C&S Baggage Car No. 2 in 1978

 The only known surviving C&Sng baggage car is in Nebraska. It resides at the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie in Grand Island. I had a unique chance to visit the museum and baggage car No. 2 last May. You can see photos from that trip here.

Recently Ken Martin reached out when he found the photo below.

Ken Martin photo / August 1978

Ken took the photo in August of 1978 when the museum was rebuilding the car, most recently used as a farm shed, into an operating car for the museum's loop railroad. He also remembered that one of the workers commented on how difficult it was to rebuild the roof ends.

To see the car today and get a bit of its history, watch the video below made using photos and video from my visit to Stuhr.

C&S No. 2 modeled in Germany

Since the posting of the video of my visit to C&S baggage car No. 2 in Nebraska, a gentlemen from Germany reached out. He models the C&S and specifically made baggage car No. 2. You can see it running on his layout in the video below. Very cool that the C&S even has fans in Deutschland!

The Last C&S Baggage Car (video)

 See the last C&S baggage car from my family's May 2024 visit to the Stuhr Museum of Grand Island, Nebraska.

The Last C&S Baggage Car Survives in NE

To the best of my knowledge, eight South Park passenger cars still exist. There are three coaches (70, 76, DSP&P 3 the “Geneva”-with only two surviving ends), two combines (20, DSP&P 7), one business car (911), one Railway Post Office (13), and one baggage car (2). Only two of these cars exist outside of Colorado. One is South Park combine No. 7, the “Como.” It resides on a ranch in Uva, Wyoming used as a family museum.

The other is C&S baggage car No. 2. 

from Midcontinent.org 

There were at least five C&S baggage cars. The railroad burned the remains of one that was involved in a 1902 wreck at South Park Junction. The remaining four, built between 1873 and 1874 and renumbered 1-4 in 1911, survived to the end of South Park passenger operations. The C&S stored them in Waterton by 1937. All four cars were considered “retired” or “dismantled” by 1939.

Baggage Car No. 2 in Waterton 1937, Richard Kindig

At least two of the baggage cars, Nos. 2 and 3, were then sold and used as sheds, both in the Longmont, Colorado area. The C&S sold 1874-built, 34-foot-long No. 2 to F.W. Kimmel of Lyons, Colorado. Its location by 1958 was referred to by a photographer as “on Johnson Farm” “north of Longmont.”

In 1980, the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer in Grand Island, Nebraska purchased baggage car No. 2. The Stuhr Museum seeks to memorialize early life on the plains and includes a “Railroad Town.” At the time of No. 2’s arrival, Stuhr operated a narrow gauge railroad around the property by the name of Nebraska Midland powered by White Pass & Yukon No. 69.

A photo by Ken Martin when he visited the car possibly in 1980/1981. The car body was sitting on two piles of RR ties. The museum was in the process of reconstructing the platform roofs at the time. This shows the original paint when it arrived at the museum.

1981 Ken Martin photo. The roof ends have been added. Frame has yet to be fabricated and the steps have not been added yet.

2001. No. 2 is the second car. T. Greuter photo

As a wooden car exposed to the elements for decades, No. 2 was in bad shape when it arrived in Grand Island, but the Stuhr Museum worked to restore it to operation. The Museum fabricated its own steel underframe and set the car on D&RGW freight trucks. They also rebuilt the roof ends removed by the C&S to accommodate end platforms. Unfortunately, the museum’s railroad operation proved cost-prohibitive and the equipment simply turned into a static exhibit.  

By 1999, former Bogies & the Loop editor Jason Midyette lamented about baggage car No. 2’s condition, stating that it “may be beyond hope.”

A turn-for-the-better later occurred for No. 2. By at least 2006 the car has been stored inside along with a truly pristine wooden Florence & Cripple Creek coach. Restoration there and protection from the elements has brought the car back to very good condition. 

No. 2 is currently under the care of Tom Oshlo, director of facilities and grounds. Since the car is not in a public viewing location, you have to contact the museum and arrange a time to see it. On my family’s recent visit, we simply called a few days ahead. The staff arranged for Tom to meet us at the restoration shed. There he led us on a tour of the car, inside and out. It was interesting to see that the side windows, covered over in the 1880s or 1890s by the UP or DL&G, are visible again.

Oshlo seems to be quite a guardian of No. 2 and the F&CC car, making sure to resist museum administration’s occasional requests to display the cars outdoors. He also took time to point out original hardware and hardware that the shop fabricated to replace missing pieces. After Tom’s time with us, he was glad to let us explore on our own and take plenty of photos and video.

Florence & Cripple Creek Car No. 65

Interior of Florence & Cripple Creek Car No. 65

The grounds nearby the shed are littered with what I assume to be Rio Grande cars and pieces in quite rotten shape. I’m glad that No. 2, in contrast, has been cared for so well.

Old turntable and D&RGW flatcar

While I would like to see C&S baggage car No. 2 back home in Colorado, credit must be given to the Stuhr Museum for pulling her off the ground of a Longmont Farm in 1980 (and good thing too, because baggage car No. 3 got bulldozed by a developer in Longmont in February 2005 along with possibly C&S baggage/mail car 11). And despite her poor condition in the 1990s, No. 2 is, at least for the present, in a well-protected environment with a committed caretaker. If you’re driving along I-80 in Nebraska, the museum is a short distance from the highway and No. 2 alone is well worth the visit.

References:

C&Sng by Mallory Hope Ferrell

“Passenger Cars of the South Park” Midcontinent.org 

“C&S Baggage Car” and “South Park Coaches Question” on ngdiscussion.net

“Passenger Cars” davesriogrande.net

“1937 Was Only the Beginning” The Bogies & the Loop published by the Denver South Park & Pacific Historical Society. Jan. 2016

1979 C&S News (2) - Como Field Trip, Loop gets a Shay

A wealth of railfan history exists in the archives of the Rocky Mountain Rail Report, the newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club started in 1939.  Here is some more miscellaneous South Park Line/C&S-related news from the 1979 editions.   

