Leadville line reopens track close to Climax

  A train on the South Park Line reached 11,250 feet again in 2023.  The Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad, the highest adhesion railroad in North America, completed work this fall to allow its trains to reach this spot near Climax for the first time in six years.

The Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad operates on the original Denver South Park & Pacific grade that once stretched from Denver to Leadville, crossing three mountain passes, two of them over the Continental Divide.  The railroad, eventually operated by the Colorado & Southern Ry., in time, sought to abandon all of its narrow gauge lines and succeeded in 1937 with one exception, a 14-mile stretch between Climax and Leadville needed to serve the Climax Molybdenum mine.  Standard gauged in 1943, it ran until 1986, by then absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad.  Purchased by Ken and Stephanie Olsen in 1987 and still a family-run business, the LC&S has operated a tourist train on the line continually since 1988.

The railroad owns the track to within a mile of the top of Fremont Pass, but the last few miles have been inaccessible for the last six years.  Track from a segment known as Devils Tail Tangent at MP 140.4 had “slid down the hill over the years,” according to Sean McBride, an LC&S engineer.  This necessitated the turnaround spot for their trains to be at MP 140 near the old French Gulch water tank.  As an aside, the French Gulch Tank once served narrow gauge engines but was moved to the other side of the tracks after the line was widened.  It still stands today.

Sliding track at Devils Tail Tangent-all photos Sean McBride

Work on Devils Tail Tangent.  Climax in distance.

After track work

McBride explained to me that the crew lifted the track at Devils Tail, roughly six feet higher in at least one spot.  After this, he says, “we did some profiling and surfacing between there and the end of the line.”  The line ends in the center of what is known as Stork Curve.  With this section refurbished, LC&S trains can now reach 11,250 feet, a height not accessible since 2017.

End of LC&S track at Stork Curve

Stork Curve.  A mile ahead (east) of the caboose is Climax.

Stork Curve

Out of curiosity, I asked if the track remains from Stork Curve to the mine.  McBride explained, “Technically the tracks do still reach Climax and are still in the ground on Climax property as I understand. We used to own to the front gate at the top of the pass but a few years after Climax reopened they bought back about a mile of r.o.w. from us, so that now the highest we can take the train is Stork Curve.”

C&S fans are thrilled with the rebuilt segments of the railroad such as the Georgetown Loop and the Como complex, but unlike those lines, tracks and trains have never left the ground between Leadville and Climax, and while they may be standard gauge, the LC&S has kept the South Park’s High Line alive nearly 130 years after tracks first conquered these mountains.

C&S Caboose 1009: C&Sng at the Colorado RR Museum video

 C&Sng caboose 1009 holds the distinction of starting out on the Denver South Park & Pacific in the 1880s and ending her career with the end of the C&S narrow gauge, bringing in the rear of the last C&S narrow gauge train on August 25th, 1943.  

She seems to have spent some time as a cabin or shed or both in Buena Vista, Colorado after being dismantled.  Thankfully, Bob Richardson, founder of the Colorado Railroad Museum tracked her down and brought her to the Golden museum in 1961.

Here is a video I made including a short summary of her post-abandonment life and a look at her present, beautiful status at the museum.

For a more full story of the CRRM C&Sng equipment, including caboose 1009's story, see my series The Railroad Riches of Golden.

A few other views of 1009 from my CRRM visit:

The Only Known Photo of an Intact Midway Water Tank

Certain C&S water tanks have gotten lots of photographic attention during operation days and even during abandonment.  Some, however, never graced a single negative, or if they did, they haven’t surfaced or aren’t widely circulated.  Such has been the case with Midway Tank at MP 168.66 on the western slope of the route through the Alpine Tunnel, that is, until recently.

The very photogenic Tunnel Gulch Tank, 1960s- Dow Helmers photo

Tunnel Gulch water tank, a little over 4 miles upgrade from Midway, has appeared in many photographs.  While none of them are from operational days, the water tank, erected to replace the Woodstock tank destroyed by avalanche in 1884, has graced many photos after abandonment.  It seems to have intrigued visitors to the rail-less grade.  Numerous photos show how it, ever so slowly, tipped forward and letting its funnel drop and hang lifeless.  The water tank appeared destined to be a pile of wood and metal bands.  Thankfully, in 1959, the Mile-Hi Jeep Club saved her from ruin with a restoration that set her to rights again.

1905 photo of train leaving Midway Tank

Midway Tank, in contrast, has been camera-shy.  It is famously mentioned in the caption of an iconic 1905 photo of an eastbound C&S mixed train with its helper engine No. 57, piloted by Walt Parlin, just ahead of a combination car.  The train is pulling away after filling up for the strenuous climb to Alpine.  Yet, the photo does not actually show Midway tank. 

Midway Tank's Remains 2018, upgrade of the base

Following the end of service in 1910 between Quartz and Hancock, Midway Tank, while considered “practically new” by the railroad company, was left to the elements.  She collapsed over the years without any known photographic evidence.  Her discarded remains litter the ground to this day by her still-intact base.

