Last Surviving Wig Wag in Colorado Still Wags For Amtrak Twice a Day

As a young kid fascinated with trains, I would get my folks to take me often enough to the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden. Usually, it was my dad, but it could just as easily have been my mom and her mom as well out to stretch their legs and wander the small network of trails. Usually there was nothing running, not even the Gooses (sic) back then. But one time I remember stopping to view the strangest contraption I'd seen there or any on other right of way to my memory. When I got the courage to ask a volunteer, they said it was their wig wag signal. "Wig... wag? What's a wig wag?"

Long before the crossbucks and alternating red lights had become standard at railroad grade crossings, there were different means of attracting motorists' attention to the very real but too often unseen danger of a train approaching. A sensible solution by Albert Hunt, a Pacific Electric technician, decided that mimicking a crossing guards' lower half wave with a red lantern, then the railroad's universal indication to stop, would be the simplest and mechanically easier than a lot of other options. The gantry mounted wig wags were supplemented by other mounts, usually a pedestal in the median or off to the right of the lane approaching the crossing. The pedestal mounted a counter-weighted target with the box upside down, causing the target to wag like a person waving for attention.



The signals were deemed obsolete in 1949 when the now-common alternating red lights and crossbucks was standardized. Nevertheless, the ones in place since then have been wagging like the family dog for every train that crosses their stretch of rail.



While there doesn't appear to be a conspiracy afoot to remove these arcane contraptions, the number of active signals is dropping fast. The relative quiet of the original Atcheson Topeka & Santa Fe Railway route through Colorado's southeast and over Raton Pass allowed semaphore line signals to remain in place for years. That same quiet allowed the wig wags to survive as well, until the last decade. Wig wags at Manzanola and Rocky Ford have been retired, leaving a lone survivor in Delhi. A thoughtful aficionado with the know-how and resources has even placed a sign with it's unique status as "COLORADO'S LAST WIG WAG." Each day, Amtrak's Southwest Chief hustles by at track speed, one train in each direction, and precious little else. The rest of the day is reserved for quiet observation with cars and coyotes, along with the occasional antelope.

Surviving Wig Wags

The following map details a number of surviving wig-wags across the nation, mostly from Dan's Wig Wag Site. The red ones have been retired in the last 15 years or so. With less than 40 remaining, you might want to grab a photo of the survivors while you can.

Color	Status
	Active at last check
	Retired or removed

Surviving anachronisms? Sure. Historic? Yes, and until BNSF or Amtrak decides differently, the signal at Delhi will keep wagging each way, twice a day.◊

Burnham Shops In Final Countdown To Closure

For more than 140 years, the at-first narrow gauge Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and its standard gauge successors have maintained a locomotive maintenance facility and yard at 8th and Pecos in central Denver. In less than 3 weeks, that facility will turn it's last wheel.

Such news is a bitter pill to take.

It's no secret that declining coal traffic in Colorado and the unlikely prospect of its revival, at least in the domestic sense is driving the business decision. Nearly a year into a continuous drop in earnings, Union Pacific isn't shy about falling back on the tried and true method of shoring up a soft bottom line by consolidating operations and reducing expenditures. The bitter pill is the number of "relocated" jobs--at least 210--and the location, which is to some Rio Grande fans, sacred ground.

In his comments on the Denver Post news article announcing the closure, rail historian Dillon A. wrote

I propose that the Burnham yards be put on the Register of Historic Places. This facility is where hundreds of thousands of steam and diesel locomotives were overhauled and repaired. A good example of why this needs to be saved and saved NOW are one of the locomotives that came from this facility. These locomotives still survive on the Cumbres & Toltec scenic Railroad in Chama, New Mexico, Durango & Silverton scenic Railroad in Durango, and one at the Colorado Railroad Museum.  ... These locomotives were the narrow-gauge K-37 class of the Denver & Rio Grande Western. Out of 10 made, 8 still exist and one is currently operational. #491 is operating at the railroad Museum in Golden. These locomotives are the greatest example of the power and craftsmanship that this facility produced. That is why this facility needs to be saved NOW. It might just look like an old rail yard, but it holds MANY secrets and hold LOTS of opertunity [sic] for future historic rail preservation.

While my heart strongly echoes these sentiments, interested parties must either hastily coalesce into a preservation group or contact the existing preservation organizations like the Colorado Railroad Museum or History Colorado to get involved. Otherwise, we have little right to complain. 