1979

September

(The club goes on a "Como Field Trip" over Boreas Pass with Ed Haley who grew up riding the line)

Fall flowers in Como, 2022

THE BOREAS PASS - COMO FIELD TRIP on August 18, provided an opportunity to explore a portion of the old DSP&P right-of-way, learn a bit of Colorado rail history, and take in some great scenery all at the same time. 

The group started on the grade in Breckenridge as planned, making occasional stops enroute over the pass at various points of interest. Ed Haley's commentary at each stop helped us visualize what the rail and mining operations were like on the pass years ago. 

Lunch at Baker's Tank was quite pleasant, and the summit of Boreas Pass was another highlight. Although it was the middle of August, Mother Nature was already trying her hand at snowmaking, fresh traces of which could be seen on some mountaintops. 

Ominous looking clouds in the distance were present throughout the day, but they held off until arrival in Como. Then it was like standing under the spout of a giant water tank. The deluge prevented planned tours of the Como yards while half the group ate dinner in the Como Eating House, unfortunately, but shelter was available in the old schoolhouse. 

The Como Hotel and Eating House Oct. 2022

When everyone completed supper, Ed Haley gave a memorable program on riding the Denver-Breckenridge passenger train. It was a good feeling to see the Como Hotel and Eating House back in business after all these years. Although only in business for a short time, and not really set up for a "group attack" like the one the club dropped on the new proprietors after an already busy day, Keith Hodges and his wife left the same good impression with us that they have been with individual diners. 

If your travels take you through Como at either breakfast, lunch or suppertime, consider stopping in and trying out the "Como Depot Restaurant. " Their prime rib seems to be developing a  reputation all by itself.

(The Sundown and Southern's depot burns to the ground)

Remains of the DSP&P coach No. 3

THE OLD FT. LUPTON DEPOT that had been moved to a planned narrow gauge rail operation east of that town several years ago, tragically burned to the ground this summer, when a weed fire got too close to the structure. (Ed. This was at Don Drawer's planned-tourist railroad destination named The Sundown & Southern. A few South Park pieces made it to the property including refrigerator car 1113 and a coach body-DSP&P coach No. 3 "The Geneva." While moving a Union Pacific depot via trailer to the property, it got stuck in sand and remained on the spot for six months. Later, after the depot finally arrived, Drawer was burning weeds around the building when it caught fire, completely destroying the structure. With no fire hydrants at the remote location, nothing could be done)

Sundown & Southern

October

(Shay No. 8 begins service at the Georgetown Loop)

EX-WEST SIDE SHAY NO. 8 moved to Silver Plume from Gales Creek, Oregon, last fall, passed required inspections, and began operating on the Georgetown loop in September. After several days of test runs, it was assigned to the passenger train, and has performed quite well. Last day of operations on the loop for this year will be on September 30. 

(Ed. The December 1978 Rocky Mountain Rail Report stated: "COLORADO AND THE GEORGETOWN, BRECKENRIDGE & LEADVILLE RAILWAY gained another steam locomotive recently, with the arrival of ex-West Side Lumber Company's 3-foot gauge Shay Locomotive No. 8 at Silver Plume on October 12. The locomotive was trucked all the way from Banks, Oregon, and presented some challenging problems during the move, Parts had to be removed to get it down to a truck-able load, and it took several weeks to make the journey (and a truck with 11 axles and 66 tires!!). It is hoped to have it operational on the Georgetown Loop by the middle of next summer.") 

Shay 8 on display in 2004 - Nathan D. Hale photo

The Swan Songs of Central City - Part 2

 

The Swan Songs of Central City

-Part 2

by Kurt Maechner

Here is Part 1

Twisting Arms for Trains

C&S 9 and cars at 1939 NY World's Fair

A J.W. Cooper in Chicago replied positively to Rice’s request [on behalf of Central City for a display train], but the situation took an abrupt turn when Cooper subsequently forwarded the request to the Burlington Route’s president Ralph Budd.  The very next day, Budd sent a response letter to Rice stating “Serious consideration is being given to placing the old narrow gauge engine and cars in the Museum of Science and Industry at Chicago upon release from the New York Fair.  As soon as definite decision is reached will let you know.”

Ralph Budd CB&Q President

But did he let Rice know?  Possibly not, as two months later Rice again wrote to Budd about the donation, as well as Edward Flynn, the CB&Q’s Vice President.  Rice’s letter began with a review of the Central City Opera House Association’s request and then turned to a pressure point: Rice reminded Budd and Flynn that “under your authority” a display locomotive had previously been offered to two other locations, the city of Denver and the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.  The first recipient was not interested and the death of the owner of the second left the donation to fall through.  Rice made a logical appeal, “Therefore, as we have given no engines away for exhibition purposes, and as I have had your authority to give an engine to the city of Denver, I thought under the circumstances as presented to me, that it would be all right to assume your approval of giving this engine and two cars to this Association.”

Rice, then, in his letter, turned to more gentle appeals.  He first stressed the visibility of the engine and the amount of people who visit Central City.  These, he stressed, would be touched by the generosity of the CB&Q’s donation.  Next, he played high society by telling of the very influential Denver members of the Association, in particular Miss Anne Evans.  Finally, Rice laid out various plans that were already in motion including the choice of location for the display train, the selection of the engine and cars, plans for its transport to Black Hawk and then to Central City, and an arranged dedication ceremony for the train to which Budd and Flynn and their guests had been asked to attend.  In conclusion, Rice stated that advertisement of the event was in the docket ready to be printed in publications around the nation.  His final sentence read, “I trust I have your approval of the action taken.”

