pacific
Union Pacific Railroad

How to Fire Up Your Morning

Ever wonder how to fire up a steam locomotive? Take a trip inside the Colorado Railroad Museum's roundhouse to bring life to Rio Grande 491!



Producer Jeff Berrier shows us the condensed version* of the steps required to steam up 491 early in the morning before a day of hauling visitors around the Colorado Railroad Museum. Grab a cup of coffee, stoke the fires, and get ready to enjoy this high quality look at operations in Golden! ⚒

* condensed version ...get it? Steam ...condensed ;)

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