The Railway & Locomotive

Historical Society, Inc.

Southeast Chapter

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Newsletter No. 42, August 1997

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The Southeast Limited ispublished bi-monthly by theSoutheast Chapter of theRailway & Locomotive Historical SocietyP. O. Box 664Jacksonville, FL 32201

SOUTHEAST CHAPTER OFFICERS:James A. Smith ChairmanWilliam F. Howes, Jr. Vice-ChairmanFrank H. Dewey SecretaryJames H. Wilk TreasurerClifford J. Vander Yacht Editor

AROUND THE CIRCLE TOUR -1997 STYLE

by Lyle Key

ABOVE: WAITING FOR THE HIGHBALL - Gil Wenger of Grand Junction was kind enough to send methis shot of UP 844 waiting to leave Grand Junction for Salt Lake City on the morning of Monday, June23rd. I met Gil on an overpass west of the station, while both of us were waiting to photograph thedeparting train, and accepted his invitation to chase the train to Ruby Canon in his automobile. 844 andits E-9 companions left us eating their dust, but Gil gave me a great guided tour of the barren countrysidearound Grand Junction. Photo by G. R. Wenger. All other photos by the author.

COVER PHOTO: THE ROYAL GORGE SUSPENSION BRIDGE FROM A UP DOME - Against a cobalt sky,the famous Royal Gorge suspension bridge spans the chasm at a dizzying height of 1,053 feet abovethe river. This photo was taken on June 22 from the unlikely vantage point of UP dome diner City ofPortland.

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For railfans, can anyplace here or abroad stirthe imagination quite like Colorado? The Centen-nial State’s heritage is rich with men of indomi-table spirit who laid both narrow and standard gagerailroads through foreboding canyons and acrossseemingly impenetrable mountains. An expansiverail network flourished amid the dizzying wealthcreated by bonanza strikes of gold and silver, butafter the boom times ran their course, many of thoselegendary rail lines faded from the scene.

Today, another colorful Colorado rail lineappears destined for abandonment. This turn ofevents hasn’t resulted from gold or silver minesplaying out, but rather from a series of rail merg-ers that has left UP with what it deems an exces-sive number of routes across the Rockies. UP hasthoughtfully agreed to operate a “Last PassengerRun over Tennessee Pass” excursion train fromDenver to Salt Lake City in conjunction with the1997 NRHS annual convention, and on Fridaynight, June 20, I’m one of the lucky folks en routeto the Mile High City with an excursion ticket inhand.

It’s 10:05 pm, Mountain Daylight Time, whenmy connecting flight from Dallas-Ft. Worth arrivesat Denver International Airport. The night is fairlyyoung in Colorado, but my body still thinks it’s inJacksonville where it’s after midnight. Like otherhuge new airports, DIA has shuttle trains connect-ing the concourses with the main terminal.Denver’s Stapleton Field wasn’t too far fromdowntown Denver, but the new airport is 29 milesfrom downtown. I’m very pleased to discover thatDIA has Super Shuttle service, and the ride on theblue and yellow van costs me one-third of the $45cab fare.

My hotel has seen its better days; the carpetis worn and stained and worst of all, the air condi-tioning system is out hotel-wide. Under the cir-cumstances, however, I’m thankful to have anyroom at all. The Summit of Eight has all the majordowntown hotels booked solid, and little do I sus-pect that the Summit will cause me further incon-venience on Saturday.

DAY ONE: DENVER TO CANON CITY

The hotel does have a free shuttle van which

delivers me to Union Station along with a friendlycouple from Buena Vista, Colorado. Mary pur-chased their excursion tickets as a surprise 50thbirthday gift for husband George. Like many as-piring riders, Mary learned of the trip after its vir-tually instantaneous sell out and sweated out sev-eral weeks on a waiting list. Mary and George tellme that we’ll pass very close to their house onSunday.

Upon arrival at Union Station, we learn thatHillary Clinton is taking a group of “SummitSpouses” on a rail excursion of their own. TheFirst Lady’s group will travel over the Moffat Tun-nel route to Glenwood Springs and return aboardthe Ski Train equipment. Our train’s departure willbe delayed until Mrs. Clinton’s train departs, andrumors abound that we may leave after noon ratherthan at 10 o’clock as scheduled. The station ispacked with passengers for the UP steam train andAmtrak’s westbound California Zephyr, and dur-ing the wait, I run into retired NS steam boss JimBistline and Editor/National Director Bill Booneof the Heart of Dixie Chapter of NRHS.