At this point, UP spokeswoman Callie B. Hite says the railroad plans to prepare the 70-acre locomotive repair yard for sale. There are about two dozen buildings on the site, which is zoned for industrial uses. "The 70-acre property is located in an area experiencing renewed urban development," Hite was quoted in the article.

Opinion

More than 20 years ago, I can remember gliding past the "dead line" on neighboring tracks operated by Denver's pilot Light Rail line, scrolling past the many Southern Pacific and Union Pacific locomotives, searching intently for a Rio Grande in among the dirty grey and dingy yellow engines awaiting their fate to be rebuilt or sold. It's hard to imagine that the next time I do ride past, the dead line, shops and structures could be all demolished and plowed under for a scenic strip mall or trendy retail "infill." This was a place that birthed the Rio Grande's narrow gauge conversions, refit and rehabilitated the mighty 2-8-8-2's and their kin during the heyday of steam and rebuilt and repaired the generations of diesel locomotives that defied gravity over the spine of the continent. For generations, men punched in, endured hours of hard, sweaty work in grimy iron horses, some loving every minute of it. Their sons and grandsons remembering their work with pride. This place probably will now be re-developed and paved over with not even a hint that such history transpired there, except perhaps the irony of the same name, Burnham Shops.

If you disbelieve me, consider that today's Elitch's was in 1993 a very different place, the Colorado & Southern yards. Abandoned and quiet, they still had history waiting inside structures that had stood for decades. In two years, the only hint that remained of it's railroad past was a heavy, through-truss turntable, and in only a few more years, it was gone, replaced by a mediocre bat swing ride. It became a forgotten corner in a park that itself has suffered under a series of lackluster owners and stagnant growth after moving from it's own home in 1994 over a century old in the West Highlands of Denver. Is that really what should happen to Burnham?◊

POTD - Denver Union Station Lit Up By Broncos Spirit, Civic Pride

I will admit that a certain team in orange & blue are dear to me. That's a bit of a given for a boy growing up in the 70s and 80s in Denver's western suburbs. It has absolutely nothing to do with today's choice of photo of the day. Really!

Photo of the Day: Joel Hinkhouse

It does have something to do with the AFC Championship in Denver at 1 PM, and the sweet spot where civic pride and railroads meet. In Denver's case, that intersects at 17th and Wynkoop Streets, where Denver Union Station has been lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree. It's a showcase to be sure with the passenger shed roof framing the beaux arts design of the station. Night shots are always tricky, but photographer Joel Hinkhouse seems to have found the balance, especially his managing to catch a reflection off an Amtrak CZ roof, making POTD 2 for 2 in that department.

Only one thing left to say: Go Broncos!◊

Tourist Railroad & Museum Conference To Be Held In Golden Mid-April

The Association of Tourist Railroads and Railway Museums has announced its spring 2016 national conference will be at our state's own Colorado Railroad Museum. The conference will run Thursday, April 14 to Saturday, April 16, 2016 and, while the fall conference is seems to be the main annual conference, the ATRRM says "interesting train rides and tours, a full educational program, and many social events for networking and getting to know colleagues and friends." Non-members should be alert for specials and activities in the Denver area held in advance of and during the conference dates.◊

For Unto Us...

For unto us a child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7 (NKJV)

My father passed away this month. A time that is reserved for joy and peace between everyone, has for me become a time of grief and turmoil. Yet my father's love for me is a great comfort for me. Even as I mourn his passing, I know that his faith, and mine, tells me he has not really died. His spirit lives on and is right now in the presence of the Holy God of Israel. The promise of his faith, and mine, tells me that I will see him again because in a little town of Bethlehem, a little baby was born, who was the savior of mankind. The child brought us peace between God and man by completing his mission, sent to die on a desolate hilltop outside Jerusalem. His death brought an end to the enmity of God with man, whose sin had separated us from Him. God wanted everyone to come back to him, and so He sent his one and only Child. That child would be blameless, sinless until the moment on the cross when He became sin's horrible separation and died there for us, dying in our place, so that we could know Him again.



It was this substitution, this Great Exchange,* that completely amazed my father. He could not "get over" this wonderful turn of events that now allowed him to know God again. It's this relationship that is continued, even now, this first Christmas since I've seen him with these eyes for the last time. He is alive, more alive than I could ever be in this earthly body, because of a tiny baby's birth in some podunk byway in a barn among smelly animals and sheep whose shepherds had just been scared nearly to death by a heavenly burst of praise out in the fields nearby. This birth fulfilled by time and location the many seemingly impossible prophecies that had been set forth by prophets hundreds of years before.