It is worthy of note, that by this time it seems Robert Rice had given up hope of acquiring the New York World’s Fair engine, C&S No. 9.  Instead, from this point on, he had set his eyes on an 1896-built engine, 2-8-0 C&S No. 71, constructed to serve on the Clear Creek Line, though it also found its way to the South Park Line where it was used not long ago in scrap operations.  Rice also settled on the potential accompanying cars as C&S gondola No. 4319 and C&S combination baggage and passenger coach No. 20.

Robert Rice’s gracious letter to the CB&Q’s president and vice president seemed to produce the opposite of its intended effect, and the CB&Q began to dig in its heels.  The following day, VP Edward Flynn wrote a four-sentence reply in which he requested to know the scrap value of the proposed donation equipment and concluded with a finger-pointing comment that “The C&S as you well know is no position to spend any money for any purpose if it can be avoided.”

Rice took Flynn’s request, got an evaluation of the scrap value of the equipment from the C&S’s superintendent of motive power, and sent his findings to Flynn in another letter a month later, November 20, 1940.  After quickly dispensing with this info in his much curter letter, Rice moved on to press for the donation.  He centered the motive for the donation on publicity, and, simultaneously, as a means to show the “good will” of the Burlington company towards the elites in Denver and the many visitors to Central City.  He even tried a half-way deal by suggesting they donate just the engine for the time being and send the two cars at a later date.          

Three days after this letter, the Opera House Association called Rice about making plans for the train’s arrival.  Feeling even more pressure now, Rice sent a follow up letter to Vice President Flynn requesting an in-person meeting about the matter the following week when Rice would be in Chicago, to which Flynn replied that he would be happy to chat, but frankly, “I really can see no benefits, and the company is certainly in no shape financially to give anything to anybody.”

  It is unclear whether or not the requested meeting occurred, but it might have been a moot point since a little over a month later, on January 6th, 1941, the woman who initiated the request for the display train, Anne Evans, died at age 69, her plea still put off by the CB&Q.  

    This would not be the end, however, as numerous individuals now put pressure on the CB&Q.  In February, John Evans, President of The First National Bank of Denver, wrote to Flynn to persuade him of the opportunity to be a part of a grand venture to do “a restoration job similar...to that carried out in Williamsburg, Virginia,” adding the names of others who believed in the importance of the display train such as Mr. T.A. Dines, President of the United States National Bank in Denver, and Colorado’s governor, the Honorable Ralph L. Carr.  Evans asserted, “The place of the C&S in the early history and development of the State makes me feel the carrying out of the plan [to get a narrow gauge train] which has been under discussion with Mr. Rice for some time is of moment to the whole enterprise.”  

This time CB&Q president Budd replied instead of Ed Flynn, telling Evans that the C&S was likely headed into bankruptcy and they just could not part with an asset.  Apparently $1170, as Budd stated as the worth of the train, was too much to lose.    

Despite the repeated resistance, on March 15th, 1941, a pressured President Ralph Budd, after another talk with Flynn, finally gave in, sort of.  Budd was willing to consider loaning, not donating, a C&S engine and car.  Maybe to express his grudging reluctance, he dropped the idea of a coal car out of the offer.  His reluctance is evidenced in his letter to T.A. Dines in which he wrote, “we are willing to take a chance on letting this piece of C&S property be used for the exhibit.  In view of the present financial situation of the C&S I felt it would be better to make a loan rather than a gift.”

At long last, a pseudo-victory was in their hands.  Central City was to be home, at least on loan, to an authentic Colorado & Southern narrow gauge train.  The 45-year-old C&S engine would be accompanied by combination coach No. 20 and, despite Budd’s seeming hold-out, gondola No. 4319.  

Central City planned a grand affair for Saturday, July 5, 1941 to dedicate the historic train with a large luncheon, a national radio broadcast of the event, and a round of congratulatory speeches.  The town’s happiness even went so far as to invite the resistant Mr. Ralph Budd to give one of the orations.  In fact, the Association was even willing to change the day of the event in case Budd could not make their planned date.  C&S President Rice extended Central City’s gracious invitation to Budd, but the CB&Q president replied, with regret, that he had “other matters” that would preclude him from attending. 

On the Way to a New Home

No. 71 and her train were taken to the C&S Denver shops and put in pristine cosmetic condition.  The consolidation, the name for a locomotive with a 2-8-0 wheel configuration, glimmered like she did when rolled out of the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1896 as she, the gondola, and the combine were hauled in the middle of a freight run through Clear Creek Canyon with C&S No. 70 on point and No. 69 shoving from behind.  

While much attention is given to engine 71, the two cars chosen for display with her are historic in their own right.  While the C&S owned scores of narrow gauge gondolas to haul freight such as ore and coal, nearly all of them would be lost to history, some even filled with rocks and buried on creek banks next to rail lines to limit erosion.  Only one car, however, survived its siblings’ fates.  In time, the 1902-built gondola 4319 would become the sole surviving C&Sng gondola.  The other car, combination baggage and passenger coach No. 20, formerly a Union Pacific car, began life on the C&S as No. 121, but was renumbered by 1906 to No. 20.  In 1925, with the approaching demise of passenger service, the car’s number changed once again, this time to No. 025 when it became a wrecking work car.  For its final role as a display piece, the combine was restored to No. 20.

Once the display train reached Black Hawk, the locomotive and two cars were set out at the end of track where they sat for some weeks until each piece of the train could be loaded onto one of the machines that helped end its active life: a truck.  Starting on April 24th, with gasoline fumes trailing, the train was hauled piece by piece, up to Central City and eased onto the display track near the former Spring Street railroad crossing.  The display train had come to rest in its new home, and none too soon as a week and a half later the C&S made its last scheduled Clear Creek run, ending the life of regular railroading in the canyon.

