A New Chapter


With this issue of the Rail Report, the Colorado Railroad Museum begins a new chapter in keeping Centennial State rail enthusiasts up-to-date, with news (from current-day railroading as well as the world of railway preservation), plus a quick journey each month into past activities and accomplishments of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club. This continues a tradition of information sent out regularly to Rocky Club members, while broadening the network to hopefully include a whole new generation of rail enthusiasts!
The Museum is excited to be taking on this new monthly e-newsletter, with contributors including some of the Rocky Mountain Region’s most respected journalists and photographers. A big thank-you this issue goes out to Dave Schaaf, John Bush, Jim Ehernberger, Chip Sherman, and Rick Malo.

If you’re a current member of the Rocky Club, it’s likely that you recently received a card in the postal mail letting you know your Club membership will soon be transferring to one with the Museum. If you’re not a Rocky Club member, you may want to consider joining the Colorado Railroad Museum as a member yourself! For information and to join, visit https://coloradorailroadmuseum.org/membership/ or call the Museum Tues-Sun 9-5 MT at (303) 279-4591.

If you have received this email as a forward from someone else, please click here to continue receiving the Rail Report monthly.

Paul Hammond                                          Dave Schaaf
Executive Director                                      Rail Report Editor    
 
Bringing Up the Rear: The Rocky Mountain Railroad Club will have its final, annual membership barbecue picnic on Sunday, August 17th, at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden. More details will be forthcoming soon, but please save the date and plan to attend if you are a 2025 Rocky Club member!

Rail Watch

Current highlights and on-the-ground happenings in railroading today.
Genesee & Wyoming’s Kyle Railroad moved 65 loads of natural gas pipe from BNSF at Courtland, Kansas, to Stratton, Colorado, on June 5-7, 2025.  The unit train rolled west over the former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific RR, seen here at Edson, Kansas, early Saturday morning, June 7th. Photo ©2025 by Chip
This westbound Kyle Railroad unit pipe train passed the abandoned former Rock Island depot at Burlington, Colorado, on June 7, 2025.  The load of natural gas pipe was headed to Stratton, Colorado.  Photo ©2025 by Chip
Utah Railway 5003, an MK50-3, Goodland, Kansas, at sunrise on 7 June 2025.  Welcomed rains provided ranchers and farmers with water that left puddles in the Kyle Railroad's Goodland railyard.  Utah Railway lettered unit awaited its next call to duty.  ©2025-Chip
With Amtrak units 176 and 167 as motive power, the eastbound Southwest Chief arrives in Lamy, New Mexico at 12:42pm on Sunday, May 25th, 2025. © Rick Malo
Tumbledown walls at Yeso, New Mexico.
Eastbound at 11:43 am, May 26th, 2025. © Rick Malo
At 11:43 am, May 26th, 2025, an eastbound BNSF freight rolls past the
old gas station in Yeso, New Mexico.  © Rick Malo
Down on the Southern Transcon between Fort Sumner and Vaughn, a westbound BNSF freight rolls past the old post office in the ghost town of Yeso, New Mexico at 12:11 pm on May 26th, 2025.  © Rick Malo

Current News Updates


Amtrak recently put out its annual legislative report and grant request which has a plan for becoming “operationally profitable” by fiscal year 2028.  A highlight was record ridership in fiscal 2024, ending in September of last year.  Amtrak had nearly 33 million intercity passengers, which was more than pre-pandemic volume.

Standard-gauge steam in the West this summer:
1. Grand Canyon Railway will run steam on July 5, and August 2, 16, and 30.
2. Union Pacific #4014 will run south to Denver from Cheyenne on July 17, and then return north on July 19.  No public visit is planned in between.

Union Pacific UPP 210 Mobile Laboratory in Colorado, June 2025
Originally built and owned by Pullman Car Company as a sleeper named Balsam Fir in 1930. In 1962, it was removed from the Pullman Lease, and in 1963 it was rebuilt to become Dynamometer Car 903001. In 1964 it was modified by Union Pacific to be a mobile laboratory.
UPP 210 was used extensively across the UP System during Positive Train Control (PTC) testing, typically positioned between two locomotives. Union Pacific obtained an AMTRAK car number for it - AMTRAK 800847. It moved to a testing facility near Pueblo, Colorado in June. This car is seen here on the westbound California Zephyr in Arvada, Colorado, on March 17, 2015.  ©2015 Chip.

Union Pacific Derailment

In early June, a catastrophic wheel bearing failure caused the derailment of over 90 freight cars near Walcott, which is west of Laramie, Wyoming. Two Union Pacific trains were involved in this incident, which blocked all tracks temporarily. No injuries were reported.

A bit of Rocky Mountain Railroad Club History 

By Jim Ehernberger 
Seventy- two years ago, on May 17, 1953, the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club operated its first Union Pacific excursion.  Challenger engine 3967 was requested and handled this train between Denver, Colorado, and Laramie, Wyoming.   A press release in the Denver Post newspaper provided advance information.  The Cheyenne U.P. Ticket Agent sold me a round trip ticket from Borie station to Laramie.
The cost was a whopping $2.53!  It was my first experience with true rail fanning, as up to that point I was a loner.  The train took the siding at Buford, where passengers disembarked and proceeded to photograph the double-headed westward trains.  One week later, a new main line was set to open via Harriman, and the helper engines would then cease operations.  From Buford, the train proceeded to Laramie to be turned and provided passengers ample time to visit the roundhouse and watch train activities.  Several passengers got off at Borie, and the train then returned over the cut-off to Denver.  This was the beginning of many great and memorable experiences with the Club. 
Rocky Mountain Rail Preservation
By John Bush
The purpose of this column is to explore the reasons why rail preservation is important, and how it helps tell the story of the development of the west. Speaking broadly, the role of museums is not only to collect and hopefully protect old things but to tell a story of the past that helps provide context and insight into past events.  Ultimately “Understanding where you have been can provide guide posts for where you are headed”.  That understanding can help us get where we want to go..

Going forward, this column will discuss the goals of rail preservation projects in the Rocky Mountain region.  It will also discuss the status of projects as varied as the cosmetic restoration of cars and locomotives on public display, operational rebuilds, the relocation / repurposing of buildings, and changes in the protection / preservation of abandoned grades and bridges.

A quick perusal of available information indicates that 18 steam locomotives are preserved in New Mexico.

A quick perusal of available information indicates that 84 steam locomotives are preserved in Colorado.

A quick perusal of available information indicates that 17 steam locomotives are preserved in Wyoming.  
In early May, well-known railroad photographer J. Parker Lamb passed away at age 91 at his home in Austin, Texas.  His images began to appear in Trains magazine in the mid-1950s.  He has authored several books, and his archive has been donated to the Center for Railroad Photography and Art.  In 1991, the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society recognized Lamb’s body of work with its Fred A. and Jane R. Stindt Photography Award.  Lamb later served as the president of R&LHS from 2007-2010.  Information Courtesy of trains.com
Content contributions this month from Chip Sherman, John Bush, Jim Ehernberger, Dave Schaaf and Rick Malo. Editorial assistance from Dave Schaaf, Paul Hammond and Maddie Schaaf. 

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