Fortunately, the First Lady’s group is whiskedaboard the Ski Train equipment prior to 10:00o’clock, and her special departs just after the hour.The steam train pulls onto track 2 at 10:05, andthe big crowd that has been milling around thewaiting room surges into the subway leading tothe platforms. This is my first experience with aUP excursion train, and as we climb out of thestairway onto the platform, I’m awed by the stun-ning sight of the long, perfectly matched consist.Everything is yellow with scarlet and gray trim fromthe rear of dome-lounge-observation City of SanFrancisco to the front of 844’s auxiliary tender,and the train looks resplendent in the bright morn-ing sunlight. UP 844 is clearly the star of the show,but one also has to admire the A-B-A set of rebuiltE-9’s behind the second tender. The beautiful sighttakes me back three decades to my days as a youngNaval officer homeported in Long Beach and cap-tivated by the City of Los Angeles and the othermagnificent streamliners serving Southern Califor-nia. UP’s meticulous attention to detail even ex-tends to silvered trucks on everything behind themain tender.

This morning’s all-UP consist is:

844 (4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotive) plus tender and auxiliary tender949 E-9A (rebuilt)963 E-9B (rebuilt)951 E-9A (rebuilt)904304 Baggage (tool car) Art Lockman209 Power car Howard Fogg205 Power car—— Baggage (souvenir car) Sherman Hill5480 Coach Sunshine Special5486 Coach City of Salina8004 Dome diner Colorado Eagle5486 Coach Katy Flyer4808 Diner City of Los Angeles7011 Dome diner Missouri River Eagle5714 Baggage Pony Express5473 Coach Portland Rose8008 Dome diner City of Portland208 Power car7015 Dome coach Challenger5483 Coach Texas Eagle7001 Dome coach Columbine9009 Dome lounge observation City of San Francisco

I find my seat in former dome diner City of Portland which is appropriately decorated with vintageads for and menus from the UP domeliner of the same name. Car hosts carefully check boarding passes,and after welcoming me aboard, Hal Lewis from the Central Coast Chapter of NRHS gives me my trip

PRIZED BOARDING PASS - Though not assensational as the 500 silver filigree passes OttoMears commissioned to celebrate the completionof his Rio Grande Southern on December 20, 1891,these more conventional paper boarding passeswere highly prized by the 600 passengers luckyenough to obtain them. Thanks to surprisingdemand from travel agencies and marketing viathe internet, the Tennessee Pass excursion wasclose to an instant sell out.

badge. At 10:47 am, the steam train backs out ofUnion Station and leaves the westbound Califor-nia Zephyr loading on track 1. Given the quicksell out - travel agencies snapped up 70% of thetickets - all of us 600 passengers are thankful to beon board. We ease back past Coors Field, home ofthe Colorado Rockies, and at 11:05 am, we beginmoving forward. As we head south past down-town Denver, we see the CZ departing for its longclimb up the Front Range.

The original “Around the Circle” tour pro-vided an incredible railroad journey of over “1,000

miles through the Rocky Mountains” over a com-bination of both standard and narrow gage linesoperated by Denver & Rio Grande and the RioGrande Southern. The research material availableto me does not clearly delineate the full extent ofthe circle, but based upon the schedules in my re-print of the June, 1916 Official Guide and com-ments by Lucius Beebe in Mixed Train Daily, itappears the circle route ran from Denver to Pueblo,Salida, Gunnison, Montrose, Ridgeway, Ouray,Telluride, Durango, Silverton, Antonito, Alamoso,Walsenburg, Pueblo, and back to Denver. Whilemaking the circle, passengers could see scenicwonders such as Pike’s Peak, the Royal Gorge,Marshall Pass, Lizard Head, Cumbres Pass, andLa Veta Pass.

My 1997 “Around the Circle” tour will coveronly 724 miles, and it’s all standard gage, but I’mmighty lucky to have that big a circle available.This is slated to be the last passenger train overTennessee Pass, and if Union Pacific carries outits plan to abandon the Tennessee Pass line be-tween Canon City and Gypsum, there’ll be no more

“Around the Circle” routes available on Coloradorailroads. The steam train will follow the first 215miles of the original circle route to Salida, and I’llcover 166.8 miles that weren’t available to the oldcircle riders since D&RGW didn’t open up theMoffat Tunnel route until 1934 when it completedthe Dotsero Cutoff.