With the dedication ceremony ended, the train, still owned by the C&S and leased for one dollar per year, became a liability to the railroad.  Fear of responsibility from injuries in cases such as children climbing on the train led the C&S’s general attorney to suggest selling the train at last to the Central City Opera House Association.  The CB&Q again refused to let go of what they still saw as a needed financial asset.  Somehow, by the following year, on June 1st, 1942, the C&S got its way and sold the whole train to the Association for one dollar with one stipulation: if the train was ever used for any other purpose than “exhibition” it would be returned to the ownership of the C&S Railway Co.  This clause would be tempted several decades later.

1974 C&S News (2) - The Loop electrified? Plans to build to Blackhawk, Platte river bridge moved, C&S 20 on TV

A wealth of railfan history exists in the archives of the Rocky Mountain Rail Report, the newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club started in 1939.  Here is more miscellaneous South Park Line/C&S-related news from the 1974 editions.  

1974

Part 2

January

(Rumor: The Georgetown Loop will be electrified!)

Norwegian electric narrow gauge

JUST OVER A FEW MOUNTAINS to the southwest on that same day activity was beginning to pick up on the Georgetown Loop restoration project. Navy Reserve Seebees were fulfilling their once a month duty obligation preparing the site for this summer’s work. Another weekend visit by them in May will be followed by a six week stay beginning in June. Much work still remains to be done, including finishing touches on the two bridges, tracklaying, and setting the station at Silver Flume on a foundation. It is hoped to have some revenue operations underway by late summer. There is one rumor about the loop that needs to be squelched, a rumor reportedly to be circulating particularly among its fans. It is absolutely untrue that a test section of a quarter mile of electric overhead is being installed from Silver Plume down toward the first big curve to study the feasibility of electrifying the historic line. 

June

(Finally, Poor's DSP&P gets a reprint!)

RAILROAD CLUB TO REPRINT "SOUTH PARK" BOOK - At the last meeting of the officers and

directors of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club, it was decided to reprint M. C. Poor's famous history, "Denver, South Park & Pacific." This will provide the Club's contribution to the Colorado Centennial in 1976, and will also be a memorial to the late M. C. Poor, a long-time Club member. All the original text will be included, and it is expected that practically all the original pictures will be used, although new plates are to be made of the photographs, and if a few of the originals cannot be located, comparable illustrations will be provided. 

While it is planned to reprint the book in 1976, no other Rocky Mountain Railroad Club books are to be reprinted, according to present plans. At present, a price has not been established, and we request that no money be sent to the club for this book until a descriptive brochure is received, at which time a prepublication special price will be announced. The reprint edition will not be numbered, and it is uncertain at this time as to the quantity that will be published. 

(Ed. Just five years previously, the Club explained why they would not do a reprint of the book.  Mac Poor himself also agreed.  After Poor's passing in 1973, it seems openness to the idea emerged)

(Shay 14 in action at Central City)

THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG - The Shay locomotive that arrived In Central City at the end of April is already hard at work pulling trains on the Colorado Central. 

(Ed. The shay arrived in April of 1974)

July

(8mm movies of C&Sng)

PROGRAM NOTES: The club is privileged to present, through the courtesy of James R. Jackson and Al Chione, a program for the July meeting which will consist of some very old and rare 8mm movies of Colorado railroading.

These excellent movies were taken between 1937 and 1941 by Jim Jackson’s father, Richard B. Jackson, a Rocky Mountain Railroad Club member until his death in 1971, and one of the noted railroad photographers who recorded Colorado engines and trains before World War II. Included are Denver & Rio Grande Western operations on the Silverton Branch, the Cumbres Pass, Marshall Pass, and Black Canyon lines and the Santa Fe Branch. There are also some views of Rio Grande Southern trains operating over that spectacular line and some extremely rare Colorado & Southern narrow gauge scenes at Leadville, on Boreas Pass, and in Clear Creek Canyon.  If you liked Otto Perry’s fascinating films last month, which speak for themselves, or if you missed them, here is another opportunity to see some fine Colorado railroad photography of years gone by. 

(New diesel and cars arrive at the Georgetown Loop)

1984 photo of No. 15 

RESTORATION WORK ON THE GEORGETOWN LOOP is now in full swing since the arrival of the Seebees in mid-June. Before their departure in early August it is hoped that track laying up into Silver Plume will be completed and that the depot there will be on a foundation. More equipment for the operation has been received. The last weekend in June saw the arrival of ex-Oahu Railway No. 15 diesel switcher from California. Formerly of the Camino, Cable & Northern, the engine is a sister to the diesel unit used on the CATS line and will be used in the construction phase of the loop. Also just received is an ex-Camino, Cable & Northern ex-Lake Tahoe and Railway & Transportation Company narrow gauge coach and an excursion car from the Colorado Central. 

(Plans to lay track toward Blackhawk; TV show filmed on the Colorado Central)

C&S No. 20 in 1990

CENTRAL CITY RAIL ACTIVITIES - The Shay locomotive at Central City has been in charge of passenger operations since its arrival in April. With the acquisition of that engine, it is hoped tracklaying can continue down toward Blackhawk. The track presently stops at the sight of a trestle whose cost of replacement is too prohibitive for the line. Track can now be layed (sic) around the end of the gulch in a curve that the Shay, unlike the other conventional locos on the CC, will have no trouble negotiating. 