These prophecies were read by my dad to supplement the Christmas story on Christmas morning. His voice is today silent, but his heart and mine echo the words like never before. This peace is possible for you to have just like my dad and I have. All that's necessary is for you to accept it in you heart and choose Him as your savior and lord. You can know God personally and meet me and my dad, Jesus and His Dad, and many more people all waiting to join you in heaven. That's the destination of the train I'm on. I don't know when the train will arrive, but I know that I'm making great time!

My dad and I on board the 2005 iteration of Rio Grande Scenic Railroad's La Veta Pass train, where we met Ed Ellis and enjoyed a great day together. He's a Grande fan, like me.

* This song was put together and performed by my dad's good friend, Bruce Carroll.

If you have questions about me, my dad, or our faith, I welcome all three at editor@corailroads.com!◊

POTD - Amtrak's California Zephyr Descends Ruby Canyon Along the Colorado River

Photo of the Day: Peter Lewis

Ruby Canyon is one of those hidden Colorado jewels that few people get the chance to see, unless you're riding Amtrak's California Zephyr between Grand Junction and Green River, Utah. The 25 mile long canyon is aptly named; even without the "golden hour" the walls fit the description in every season. No wonder the train leaves Denver so early! Nonetheless, the trip is often too long to be reached in daylight on those short winter days.

Peter Lewis makes his second appearance on Photo of the Day with this entry that has already garnered some attention. Gaining RailPictures.net's trifecta of awards (Screeners Choice, Photo of the Week and People's Choice) is no easy task! I especially enjoy the mirage-like effect of the sky blue reflected off the roofs of the Silverliners! But what seals this choice for Photo of the Day, however, is Mr. Lewis' own notes on the photograph. He says:

Amtrak's westbound California Zephyr negotiates the confines of Ruby Canyon as it nears the Utah border on a captivating August afternoon in the breathtaking American west. When I walked up to the edge and took in the scene for the first time, I was simply in awe. This experience and those like it are one of the biggest reasons I enjoy this hobby. The remoteness and natural beauty of this area is simply incredible, especially for an easterner like me. ^{[emphasis added]}

Keep up the great work, Mr. Lewis, and I get the feeling that you'll be making plenty of trips like this one!◊

POTD - Amtrak's California Zephyr Descends From the Divide To Downtown Denver

Photo of the Day: Peter Lewis

Peter Lewis' recent trip along the Moffat line in August yielded several good photos. Each worked well with the light, but I selected this particular shot because it's not the typical shot taken in this specific area. Usually shots are lower with the attempt to bracket the city next to the train. By raising the angle of attack (to borrow an Air Force term), the city and the train are in different quadrants and because one of them is moving, it was likely easier to capture the train at the right moment without forcing the focus or zoom to do the work in a tighter shot. Great work, Mr. Lewis and welcome to the ranks of POTD photographers!◊

Grand Junction To Host Amtrak Train Day This Saturday

Amtrak is going to visit Grand Junction this Saturday, October 10th from 10 AM to 4 PM MDT. Actually, Amtrak visits there every day in the form of Amtrak's California Zephyr, the popular Chicago-to-San Francisco train, making stops at Fort Morgan, Denver, Fraser, Granby, Glenwood Springs, and Grand Junction. But this Saturday will be a bit different.



They call it the Amtrak Exhibit Train Tour and its already made a stop in Denver last weekend. Sharp-eyed photographers might still get a chance to catch it in transit along the former Rio Grande railroad's Moffat Tunnel Route between Denver and Grand Junction sometime this week, assuming they need a couple of days to set up. Keep your eyes peeled and your lens caps in your pockets! Comment with a link to photos of your experience or send them to me, if you'd like.

Looks like a fun day this Saturday October 10, 2015, in Grand Junction!◊

Denver & Rio Grande Steam Engine 168 Moves To New LIfe In Antonito

Shaking off over 75 years of sitting cold and drained in a park, Denver & Rio Grande steam engine 168 left Colorado Springs this week on a flatbed trailer for Antonito to be refurbished by the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic for use on the 63 mile narrow gauge, heritage railroad. As announced back in April, the C&TS will lease the class T-12 locomotive for 45 years from the City of Colorado Springs, the owner, after receiving the locomotive from the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in 1929. This was twenty years after the passing of Gen. William J. Palmer, founder of both the D&RG in 1870 and Colorado Springs in 1871. No official word yet on when work will commence in Antonito.