We’ll be following a southbound coal traindown the Joint Line toward Pueblo. The steamtrain will have a steady uphill climb to Palmer Lakewhere double track ends and a descending gradebegins for southbound trains. At South Denver,we parallel the new light rail line and spot a coupleof Denver’s contemporary streetcars. We also meeta northbound BNSF train of empty coal gons withanother one right behind it. Both are powered bythree six-axle units in BN’s pre-merger wintergreencolor scheme. The coal trains are closely followedby a BNSF merchandise train with two“warbonnets” and two blue Conrail locomotives.

As we leave the Mile High City, we begin tosee the snow capped mountains that will become acommon sight over the next three days. Interstate

A CLASSIC CAR TO CARRY THE MARKERS - Dome lounge observation City of San Francisco finishedoff the excursion train’s consist in the classic manner. This shot was taken at the Grand Junctionpassenger station on the morning of Monday, June 23rd.

SPECIAL POSTAL CANCELLATION FOR A SPECIAL TRAIN - On Saturday, June 2 1,a U.S. Postal Service clerk offered these special commemorative postal cancellationsto passengers on the UP steam special. His temporary post office was convenientlyset up on the table behind me in dome diner City of Portland.

25 generally parallels the Joint Line, and it’sjammed with the usual pacers’ caravan as we passCastle Rock at 12:25. The steam train reaches theend of double track at 2:09, and we roll by theU.S. Air Force Academy - “Academy” on the rail-road - at 2:23. Castle Rock was on our left, and aswe near Colorado Springs, we can see Pike’s Peakon our right.

In the mid-’80’s, I attended a seminar in Colo-rado Springs and thought wistfully of the passen-ger trains such as the Royal Gorge, the TexasZephyr, and the Colorado Eagle which had onceoperated over the Joint Line. I never dreamed thatI’d have a chance to ride a train through ColoradoSprings - much less a steam train - and it’s gratify-ing to roll by the jogging trail I used, the hotelwhere I stayed, and the restaurant in the old stonepassenger station where I ate. Between ColoradoSprings and Pueblo, a young man in cowboy garbbrandishes a rifle while galloping beside the trainon horseback. He has a big grin so I guess hedoesn’t plan to start shooting.

At 4:03, we pass Pueblo Junction where theBNSF splits off to the east toward La Junta. SantaFe operated a local passenger train between LaJunta and Denver during the pre-Amtrak era, butat least in its latter years, neither the northboundnor the southbound was scheduled for a conve-

nient connection with any of the main line trainsbetween Chicago and California. Another bigNorthern, ATSF 2912, is on display at the hand-some old Pueblo station. For comparison, the May,1962 schedule for Rio Grande’s Royal Gorge calledfor a 2 hour 50 minute run from Denver to Pueblowhile today’s leisurely run has consumed 5 hoursand 20 minutes. After a servicing stop at PuebloYard, we proceed to the barren, wide-open envi-rons of Swallows, Colorado, for our first photorunby.

After 844 performs the runby for her admir-ers, we’re off again to our overnight stop in CanonCity. We tie-up at Canon City at 6:55 pm, and dueto a paucity of hotel rooms, most of us are busedback to Pueblo for the evening. After the dump Istayed in last night, the Pueblo Holiday Inn feelslike the Ritz. As I walk back to the motel from anearby restaurant, a big orange moon rises overthe distant horizon to the east.

DAY TWO: CANON CITY TO GRANDJUNCTION

Back at trainside on Sunday morning, we’repleased to see members of UP’s steam team wash-ing the dome windows with long handle squee-gees. Our departure from Canon City is 12 min-

IN THE CANON OF THE ARKANSAS - On Sunday, June 22, the UP special winds along the ArkansasRiver in the spectacular confines of the Royal Gorge. This was once the route of Rio Grande’s ScenicLimited and Royal Gorge. Notwithstanding UP’s abandonment plans, the line through the Royal Gorgemay survive as a tourist railroad.

utes late at 8:42 am, and five minutes later, wepass the old ATSF depot turned restaurant west ofdowntown. Another five minutes brings us into thelower reaches of the Royal Gorge, and our ridealong the bottom of that natural wonder lives upto all my great expectations. The Arkansas Riveris a raging torrent this morning, and it’s hard toimagine building a railroad in this environment.Virtually every railfan knows the story of the wildWest battle over the Gorge between Rio Grandeand Santa Fe, and as if the rock cliffs and ragingriver weren’t enough to contend with, the rivaltrack gangs had to worry about gunfire from hiredgunslingers including Bat Masterson of Dodge Cityfame.

