Moffat Tunnel east portal in 1994 by Kit Courter. |
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| July 11 -- Club meeting in-person at Barnes Hall. "A Legend of Luminous Night".
Kit Courter, who has been a photographer of railroads and ambient night
for nearly fifty years, will be sharing some of the results of his work
with a discussion of what got him into night photography. He will also
share some of the techniques he has developed and used to capture motion
on the landscape between sunset and dawn. Kit has presented
his work three times at Winterail in California, twice at venues in the
Pacific Northwest (Gorgerail and Autumn Leaf), and now presents to the
Rocky Mountain Railroad Club. His photographs have appeared
in several publications, including Railroads Illustrated, Railfan and
Railroad, Magnachrome, and anthologies of photography techniques. |
August 8, "Rio Grande, Desert Crossing" with Rich Farewell |
September 12 - program to be announced soon. |
Upcoming Events: August 19 - Boreas Pass Day concert and open house at Como, Colorado. Check out their new water tank! August 30 - September 2: National Narrow Gauge Convention at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Aurora, Colorado. September 16: Open
house for interurban car #25 at the Federal Center in Lakewood,
Colorado. Our Club owned and restored this car over many years. September 16: Club visit to the Colorado Live Steamers open house event, north of Byers, Colorado. |
Big Boy 4014 steamed east on June 7th. |
Union
Pacific's Steam Team rolled out #4014, the Alco built 4-8-8-4 Big Boy,
departing Cheyenne, Wyoming, on June 7, 2023. Heritage Steam Manager Ed
Dickens and his crew left Cheyenne, WY, heading east and then used the
Yoder Subdivision stopping at Albin and La Grange, WY, with the Home Run
Express Tour headed to Omaha, Nebraska. UP 4014 was then on display for
11 days during the College World Series baseball championship. |
Jim Ehernberger made this photo on June 7 at Albin, Wyoming. © 2023 |
Union
Pacific Big Boy 4014 began Home Run Express Tour out of Cheyenne, WY,
and used the Yoder Line (Egbert, WY, to Horse Creek, Nebraska) on June
7, 2023. These girls watched the train pass at Yoder, Wyoming.
©2023 Chip |
UP
4014 with the Home Run Express Tour train at Horse Creek,
Nebraska. It used the Swanson Switch to enter the North Platte
Subdivision west of South Morrill, NE, on June 7, 2023. ©2023
Chip |
UP 4014 is seen here passing the actual Scott's Bluff in Nebraska. Photo © by Dave Schaaf on 7 June 2023. |
Patrick
Henry had his two private cars, Warren R. Henry dome lounge and Evelyn
A. Henry, parked on track 5 at Denver Union Station from late May until
June 15, 2023. The cars left on Amtrak's California Zephyr, train
5, for California. Photo taken June 6, 2023. ©2023 Chip |
Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad |
D&SNG
employee Charlotte follows the trains in her narrow gauge motor car out
of Silverton, CO, June 1, 2023. She checks the tracks, keeping
trains safe. ©2023 Chip |
Durango & Silverton Starts 2023 Season - Wet Weather The
bountiful Spring moisture in southwest Colorado has been a blessing and
a challenge to businesses in the Durango, CO, area. Record
snowfalls challenged Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge (DSNG) RR
crews to keep the line open for their winter excursions. Their
flanger was deployed a few times in early 2023 per Jerry Day, those
dates were; January 4 & 18, February 17 & 24, and March 3. DSNG
crews reopened the line to Silverton in May 2023 in time for the first
train to arrive in Silverton on May 6th. Several slides were
removed from this 3-foot wide line in the rugged San Juan Mountains.
The Animas River was running high on account of all the snowfall
runoff. Train crews commented that the river hasn’t run that high
since 2019. The
Durango & Silverton NG now has four ex-White Pass & Yukon
diesels (model DL-535) on their roster. Three were operational in
May 2023; two (101 & 103) work the 8:15 AM Durango train. One
unit (107) was assigned to Silverton, CO. The fourth unit will be
getting attention by the roundhouse crew this summer. The
three K-28’s operated by the DSNG reached the century mark in
2023. As of June 2022, locomotives 473 and 476 are in active
service and have both been converted from coal-burning to oil-burning.