Central City and the Colorado Central were recently involved in the filming of a TV show to be seen later this summer. Production crews, along with stars Charlie Rich, Ann Murray and the "Chicago” Rock Group spent June 26th filming scenes around town and on the train. The Shay and C&S combine No. 20 were the railroad stars. The engine was operated by George Claymore, a retired veteran of 51 years service with the Rock Island and currently an engineer on the CC. Tentative broadcast of the one hour special is August 16th on ABC. 

(Ed. C&S combine No. 20 was placed on display in 1941 along with C&S engine 71 and C&S gondola 4319)

August

(DSP&P reprint update)

“SOUTH PARK" BOOK WORK PROGRESSING - Material to be used in the brochure that will announce the republishing of the original "Denver, South Park & Pacific" by Mac Poor was turned over to the printer on August 1st. World Press will begin work on that immediately. 

(Ballast train on the Georgetown Loop)

THE BALLAST TRAIN has completed work on the Georgetown Loop. Tamping and aligning the track is currently being done, The Seebees departed the last week in July.

December

(More DSP&P reprint updates)

This year the Club has embarked on republishing the DENVER, SOUTH PARK AND PACIFIC, a memorial edition to Mr, Mac Poor. This will keep the Club busy in the coming year. The response of reprinting it has been great, with very little on the negative side. This reprinting will enable a lot of younger railfans and other people who never had an opportunity to own the original to obtain one and read of the early days of railroading in Colorado.

ORDERS FOR THE DENVER, SOUTH PARK AND PACIFIC reprint have been arriving at a steady rate. We thank you for this support.  It is most gratifying and will assist measurably in meeting the initial expenses involved. 

A point we would like to clarify, which was not mentioned in the brochure mailed with last month’s newsletter, but was mentioned briefly in the June 1974 Rail Report, is that the reprint will not be numbered. 

Volunteer workers have put in over five hundred hours mailing 4,250 brochures announcing the republication of DENVER, SOUTH PARK & PACIFIC.  These are in addition to the brochures already mailed to the Club members. Our thanks to Jack and Kay Riley, John and Elsie Ingles, Pee Wee Smith, Dick Kindig, Cleta Poor (who also graciously allowed us to use her basement) and Wan and Ed Haley, Thanks also to Bill and Sylvia Gordon who mailed brochures to the people on the Club’s trip list. 

 

Update on C&S coach 70's possible restoration

Clear Creek Courant article

On December 8th, 2020, C&S coach 70 left Idaho Springs for the first time in nearly 80 years and traveled via truck trailer to the shop where C&S business car 911, coach 76, and RPO 13 rest.  No. 70 had been on display behind engine 60 since 1941, but was moved to the shops in Silver Plume to assess its potential for restoration.  

In February, last month, news came out about the progress of evaluation of C&S coach 70.  

Her seats have all been moved out and the outside portion of one side has been removed.  While the frame is intact, the Clear Creek Courant in their article "A Labor of Love" reported that "The beams and part of the roof have rotted, the wooden trusses are bad, and much of the siding and sub-siding will have to be replaced."  According to Historical Rail Adventures' project manager Mike Horner, roughly 1/4 of the car will need to be replaced.  The work could take several years to complete.  Much depends on the goal.  It could be receive a mainly cosmetic restoration or it could be restored to operating status, as there has been some openness by Historic Rail Adventures to have the car visit the Georgetown Loop.

2018 photo-author's collection

Right now Idaho Springs has allotted $200,000 towards the work.  Of course more money will be needed for either restoration option and other funding sources are being considered, including the pursuit of a History Colorado grant.  The Courant article explained that, according to assistant city administrator Jonathan Cain, after evaluations are done and the funding is determined, "Idaho Springs will put out a Request for Proposal from companies that could do the restoration work."

2018 photo-author's collection

On a side note, Cain also said Idaho Springs hopes to do restoration work on 2-8-0 No. 60 and possibly build a roof over the entire train.

Excitement about restoration is easy, but when concrete steps are taken, such as the actual move of coach 70 and serious evaluation work, it signals hope that real results are finally in the works.

For more details visit The Clear Creek Courant article here.

2018 photo-author's collection

C&S 71 on video in steam in 1989

On my first visit to Colorado to ride narrow gauge trains my parents took me to Central City in hopes of riding the only operating C&S engine, 2-8-0 No. 71.  Put on display there in 1941, it was brought back to life in 1986 and began running in 1987 on the second tourist railroad to run in town (the first didn't use No. 71).  We parked and walked up to the boarding platform and station in Central City in the summer of 1990 to find...nothing moving.  Alas, I missed riding behind that engine by a few months due to the bankruptcy of the line.  

I have only seen one other video of 71 in action.  Last month another video, one I hadn't seen before was posted on Youtube show her pulling her train in 1989, including combine No. 20 , gondola 4319 , and another excursion car, possibly one of the C&S former boxcars-turned flatcars brought back from the White Pass & Yukon by Dan Quiat.  I know there were a great deal of problems with the Blackhawk and Central City Narrow Gauge Railroad, but it is still breathtaking (and a little heartbreaking considering the brevity of the line) to see C&S 71 under steam.

C&S Coach 70 takes a trip to Silver Plume!

Photo Corinne Westeman 

 C&S coach 70 made her last trip west from Golden to Idaho Springs in 1941 coupled to engine 60.  The two were pulled by Rube Morris, the scrapper, using engine 69 for power.  By this time the Idaho Springs to Silver Plume stretch of the Clear Creek line had been torn up roughly three years earlier.  Coach 70 and her locomotive were put on display in town and the remaining tracks were subsequently torn up all the way to Golden.  Despite a few moves within Idaho Springs coach 70 and engine 60 have been outside on exhibition for nearly 80 years.  