All of us are enthralled by the awesome sightof 844 leading the long yellow train through thetight curves dictated by the rushing river and thetowering rock walls of the Gorge. Rio Grande’sRoyal Gorge was equipped with a “Vista DomeChair Car,” and, as one might imagine, the sixdomes on our steam train are in great demand this

morning. The Gorge is inaccessible to even themost intrepid vehicular pacers, but to no one’s greatsurprise, a blue and white helicopter hovers along-side 844 until the canyon walls really begin to closein.

At 9:10, we make the first of two stops along-side the old platform used by the Royal Gorge andits predecessor the Scenic Limited. Rio Grandetimetables prominently proclaimed that those trainsstopped 10 minutes in the Royal Gorge. High aboveus, one can see the suspension bridge that spansthe chasm. I saw the Gorge from that bridge about25 years ago, and I never expected to see it fromriver level in a UP dome!

We leave the Gorge about 9:40 and rejoin ourescorting motorcade. At 10:23, UP provides notone but two runbys at Texas Creek. Car hosts takeadvantage of the nearly empty consist to distrib-ute five gallon jugs of drinking water throughoutthe train.

During the upcoming climb to TennesseePass, passengers will be encouraged to drink plenty

of water as a means of preventing altitude sick-ness. While helping a car host carry some waterjugs to dome lounge observation City of San Fran-cisco, I have a chance encounter with ReverendSteve Morse, former editor of the Heart of DixieRailroad Museum’s Cinders. Steve turned out highquality newsletters for many years prior to hisrelocation to Erie, Pennsylvania.

After the runby, we continue up the Arkan-sas and begin to see legions of whitewater rafters.We also have seen all manner of livestock, and eastof Red Hill Tunnel, we spot several ostriches in apen across the river. During this part of the trip, Ihave brief visits with Trains Editor Kevin Keefeand Editor/National Director David Hayes of theLouisville Chapter of NRHS.

UP steam czar Steve Lee has graciously of-fered me a cab ride from Salida to Minturn, andit’s easy to choose between the ride on 844 andthe sack lunches that are being distributed duringthe servicing stop in Salida. This is my first ride onan oil burner, and it’s hard to get use to the smallround hole in the area of the backhead where I’maccustomed to seeing butterfly doors. Thebackhead is huge and the valves, gages, and pipesare neatly spread over its vast expanse. Steve Leeis a big, burly man with a neatly trimmed blackbeard, and he looks very much at home on the right

hand seatbox of his massive 4-8-4. After givingthe standard two blasts on 844’s deep throatedwhistle, Steve notches back the long, verticallymounted throttle lever above him. The big North-ern surges back into action with the rhythmic ex-haust cadence that bespeaks a steam locomotivein motion, and we’re back on the road to Tennes-see Pass.

We briefly enjoy some relatively fast 45 mphrunning out of Salida, and among other things, Inote that 844 operates with about 260 pounds ofsteam pressure. I quickly discover that while it’smighty hot in the cab, it’s very pleasant in the spaceon the side between the cab and the tender. I’vebeen fortunate enough to ride in the cabs of sev-eral smaller steam locomotives such as Mississip-pian 96, Little River 110, and L&N 152, but noneof them had anywhere near the size and power of844. Those previous cab rides featured consider-able rocking and rolling, but 844 truly rides like aCadillac.

Before long, we’re down to speeds in the 20-25 mph range, and that’s where we’ll stay for mostof the remaining run to Minturn. Steve notes thatUP Challenger 3985 would be better suited to thismountain railroad. “844 is more in her element onour main lines through Nebraska and Wyomingwhere she can run at the high speeds she was builtfor.”

In contrast to this morning’s run through thenarrow confines of the Royal Gorge, we’re nowloping along through a broad valley lined withmajestic, snow capped mountains. As the train goesthrough curves, it’s fun to look back at the per-fectly matched E-9’s and passenger cars. This trainclearly qualifies for “domeliner’ status since no lessthan six of its 18 cars are domes.

