Here are some of the pictures I took of our tour at the UP Steam Shop! They had a E9 Diesel parked inside for maintenance and the 3985 4-6-6-4 Locomotive in for repairs. The front truck was off of the 3985 and the were doing other maintenance to the boiler.
We were supposed to have the 3985 pulling our train this trip but they didn't get it finished in time. All work in this shop is done on a volunteer basis so they don't push schedules for work to be done.
A few of the pics were taken in what's left of the round house and one of the turntable. I've seen a photo of the grounds in it's hey-day and it was a huge yard and locomotive servicing facility with a complete round house. Only a few stalls remain.
After lunch and completing our tour, we boarded buses and headed back to Denver!
Kodak
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The LCCA Special
The highlight of our Denver trip with the Lionel Collectors Club of America (LCCA) was our train ride behind Union Pacific's 844 4-8-4 Northern locomotive. Our club was fortunate enough to acquire a ride on this train which is not usually open to the general public. We also got a tour of the steam shop to boot! Another special surprise was they covered over the 'Union Pacific' logo on the tender, with 'Lionel Lines', just for us!
We boarded the train at Denver's Union Station and headed to Cheyenne. They stopped in Nunn, CO, let us off and did a couple of photo run by's. Then we boarded and went up into the plains somewhere close to the Colorado-Wyoming border and led us off for another run by, re-boarding the train again and headed on into Cheyenne to the depot!
Photos of the rest of the tour of the steam shop will be in the next post.
We boarded the train at Denver's Union Station and headed to Cheyenne. They stopped in Nunn, CO, let us off and did a couple of photo run by's. Then we boarded and went up into the plains somewhere close to the Colorado-Wyoming border and led us off for another run by, re-boarding the train again and headed on into Cheyenne to the depot!
Photos of the rest of the tour of the steam shop will be in the next post.
Monday, August 16, 2010
The Georgetown Loop
These pics are from our excursion to the Georgetown Loop railroad on Tuesday July 27th, 2010, which is located 45 miles west of Denver, CO. We went to the upper end of the loop to the station at Silver Plume, CO. There, we rode the train down to the new station at Georgetown and back. I didn't take many pictures of the actual ride as I shot video most of the way.
I recommend anyone wishing to ride this train to board at Silver Plume. That is where they house and service the equipment and you can take some time viewing everything before boarding or after riding the train. If you go in the morning before the first ride you can watch them preparing the equipment. Then after the ride, drive back down to Georgetown where there are some nice shops and restaurants downtown.
A little about this railroad, taken from the brochure we got at the station;
The Georgetown Loop Railroad was one of Colorado’s first visitor attractions. Completed in 1884, this spectacular stretch of three-foot narrow gauge railroad was considered an engineering marvel for its time.
The thriving mining towns of Georgetown and Silver Plume lie two miles apart in a steep, narrow mountain canyon. To connect them, the railroad’s builders designed a “corkscrew” route that traveled twice the distance, slowly gaining more than 600 feet in elevation. It included horseshoe curves, grades of up to 4%, and four bridges across Clear Creek, including the massive Devil’s Gate High Bridge. The Colorado & Southern Railway operated the line for passengers and freight from 1899 to 1938, when it was abandoned.
In 1973, the Colorado Historical Society began restoring the railroad as part of its 978-acre Georgetown Loop Historic Mining & Railroad Park. A replica of the High Bridge was completed in 1984, in time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its original construction.
I recommend anyone wishing to ride this train to board at Silver Plume. That is where they house and service the equipment and you can take some time viewing everything before boarding or after riding the train. If you go in the morning before the first ride you can watch them preparing the equipment. Then after the ride, drive back down to Georgetown where there are some nice shops and restaurants downtown.
A little about this railroad, taken from the brochure we got at the station;
The Georgetown Loop Railroad was one of Colorado’s first visitor attractions. Completed in 1884, this spectacular stretch of three-foot narrow gauge railroad was considered an engineering marvel for its time.
The thriving mining towns of Georgetown and Silver Plume lie two miles apart in a steep, narrow mountain canyon. To connect them, the railroad’s builders designed a “corkscrew” route that traveled twice the distance, slowly gaining more than 600 feet in elevation. It included horseshoe curves, grades of up to 4%, and four bridges across Clear Creek, including the massive Devil’s Gate High Bridge. The Colorado & Southern Railway operated the line for passengers and freight from 1899 to 1938, when it was abandoned.
In 1973, the Colorado Historical Society began restoring the railroad as part of its 978-acre Georgetown Loop Historic Mining & Railroad Park. A replica of the High Bridge was completed in 1984, in time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its original construction.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Back From My Trip
I made it back from my trip to Denver and have a lot of nice photos to share on here.
The first group of pictures I'm sharing is the trip we took on the Royal Gorge train. On Thursday, July 29th, our group left Denver by bus which took us to Canon City, CO and to the train depot. We boarded the train in Canon City and rode it to the upper end on the gorge. Then they backed the train halfway back down and stopped at the incline rail, which took us up to the top of the gorge, where we looked around and walked across the old suspension bridge, viewing the gorge from the top. From there, we boarded the buses and headed back to Denver.
I took these pictures with my little Kodak digital camera. I didn't take a lot of pics on the train ride itself as I was taking video during the ride!
These seven pictures were taken by my friend with his little digital camera.
The first group of pictures I'm sharing is the trip we took on the Royal Gorge train. On Thursday, July 29th, our group left Denver by bus which took us to Canon City, CO and to the train depot. We boarded the train in Canon City and rode it to the upper end on the gorge. Then they backed the train halfway back down and stopped at the incline rail, which took us up to the top of the gorge, where we looked around and walked across the old suspension bridge, viewing the gorge from the top. From there, we boarded the buses and headed back to Denver.
I took these pictures with my little Kodak digital camera. I didn't take a lot of pics on the train ride itself as I was taking video during the ride!
These seven pictures were taken by my friend with his little digital camera.
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