But just a little over a week ago, coach 70 finally reached the end of the Clear Creek line, arriving in

Photo Corinne Westeman

Silver Plume on December 8th, 2020.  This time, unlike her life in revenue passenger service, she didn't travel over the Georgetown Loop; she was pulled by tractor trailer up the mountainside on I-70.  

Her hometown, Idaho Springs, paid $15,000 to move her to Historic Rail Adventure's workshop adjacent to the Georgetown Loop railroad facilities in Silver Plume where the coach will be inspected this winter to see what it would take to restore the car.  Once Historic Rail Adventure has an estimate, Idaho Springs will then determine the next steps.

On a curious note, while C&S engine 60 is sitting solo for the first time in almost 80 years, coach 70 is reunited in Silver Plume with the only other fully intact C&S coach known to still be in existence, C&S 76.  

According to Bob Bowland, former Idaho Springs mayor, the end goal of the restoration, if it occurs, is to bring the coach back to No. 60 in Idaho Springs and build a shelter over the display train to protect it far into the future.  

More details can be found here from an article in the Canyon Courier.  Note: The article claims the engine and coach were "gifted to the county by the railway."  In actuality, the county pressured the C&S into giving them the train.  The C&S owed the county a good deal of back taxes.  The county offered to drop the case to pursue the missing tax money if the railroad would give them a display train.  This was no small ask considering that nearby Central City had to fight the reluctant railroad executives quite a bit to finally get a display train for their town the previous year.

51 Year Expedition of 3 C&S passenger cars - video

While C&S 9 has had a fascinating journey, the three C&S passenger cars inextricably tied to it have had an equally curious expedition.  This video explores the cars' lives from the end of the C&S narrow gauge, their travels to three other states*, and their return to Colorado.




*While the Silver Plume informational sign for Business Car 911 claims that it went to the 1939 New York World's Fair, no photo evidence of this has come to light as far as I know.

Other sources argue that it did not join 13 and 76 at the World's Fair, but did participate in the 1948-1949 Chicago Rail Fair.  The research on this site states: "Car #911 was almost scrapped in 1938, but the cost to cut it up would have been $30, while the cost to burn it and then cut up the remaining scrap would have been $20. The low price of scrap was all that saved it. It was stored in Denver for awhile, then sometime in the mid '40s was moved to the CB&Q shops in Aurora, Illinois, where it joined coach #76, RPO #13 and 2-6-0 #9, which had been exhibited at the New York World’s Fair in 1939."

Long Lost Footage of the Last C&S Passenger Train

"Has anyone seen that movie or knows if it still exists?"

-These words are written by Daniel W. Edwards, author of the Documentary History of the South Park Line series, and son of one of the charter members of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club, Walker S. Edwards.

His comment comes in Volume 6 after an April 10, 1937 Leadville newspaper account of the last C&S passenger train to Denver.  At the close of the piece the article's writer states "There will be many camera records of the scenes that marked the departure of the passenger train this morning.  N. M. Martin came all the way from Boston with his motion picture apparatus to file the event," after which Edwards inserts, "[Has anyone seen that movie or know if it still exists?]"

Is it possible that a small portion of that film is the following:



Of course there are a couple of reasons that this may not be specifically the film referenced in the Leadville article.  As someone noted on another post with this clip, this is likely the last passenger train on April 10, 1937 (not 1936 as mentioned in the video's title), but it likely is the train leaving Sheridan Junction.  So...
     -It's not at Leadville
     -If it's not at Leadville, unless N. M. Martin followed the train by car this must be someone else. 

Another April 1937 article from the Denver News comments that "Newsreel men...were among the 125 passengers who rode on the last trip over the famous line."

It seems that there should be lots of footage out there of this final train.  One that I have seen is on The Old Colorado & Southern and Engine No. 9 DVD with footage taken by Helen McGraw Tatum.  Does anyone know of other footage out there?

Also, does anyone know of the rest of the footage from the above video?  I've gone to stockfilm.com and they only have this 22 second clip from what I can see (and they want a LOT of money for it!).

Central City Railroad meeting - What happened?

Since hearing about a meeting in Central City where a group called the Central City Railroad and Mining Museum presented its vision to restore C&S 71 and her attached baggage car to operation, I have been eager to hear what actually happened there.  I posted the question on Central City's Facebook page post about the meeting, but never received a response.  Then I located the following article by Jaclyn Schrock in The Weekly Register-Call.

In the article, posted October 31st, 2019, Schrock details the proceedings of the meeting.  It comes off overly optimistic in my opinion, though I wish them well.  While I certainly have no first hand knowledge of how to construct a tourist railroad, even I know that the existence of "an abundance of grant opportunities to restore trains" can hardly be accurate.

Despite my skepticism, I would love to be wrong!  If this venture could be accomplished with honesty and respect for the historical equipment (unlike what seemed to have occurred during the late '80s-one individual of which is directly involved with this new incarnation), then it would be a delight to see.

*Below is Jaclyn Schrock's article:

The train whistle could be heard in Central City again. Hopes circle like coal smoke for the chugging of steel wheels on 42” narrow gauge rails, July 4th, 2020. As a nonprofit group, Central City Railroad and Mining Museum (CCRMM) has made progress to restore the old train right of ways and acquiring IRS nonprofit status. Nonprofit grants for trains and History Colorado, diligent volunteer efforts cooperating with local government decisions can make reality the revival of engine #71 powered by steam, as in days gone by.

We can see the Colorado and Southern engine #71 with a baggage car on display at the Grand Z Casino and Hotel in Central City, resting after discontinuing service with the tourist train in 1990. At that time #71 was owned by the Gilpin Historical Society, since transferred to Central City. These are the two original pieces of 1870-1949 Colorado and Southern Railroad to be used in starting up phase one of the Central City Railroad and Mining Museum.