844 has about 600 fans on board, but manymore are deployed along today’s route. One hasdriven his 4-wheel drive vehicle out onto a rockypromontory above the railroad, and the sight lookslike something out of a jeep advertisement. Peoplestand on housetops as well as mountaintops, andrafters, campers, backpackers, and rock climberspause to pay homage to this last passenger trainover Tennessee Pass. Most people are content towave or shoot pictures, but one backpacker greetsus by mooning the engine!

As we proceed upriver, we see more and moresnow capped mountains including 14,433 foot high

ABOVE AND REAR COVER PHOTOS: MOTIVE POWER TO PLEASE BOTH STEAM AND DIESEL FANS -These two shots show the excursion train’s steam and diesel motive power shortly after the special’son time departure from Grand Junction on June 23rd.

Mt. Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado. Aneastbound merchandise train is waiting for us atMalta, the junction for the branch to Leadville andClimax, and before long, the curves become tighterand more numerous as we follow Tennessee Creekup the final miles of the long ascent to TennesseePass.

A good crowd is on hand at the east portal ofthe tunnel at Tennessee Pass where we reach ourpeak elevation of 10,212 feet above sea level. When844 enters the 2,550 foot long bore, the cab in-stantly becomes oppressively hot and smoky. It’squite a contrast to the cool, clean air we were en-joying before going underground. Steve later tellsme that his big locomotive was just coastingthrough the tunnel, and it’s hard to imagine whatwe would have experienced if 844 had really beenworking.

Everyone in the cab is relieved when weemerge from the west portal in a cloud of smoke.As the train begins its 13 mile descent on gradesup to 3%, the Road Foreman of Engines and localEngineer join Steve Lee in keeping close watch on

the speed indicator and air pressure gage. TheEagle River Valley is far below us, and at severalplaces on the mountainside, rusting remains offreight cars mark the sites of trains that got awayon the grade. Steve later comments that, “Thepeople who got in trouble on the mountain prob-ably got 3 or 4 miles per hour above where theyshould have been and thought they could handleit. Unfortunately, they couldn’t handle it, and bythe time they did what they should have done inthe first place, it was too late.” So far, so good.We’re maintaining the desired speed of 20 mph asthe train twists through the continuous reversecurves down the steep hillside.

Near Pando, we see the foundations of thelong demolished barracks at Camp Hale. DuringWWII, the Army’s Tenth Mountain Divisiontrained here for Alpine fighting in Europe. Thesecrack ski troops wore white clothing, used whiteskis, and carried white rifles. By incredible coinci-dence, three pictures of railroad scenes aroundCamp Hale appear on page 43 of the summer,1997, issue of Vintage Rails.

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The downhill grade eases to 2.3% at the littletown of Red Cliff, and we begin to run alongsidethe Eagle River. Not far down the line, we can seetraces of mining operations on the mountainsideto our right. In several places, rotting crosstiesmark the old alignments of tram lines that de-scended some almost vertical mountainsides. Atthe bottom of some of those ghost tramways, di-lapidated tipples still stand beside the railroad. IfUP carries through with its planned abandonment,the main line will soon follow those old tramwaysinto oblivion.

After more than three glorious hours in 844’scab, I swing down during the servicing stop atMinturn. Minturn is the little railroad town madefamous by Mark Hemphill’s outstanding articleentitled “Tennessee Pass in Twilight” in the March,1997, issue of Trains. Several of us have broughtthat issue along for reference. I profusely thankSteve Lee for the ride of a lifetime and return tothe City of Portland where the car hosts from theCentral Coast Chapter have thoughtfully kept mylunch waiting in the refrigerator.

The balance of Sunday’s trip is somewhatanticlimactic - it would be tough to top a cab rideon a steam locomotive over Tennessee Pass - butwe still have a long way to go. After another photorunby at Dotsero, we head into Glenwood Can-yon which likewise proves to be spectacular. We’renow running along the Colorado River which isobviously higher than usual. In many places, theriver has submerged the bikeway built alongsidetwo-tiered Interstate 70. Once again, the steamtrain snarls traffic on a parallel highway! We emergefrom the canyon in the popular resort town ofGlenwood Springs, and a tremendous crowd greetsthe train at the old stone passenger station. Afteranother servicing stop, we’re off on the 90 milehome stretch to Grand Junction.

In the gathering twilight between GlenwoodSprings and Grand Junction, one can see the fireflashing in the firebox as the big Northern heelsinto the long, sweeping curves along the river. Ar-tificial lights are accented now, and soon we cansee only the changing aspects of the trackside sig-nals and the long row of lighted windows alongthe sides of the passenger cars. As Steve Lee pre-dicted, it has been an awfully long day, and all ofus are ready for bed when we finally pull into GrandJunction at 10:45.

