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

Happy 4th of July (37 years ago) in Central City

Happy Independence Day! 37 years ago today the Fourth of July of 1987 was the setting for the inaugural run of the Blackhawk and Central City Railroad. C&S 2-8-0 No. 71 was the star of the show, under steam and pulling passengers for the first time since 1941. The riders rode in C&S gondola 4319. It was a festive occasion, complete with dignitaries and people in period dress, to celebrate the values of our country and also the revival of a short stretch of railroad. Unfortunately, the line only lasted through the 1989 season. But for fans of the Colorado narrow gauge and the C&S specifically, it was an exciting, even if short-lived, new beginning.

The following article appeared in the Rocky Mountain Rail Report:

God bless America! Happy Independence Day!

 

Changes to Forks Creek 1870s to the present

The spot known as Forks Creek has changed many times over the years.

It went through numerous changes during railroad days, but also after the C&S abandoned the route in 1941.

Here are a few of the various looks of the spot when it served as the location of the railroad's diversion to Black Hawk and Central City and the other direction to Idaho Springs and Silver Plume.

The photo below show Forks Creek before the two segments were connected by the later wye track.

Forks Creek also saw changes after the railroad was torn up. Below is a Chris Walker photo of Forks Creek in 1982. You can see that the road from Idaho Springs at left crosses Clear Creek a bit farther downstream similar to the location of the railroad's ornate bridge.

Today's road alignment is different. The road from Idaho Springs now crosses both forks of Clear Creek at the location of the railroad's wye connection. A walking path now runs on the former rail and roadbed. This path does not cross the creek at this location like the railroad and road once did.

Finally, a while back I found a few "Then and Now" images of Forks Creek by someone who nailed the locations to a "T." Unfortunately, I don't recall who took the photos. I must give them credit because they took the risk of taking the shots from the road. So many railroad-era photos are taken from this side, but it is unfortunately difficult to access it on foot.

Central City boarding site photos 2024

 Here are a few photos from my family's visit to Central City's former tourist boarding site.

Here I am with two of our daughters after walking the track east of the boarding site.

The above photo shows a rail dolly (not the red car). This track car was used on the 1987-1989 tourist railroad here.

Another photo of the dolly from the past.

This shot shows a gondola with a drop-bottom gondola (red) in front of it.

What is going on in Central City??

I knew some track had been laid up at the old tourist railroad boarding site, but I was unprepared for all that I found there on a recent visit. I made the video below to show all that is on the once-deserted property.

Online searching and a little asking-around haven't produced any substantial information. Does this project have any more "steam" in it, or is what I found just the remains of an aborted attempt at a tourist railroad resurrection. If you know something, please share...

The little background that seems available:

Here is an informational poster for a meeting five years ago regarding the project. It is also includes documents detailing the projects goals and plans.

Here is some info from 2019. This news article gives more detail about the vision.

Here is a post from 2021 when track laying started/happened.

The group's website still exists, but has not been updated for several years.

Forks Creek today (video)

My family and I had a chance to visit the site of Forks Creek for the first time. The trails in Clear Creek have made access to some of these areas very helpful. We parked our car near highway tunnel 5 and hiked the path which begins on the grade. The grade shortly after the start once crossed Clear Creek (the abutments are still there). We followed the trail around until we reached Forks Creek.

Most photos of the area in railroad times were taken from the water tank side, but the path is on the opposite bank. The only recognizable shape from C&S days is the rock/mountain between the divisions of Clear Creek. Using this, I attempted to match up a 1939 Jackson Thode photo of C&S 71 and two gondolas on the wye. The photo can be found in Tom and Denise Klinger's amazing book, Clear Creek District Memories and Then Some.

Enjoy!

Kurt

Below is Forks Creek today. We are walking roughly around the area where the section house and bridge to the other side once stood.

Below is a map showing Forks Creek today. It overlays the RR grade (solid line) and today's walking path (the dotted line).