On Wednesday, October 23, from 6-8 p.m. the Little Kingdom Room in the Teller House was the gathering place for Central City historic train enthusiasts. The news that “the train is coming” was presented by flyers emailed or posted on social media. Braving the blizzard, about 25 people filled the room along with JKQ menu service, free snacks and beverages. One wall had three posters set on tables displaying photos and text explaining CCRMM’s plan to restore a tourist train beginning in Central City.

The purpose of the meeting was to make public information of the historical hands-on experience plan. Input from the local community was requested about the inclusion of the railroad and mining museum anticipating potential impact regarding more traffic for a hands-on and limited traditional static museum experiences.

The presentation began with Johnny Knapp, CCRMM Secretary enthusiastically announcing the nonprofit status being obtained along with a lease on 220 Spring Street. The funds appear to be in place to construct a temporary facility to dismantle and assure compliance with the mechanisms of engine #71. Moving the locomotive and baggage car to the workshop would follow construction of the building. The temporary design could facilitate a move if or when other station and rail yard options developed.

18,000 feet of track is part of the first phase of the railroad’s plan to allow up 25,000 railroad riders to enjoy the hands-on experience the first summer season. The rail bed would also need to be inspected and made secure for the one way travel of the train to return in reverse. Volunteers are welcomed to join in the restoration and other projects. Dream along with CCRMM on the other phases they ponder with realistic paths to arrive there.

Mr. Knapp explained that CCRMM’s board included himself as Secretary, Bob Bassett acting as President, and Court Hammond, CCRMM’s Chief Operations Officer. Mr. Bassett was unable to attend Wednesday’s gathering. A local citizens’ question about bylaws for CCRMM was answered with an assurance that those are in place and can be made available to those interested.

Also present and speaking was Candice Rosenberger, who brings financial and marketing experience along with personnel relations management to the project. She is working in the capacity of a grant writer as well with CCRMM and enthusiastic to make this dream reality.

It was recognized that there was an abundance of grant opportunities to restore trains. Most require that the rolling stock be owned by a nonprofit group to make funds available. CCRMM is offering options to Central City to consider providing funding to seek further funding to progress the project, or with responsible negotiations release ownership of #71 and the baggage car from Central City to another nonprofit organization. Many opportunities are on the horizon.

Court Hammond was with the previous tourist railroad between Central City and Black Hawk which ran in the late 1980’s. The original passenger and freight train ran from 1878 to 1931. Mr. Hammond is familiar with the operations, correctives learned from experience, and many of the train’s resources origin, condition, and current resting places.

Questions had a wide range, including sparks, noise, and parking from the previous experience with a steam train running through town. All were answered with plans for improvements, including testing various whistles for the residents to select their preferences of the required sounds to warn locals of the train’s forward, backward, and stopping activities. Many locals offered suggestions for potential growth for the project.

Many in the Little Kingdom Room remember the way people came to Central City to relive the experience of riding the train, mining, and hardships of those who settled Gilpin County. In the 1970’s visitors conquered the challenge of steep slopes to contemplate novelties of the ice cream, rock shop, and antique shops. Many still tell tales of who worked in the various restaurants and saloons, living out the ghostly life in the 1980’s of Gilpin County’s government seat. Yet, the tourist train and the city’s charm kept people coming up this mountain, even before the current draw of casinos.

From 1987 through 1990 nearly 55,000 riders boarded the steam engine’s cars to ride the narrow gauge rails between Central City and Black Hawk. Our locally revived steam train, Black Hawk and Central City Tourist Railroad, was part of a travel package for tourists to experience all the narrow gauge trains in Colorado.

The original bridge near the City Hall in Black Hawk was an icon for memories, with the whistles and smoke and well-traveled historians smiling and waving. Seeing the train on that bridge or riding the curves to climb 540 feet in elevation in 4 miles of track, helped many to understand what it took to having mining communities in these mountains, after the Civil War. That steep elevation rise could be traveled with a donkey in a mile, but took over 4 miles of track to make the trip with the elevation changes by train.

The station for the tourist train of the 1980’s in Central City was the former Weekly Register-Call building at 220 Spring Street. The original 1881 Central City train station was buried under mine tailings, and covered with rocks to avoid health concerns at the end of the Big-T parking lot near Central’s City Hall.

Back in 1872, the original old Black Hawk RR station was a stone building that stopped the train from going farther upstream. The Colorado and Southern Railroad had regular trains transporting goods between Denver through Golden and up Clear Creek to that junction (now HWY 119 and US 6 just below the Z-Stop gas station).

From that junction, trains could take the south fork to Idaho Springs, Georgetown, and Silver Plum, or the north fork to Black Hawk and a spur to Floyd Hill. It took six more years to go beyond the stone Black Hawk depot. Improvements graded the railroad bed to progress two more miles up the north fork of Clear Creek to switch back briefly running parallel to the tracks by Clear Creek, 400’ higher in elevation reaching Central City and hoped for Nevadaville.

1881 travel guide books for the Black Hawk/ Central City train ride assured travelers this section was not to be missed.

Late 1980 guests were thrilled by the experience to ride the coal-powered steam train in passenger cars donated by the Rio Grande RR, now that gas engines are the most frequent modes of transportation.

According to Mr. Hammond, the Colorado and Southern (C&G) narrow-gauge lines were formed in 1898 from multiple reformations of railroads. These lines connected Colorado Central and the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroads. The narrow gauge tracks benefited travel in mountain terrain. The four distinct lines united as the Colorado and Southern Railroad included:

The Platte Canyon line from Denver to Como, Colorado
The Gunnison line from Como to Gunnison, via Alpine Tunnel
Highline between Como and Leadville
The Clear Creek line from Denver to Silver Plum, and our branch between Forks Creek and Central City
Major branch lines of the C&G narrow-gauge included: The Gunnison and Baldwin, the Keystone from Dickey, the Black Hawk branch, the Morrison Branch from Denver to Morrison, and the Alma branch from Alma to Como.