DAY THREE: GRAND JUNCTIONTO DENVER VIA AMTRAK

I’m sorely tempted to sleep in since I’m re-turning to Denver on Amtrak’s eastbound Cali-fornia Zephyr which isn’t due out of Grand Junc-tion until 11:57 am. Despite a mounting sleepdeficit, however, I can’t resist returning to the sta-tion for the steam train’s 8:30 am departure forSalt Lake City and the 1997 NRHS annual con-vention. I finally give up trying to photograph 844awaiting its departure since it’s spotted behindsome concrete barriers and surrounded by its ador-ing masses. All is not lost, however, since I’m ableto get some good clear shots of dome lounge ob-servation City of San Francisco. I walk to a near-by highway overpass for some shots of the train asit heads west and then work on organizing my notesfor this story pending the CZ’s arrival.

Amtrak #6 finally rolls into Grand Junctionan hour and 13 minutes late at 1:10 with two P40’s,a box car of storage mail, a baggage-express car,and the following Superliner cars: a transitionsleeper, 4 coaches, a Sightseer Lounge, a diner,and 3 sleepers. I’m in economy bedroom #7 onthe upper level of the first sleeper. After gettingsquared away in my room, I head for the dinerwhere I select the soup and salad luncheon. Mytablemate is a retired UP clerk from Hastings,Nebraska, who also is returning from the steamtrip. After lunch, I repair to the Sightseer Loungewhere I chance to sit beside another excursion vet,Amtrak’s relief ticket agent in Tallahassee.

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At Rifle, we spot an old heavyweight coachsans trucks. Glenwood Canyon is again spectacu-lar through the Sightseer Lounge’s big windows,and at Grizzly, we meet Amtrak #5, the westboundCZ, which has an identical consist. We also meetseveral freights including two with one CSXT uniteach amid their UP and SP motive power. Duringmy three days in Colorado, I saw locomotives fromevery major U.S. railroad with the exception ofNorfolk Southern.

The portion of today’s trip from Dotsero toWinter Park will provide more new mileage forme, and the scenery on this last leg of my “circle”is again magnificent. I won’t attempt to relate allthe sights on the Moffat Route east of Dotsero,but I will recount a series of scenic wonders I ob-served in the late afternoon when I thought I surelyhad seen everything.

At 5:17 pm, No. 6 takes the siding at Ra-dium, and as we crawl down a long right-handcurve, I see some distant coal gons moving be-yond the rocky point where the track disappearsaround a reverse curve. The CZ eases to a stop,and as we wait for the westbound freight, a familyof five ducks floats by on the river below. Afterwhat seems a long wait for a train I had seen climb-ing the hill, the headlight and ditch lights of a formerSP locomotive appear around the rocky point be-low us. That locomotive and a yellow UP matelead a train of empty coal gons up grade throughthe curve, and as the train passes, I barely can seeover the tops of the gons. Three mid-train helpersroar by, and after the last car clears, we continueour downhill journey.

As we round the rocky point where the curvereverses back to the left, the passenger train ducksinto Tunnel No. 42. After the tunnel, we creepdown a steep grade on a high ledge above theColorado River then enter Tunnel No. 40 (TunnelNo. 41 must have been eliminated). Tunnel 39quickly follows, and, on the other side, we’re highon a mountainside above a green, mountain-ringedmeadow.

The next siding on our long descent is Azure- which aptly describes the color of the skies sinceI’ve been in the Centennial State - then we enterTunnel No. 38 and emerge amid the towering rockwalls of Gore Canyon. Soon I can see three shorttunnels (37, 36, and 35) lined up below, and wetraverse them in rapid succession. The spectacular

descent that began at Radium comes to an end aswe return to river level and roll out of the confinesof the canyon into a wide green valley. By the timewe reach Kremling, the CZ is really rolling again,and, off to the south, I can see more snowcappedpeaks. The next town is Granby, where at 6:57,we meet a westbound merchandise train with twolocomotives in BN’s original bright green colorscheme.