Locomotive 478 is on temporary display in the D&SNG roundhouse
museum. In
commemoration of these cherished K-28 locomotives turning 100-years
old, the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad will run a couple
of days of photo-special trains in mid-October. These have already
been sold-out for several weeks, and the stand-by list is lengthy. |
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Durango
& Silverton Narrow Gauge RR carman inspects train every evening.
D&SNG 270 parlor car named Yankee Girl at Durango, CO,
sunset June 1, 2023. ©2023 Chip |
BNSF
executive passenger train with BNSF 31, William B. Strong theater track
inspection car was parked in Denver over the Juneteenth Holiday
weekend, June 18, 2023. Passing the BNSF 31 was an empty CSUX
(Colorado Springs Utilities) coal empty moving north on BNSF's Front
Range Subdivision. ©2023 Chip |
BNSF Coal Load Operated Westbound on UP's Moffat Tunnel Line |
BNSF
operated a rare westbound loaded coal train across UP's Moffat Tunnel
Subdivision. BNSF train C SCMVAN ran from Spring Creek Mine,
Montana, to Valmy, Nevada (North Valmy generation station). This
train was detoured via Colorado due to a BNSF derailment in Idaho.
BNSF 8577 with 6 units on the train handled 89 loads, 12,640-tons,
4,725 feet in length on June 6 & 7th 2023. |
C&TS Honors Jim Wrinn, former editor of Trains Magazine |
Jim
Wrinn's wife, Cate Krateville-Wrinn, was at Antonito, Colorado, June 3,
2023, for the unveiling of Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad's
newest parlor car 525. ©2023 Chip |
The
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic RR honored deceased Trains Magazine editor
Jim Wrinn by naming newly built parlor car 525 after him. The
car's name was unveiled by his widow Cate Krateville-Wrinn at Antonito,
CO, on June 3, 2023. |
Como Water Tank Deck Progress |
Left
to right; Kathy Brantigan, construction foreman Bob Revis, and his
daughter Lauren Revis on newly built water tank deck at Como, CO, June
17, 2023. Water tank construction continues at Denver, South Park
& Pacific Historical Society campus at Como, CO. ©2023 Chip |
June
14, 2023 Como water tank construction with (left to right) Joey Knous,
Nick Holt and Chris Tome. At Como, CO, in former Denver, South
Park & Pacific RR narrow gauge yard. ©2023 Chip |
Minor Derailment along BNSF June 16, 2023 |
Amtrak's
California Zephyr passed 12 empty tank cars on their sides at Suncor
Refinery in Commerce City, CO. Mishap was investigated by BNSF
officials. ©2023 Chip |
Aerial
view of tank cars on their sides at the Suncor Refinery early on June
16, 2023. Amtrak's train 5 (right) passed without incident on
BNSF's Brush Subdivision at Commerce City, CO. Photo ©2023 Kevin
Morgan, Colorado Railfan. |
BNSF track geometry train had BNSF 88 named Atchison
(nee-#5001 SANTA FE (1st), Pullman-Standard, Lot #6882, Plan #7626,
built 1949) former business car inspecting the Joint Line south of
Castle Rock, CO, June 9, 2023. ©2023 Chip Originally this car entered service on the Santa Fe as a new business car named Santa Fe. The car was later renamed Atchison
in August 1957. In August 1973 it was renumbered to ATSF 52.
The staterooms are A thru D which accommodate one person each.
The observation area can accommodate 8 people.
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ENSCO
is proud to support the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA)
Transportation Technology Center (TTC) as the prime contractor
conducting research, engineering, testing, and training as well as
operating and maintaining this important US Department of Transportation
facility. |
| | Click the above INTERMOUNTAIN CHAPTER NRHS link to go to their website. |
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| | Click the above COLORADO RAILROAD MUSEUM link to go to their website. |
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