The Colorado and Southern, Wikipedia said, did not get new engines, but inherited and used 56 engines in 1900 from the parent railroads. Mr. Hammond says by 1940 the number of engines was down to 15, with five remaining today: #191 is at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden. #9 is in Breckenridge. #60 is in Idaho Springs. #74 is in Boulder, and #71 is in Central City.

Engine #71 ran over the entire C&G system, being one of the heaviest engines. It made many trips from Denver to Como, Breckenridge, and Leadville. When segments of those lines were abandoned between 1935-38, #71 ran from Denver to Golden and up Clear Creek to Black Hawk and Idaho Springs.

#71 made its last trip in September of 1940. It was retired in April of 1941 and moved to Black Hawk. Later it was trucked to Central City and put on display at 220 Spring Street.

Current Colorado narrow gauge trains operating include:

–The Georgetown Loop Railroad, part of the old C&S system which served 142,000 passengers in 2018.

–Durango and Silverton Narrow-Gauge Railroad, with 213,000 passengers in 2018.

–Cubres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, Antonito, Colorado with 52,800 passengers in 2018.

Mr. Hammond recognizes many demographic changes in Central City since the former tourist train stopped running. Thirty years ago, it was an addition to the attractions of the historic city’s buildings, cemeteries, and shops with the Opera House, Gilpin Historical Society Visitor’s Center and Museums, and the Hidee Mine.

In 2020, the Central City Railroad and Mining Museum experience hopes to be the anchor of attractions, offering a hands-on thrill. The inclusion of the Art Museum, summer festivals, weekly historical re-enactments and casino choices also draws others to the area.

Emphasizing the hands-on aspect of the mining railroad is the fresh approach for the Central City Railroad and Mining Museum experience. The CCRMM is a drawing source for visitation, because of its broad appeal for visual and hands-on experiences.

Studies analyzing tourism show that more people are looking for live, active history, versus stationary attractions. The CCRMM would draw more people to the towns of Central City and Black Hawk, and increases the time that visitors who are already in town spend experiencing the rest of the attractions that exist in the area.

What do you think about reviving historic train traffic in Gilpin County? Let Central City and Black Hawk know how you feel as they consider these destination attractions to our historic mountain community.

Link to the article at the Weekly Register-Call.

Two more C&S boxcars found!

The C&S saved a few pieces of narrow gauge rolling stock like engines 71, 60, and 9, as well as coach 70, caboose 1006, gondola 4319, combine 20, and the three passenger cars now in Silver Plume.

Jason Midyette Photo of C&S 8027 in 2005

Sales to other railroads inadvertently led to the saving of others like engines 74 and 32 (DSP&P 191), the refrigerator and stock car at the Colorado Railroad Museum, and the two reconstructed boxcars at Breckenridge and Boreas Pass. 

Curiously, the other source of rolling stock salvation has been a bit surprising-use as sheds.

Old railroad cars have sometimes been purchased by local individuals to be used as sheds.  Two C&S baggage cars, #2 and #3 both retired in January 1939, found a prolonged life this way.  Both ended up on the ground near Longmont, Colorado.  #2, specifically, was dismantled in July 1939 and the body sold to F.W. Kimmel of Lyon, Colorado.

Baggage car #3, however, though sighted for decades as a shed, was destroyed by a developer in 2005, despite assurances that it would be saved.  According to Jason Midyette, "another C&S car on the property, possibly thought to be Baggage/Mail car 11, was destroyed at the same time."

Her identical sister, #2, however, found a new home.  In 1980 the 1874 baggage car was moved to the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer in Grand Island, Nebraska.  The baggage car is reportedly not in good shape, having rotted quite a bit from her years as a shed, but is preserved nonetheless.

C&S 1008

A few other cars survived for a period of time as sheds or tool cars.  Combination car #30 was converted to a tool car and then used as a shed in Leadville.  Mallory Hope Ferrell's C&Sng lists it still there as late as 1959.  Mail-coach #42 was dismantled in May of 1939, and then the body was sold, and placed on the ground at the end of the Silica branch.  I could find no details of the whereabouts of either car at the present time.

Caboose 1008 is an example of another car that survived as a shed.  It was discovered in California, decades after it was assumed scrapped.  It is now undergoing restoration.

Another recent car saved from toolshed life was C&S boxcar 8027. According to the GoFundMe

Jason Midyette Photo of C&S 8027 in 2005

page that helped bring this car home to Como, 8027 was "'Dismantled' in Denver in January of 1939. Stripped of its metal parts, the carbody was sold to a farmer east of Boulder where it was used as a calving shed and general storage until early 2005. Acquired by a private owner in 2005, the car was slowly restored over the next several years."  That owner, Jason Midyette, did a stunning job restoring it in Kansas, and it now resides in Como.

Well finally, the good news!  Two more piece of C&S rolling stock have been found!!!

The South Park Rail Society recently announced, "We have successfully acquired the only two C&S type 2 boxcars currently known to exist.  These two cars are located on a farm in Western Colorado. The South Park Rail Society needs your assistance to raise the required funds to load and ship these boxcars to Como Colorado for restoration  and display. Additionally some of the funds will be used to  purchase and ship two original sets of historically correct "Bettendorf" Cast steel narrow gauge trucks to go under these boxcars. The final phase of the project will see all of these boxcars restored to operational condition."

This is quite honestly an amazing discovery!  Please follow this link to learn more and to contribute a gift to help this excellent work come to fruition.

Photos below are from the Fund Raising site.