By the time we reach Winter Park, the azureskies have turned dark gray. A westbound train ofempty coal gons is holding the main at Winter Park,and as we ease through the passing track, we passthe freight’s mid-train helpers and pushers. A PAannouncement advises passengers that we’re aboutto enter Moffat Tunnel and requests that we re-main in the same car during the tunnel passage indeference to the accumulated diesel fumes and coaldust. We also are told that we’re waiting for thetunnel to be blown out of the fumes left by thewestbound train we just met. At 7:34 pm, we en-ter the west portal, and at 7:45, we pop out on theeast side on the Continental Divide.

I now have the pleasure of having dinner inthe diner while descending the Front Range, andmy tablemates are two young sisters (a 6th and a9th grader) and their grandmother, These threeladies from Sacramento are en route to Albany,New York. The girls’ grandmother tells me thatshe took their mother on a similar transcontinentaltrip when she was roughly their age. On that trip,they went east on U.S. railroads and returnedthrough Canada. On this trip, the trio will returnto California by air. The 9th grader says that sheand her sister have flown cross-country severaltimes, but that prior to this train trip, they had nocomprehension of the size and diversity of ourcountry. Their grandmother notes that they’ve beentreated to some great mountain scenery since leav-ing Sacramento, and that tomorrow will give thema full dose of the prairies west of Chicago.

The lights of Denver are visible now far be-low us, and a powerful thunderstorm is producingsome impressive lightning bolts around the city.Tomorrow morning’s Denver Post will report thatone of those bolts struck and cracked the steepleof the Catholic Basilica in downtown Denver.

We back into DUS on the station wye, andafter coupling onto a mail car with the rear sleeper,the CZ posts a 9:30 pm arrival in the Mile High

City. It’s only a half block walk to the beautiful oldOxford Hotel, and as I near its entrance, I turn foranother look at the clock above the station’s en-trance and the message around it that’s aglow inred lights: “UNION STATION - TRAVEL BYTRAIN.”

That message above Denver Union Station isgood advice for everyone who enjoys train travel.Most of us tend to dwell on the great trains ofyesteryear we never got to ride, but there are stillmany worthwhile opportunities in the forms of

regular service, tourist lines, and special excursions.The steam train I rode was most likely the lastpassenger train over Tennessee Pass, but a touristrailroad probably will emerge for the line throughthe Royal Gorge. Also, the area already offers manynotable tourist operations such as the Durango &Silverton, the Cumbres & Toltec, the recreationof the Georgetown loop, and the Leadville, Colo-rado & Southern. Also, for the moment at least,

Amtrak’s eastbound and westbound CaliforniaZephyrs cover the spectacular Moffat Tunnel Routeon a daily basis.

As a word to the wise, Amtrak may well behighballing toward the most formidable financialcrisis of its history. It’s no secret that Amtrak hasbeen borrowing against its short term line of creditto meet its payroll and cover other everyday oper-ating expenses. Some knowledgeable observersthink that Amtrak may exhaust all of its availablecash by the end of the year. It’s hard to predict the

outcome of this fiscal crisis, but a “blue ribbon”panel appointed by Congress recently recom-mended that Amtrak focus on densely populatedcorridors with the rest of the country receivingminimal service by irregularly scheduled trainsdescribed as “rolling national parks.” Further cutsin long distance service may be inevitable, and Iencourage you to make arrangements to take thatAmtrak trip you’ve been putting off sooner ratherthan later.

POSTSCRIPT: A LIGHT RAIL ADVENTURE ON DAY FOUR

My Colorado rail adventure doesn’t completely end with the CZ’s arrival in Denver. My flight backto Jacksonville doesn’t leave until early afternoon, so after a full night’s sleep and a leisurely breakfast ofeggs and rainbow trout, I ride the entire 5.3 mile length of Denver’s relatively new light rail system. Thesouth end of the line is of special interest since it runs along the Joint Line and passes the former RioGrande Burnham Shops where the gold and silver Ski Train equipment is stored. The peak fare isn’t badat $1.00, and the off-peak fare of 50 cents is a real bargain by 1997 standards. On a layover downtownon my way to the north end of the line, this out-of-towner from Florida has occasion to explain the

automated ticketing system tothree ladies from Denverwho’re using the light rail linefor the first time. It really be-hooves riders to have prop-erly validated tickets sinceroving transit policemencheck them on a random butfrequent basis. During myrides, I see them issue cita-tions to several hapless riderswho can’t produce valid tick-ets.

Railway & Locomotive Historical Society

Southeast ChapterP. O. Box 664Jacksonville, Florida 32201