More Regarding the Move

• Pictures of the move - Nathan Holmes' DRGW.net
• Hundreds Turn Out... Colorado Springs Gazette
• Engine 168 Making Way Back... Pueblo Chieftain
• Iconic Locomotive To Get New Life... KRDO
• Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Plans For 168

Special Request: Please take time to visit one or more of the links above, comment there, and share your interest with others on Twitter, Facebook, & Pintrest and other social media. Supporting this effort--even just "generating buzz" about it--is important for this and future projects to succeed!◊

Special POTD: Sadness On a Sunday Morning

As a finishing touch to the featured article on the 3600s, Dave Straight placed his photo "Sadness on a Sunday Morning." I can't look at it without an emotional reaction and I don't trust myself to be reliable in those moments. Yet, to not say anything would seem criminal.

Special Photo of the Day: Dave Straight

At the end of our summer, it's the end of the era of steam, specifically March 25, 1956. My father is not yet 16 years old and his days of driving an ice truck are still ahead of him (let alone parenting me and my three older siblings). Someone older, who would be in his 80s or 90s today, probably looks at the line of used steam engines as dirty, pre-war relics and thinks they look pitiful next to the modern first-generation diesels, all shiny and pristine. Oh, how different a perspective 60 years later!

Today, I still find it incredible that no one gave serious effort to save one of the largest locomotive classes in the world--and certainly in Colorado--off in a corner of a park somewhere in Denver, Pueblo, Grand Junction or Salt Lake City, someplace indebted to the Rio Grande's years of faithful service where such space would have easily been had for the asking. If they had, future generations could have possessed something tangible and real, not a paint scheme or a model, but a life-size representation of the Denver & Rio Grande Western's Main Line Thru the Rockies in an era that is gone forever.◊

EPA Explores Gold King Mine Leak With Predictable But Unplanned Result

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help." - Ronald Reagan

In what could be described as an official Federal agency doing what it does best, the Orwellian-named Environmental Protection Agency in the course of its duties made a well-intentioned but badly planned exploratory excavation at the site of the Gold King Mine. This excavation triggered a release of one million three million gallons of severely contaminated water that had seeped into the mine since it ceased operations nearly a century ago.

The moment that the EPA folks might have said, "Uh... Oh, no." A small leak begins to seep a new flow after their exploratory excavation. Photo: EPA - Your government in action

The Gold King Mine was connected by bucket tramway to the Gold King Mill, which was served by the 7-mile long Silverton, Gladstone & Northerly Railroad--the last of the four fabled Silverton Railroads--from 1899 until 1917 when it was foreclosed on by Mears, who merged it with the Silverton Northern for operations until 1938 when the closure of the mines spelled the demise of the SN. In reality, Mears only had 7 years to get what he could because the SG&N line only saw traffic until 1924. Only 25 years of operation, and then the mine sat for 90 years like a ticking time bomb, the mining companies, miners, machines and precious metals all vanished like ghosts.

The spill itself points to a larger problem that Colorado and the western states have ignored for some time and will not simply "go away." Some estimates put the number of potential problems near 55,000 sites. While not all of these sites are going to turn loose a toxic brew of lead and arsenic compounds, they are going to continue to challenge Colorado and the nation with potential spills in the foreseeable future. At this point, reactionary plans at the EPA are just going to anger more and more of the population around the Four Corners with poisoned taps, poisoned livestock, and poisoned crops. One can only assume that tourism is the next thing to go.

The bitter irony is that the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad's original reason for construction by the Rio Grande, to capture revenue by servicing the mines of Silverton, is now threatening its present stock-in-trade, the scenery of the Animas River, for which tourists pay top dollar. Until residents of the San Juan district, the state, and the nation make the decision to fix the problems of the past, they will continue to lose their future. If mines were stabilized and the stained rocks of the Animas were cleaned up and restored, I would wonder if we have enough engines to haul yellow narrow gauge trains filled with tourists up & down the Animas each day. So, San Juan residents, Coloradoans, and Americans, what do you choose: yellow rivers of poisoned water or rivers of yellow revenue trains of tourism?◊

POTD - Full Moon Lights An Empty Main Line

Photo of the Day: Kevin the Krazy 1

On the night of a full moon in early April, near Salida but far from the city lights of Denver and Pueblo, photographer Kevin A. Sadowski opened the shutter on his Canon for a full 30 seconds, allowing as much starlight as possible to reach the sensor at the back. Waiting in the stillness, the quiet of the Royal Gorge Route over Tennessee Pass has not been broken by a revenue freight for 18 years. At the end of the half-minute, Mr. Sadowski was probably a bit colder, and in possession of the Photo of the Day.◊