Photo of Midway Tank intact

It was to my surprise, then, when a  photo of Midway Tank jumped out at me from my computer.  A few years back I purchased a bunch of old photos without captions or dates from eBay.  They are all color images of abandoned remains near Alpine Tunnel.  My guess was that they were from the 1950s or 1960s.  I barely knew one of the photos included a water tank since the structure was so overgrown with trees.  Yet, with a closer look, one can make out the metal tank bands that have slipped down at angles pointed at the grade.  The board where the spout once hung sticks out through the Aspen leaves.

The trees were actually what tipped me off that this was not another photo of Tunnel Gulch Tank.  Tunnel Gulch is always easily visible in a clearing of sorts, surrounded by lots of pine trees.  In contrast, the tank in my photo, as well as the site of Midway’s base today, is crowded with Aspens.  

Midway Tank base 2018-notice dense Aspen trees

Tunnel Gulch Tank 2018-notice pine trees

Tunnel Gulch Tank - notice pine trees and visibility

The tree difference helped solve another problem: the C&TS photo site has four photos labeled as Midway Tank, but the proliferation of pines and the visibility of the tank make it quite clear that the two showing an intact tank are mislabeled (Also Midway's pipe housing is in the back unlike Tunnel Gulch's which is in the front).  

One last hurdle remained for identification.  The trees were certainly a clue, but what about the rock slide just upgrade in the photo?  I watched back through GoPro footage I filmed in 2018.  While the Aspens were present at Midway, there was no telltale sign of that slide.  

I reached out to Bob Schoppe to see if he had any insight.  Sure enough he had the same photo, but it was reversed (It was also labeled with the day June 24, 1956).  If his was the right direction, that would put the rock fall downgrade from the tank.  I jumped back on my GoPro footage and sure enough, there it was.  My photo was backwards.

Here is the photo in its correct form.  Photo is facing downgrade.

Here is the rock fall in the photo above looking upgrade.  Midway Tank's base is just around the trees in the center.

So, there we have it: the only known photo of an intact Midway water tank.  Sadly, it is so engulfed in trees we can hardly make many determinations about the structure.  Hopefully, this article will inspire a reader to say, “What a sec!  I have a photo of that tank!” and bring another photo to light. 

Following the C&S through Platte Canyon video - South Platte to Muldoon

Not long ago Phil Stock reached out to me and offered to share some of his photos and videos, particularly his drive of the South Park Line's right-of-way through Platte Canyon, starting at South Platte.  I was very appreciative, especially as I have not had the chance to visit this stretch myself.  

Using his footage I put together the first of, in time, a series of videos of driving the old C&S line through Platte Canyon.  I point out details and historical notes along the way and try to match up some photos from the railroad days.

Enjoy!

Kurt

Alpine Tunnel Construction Camps

I had certainly read about the construction camps at the east portal of Alpine Tunnel, but this was my first visit to the site of one of the three camps.  The amount of workers employed during the several year construction of Alpine Tunnel is truly staggering.  The amount of turnover in those workers as they worked year round above 11,000 feet is equally staggering.  

This photo shows the view from the east portal (behind me to the left) looking toward the sign telling of one of the camps.  This one was the closest to the east portal.  

This is the sign at the site.

This is the trail continuing past the sign.  This was once probably the main thoroughfare through the construction worker cabins.  This supply road continued downgrade into Tunnel Gulch then turned back to travel along Chalk Creek to St. Elmo.  Opposite of this point on the other side of Tunnel Gulch was another construction camp.  This trail facilitated the move of all the construction equipment as well as the mountains of redwood lumber needed to line the tunnel.

Here we are from the a part of the construction camp area looking back (at my fam!) toward the railroad grade in the center as it turns to the right to enter the (now collapsed) east portal of Alpine Tunnel.

The construction camps and the supply trail were rediscovered in September of 1962 by Dow Helmers, Bill Bruce, Rick Bruce, and Charlie Webb.  The story of their discoveries can be found on page 60 of Historic Alpine Tunnel by Dow Helmers.

Jefferson Depot-open for 'passenger' business in 2023!

 The 1880 Jefferson depot keeps reinventing itself since its days as a South Park Line depot ended in 1937.  I found two great current videos of the depot recently.  Below the videos is a telling of meeting the current owner last fall (2022) and their plans for the depot and adjacent caboose.

The depot is now available as an Airbnb rental.

The first video was put out by the Denver South Park & Pacific Historical Society showing the interior of the depot from their recent convention.

This second video is a news spot on the business now running both the restaurant and the Airbnb in the depot.

Excerpt from this post detailing a trip to the South Park with my daughter in fall 2022.

We scurried back to our car, drove downgrade, passing where the roadbed crosses to the right of 285, and entered into that great expanse, finally reaching the old, but still living town of Jefferson where the 1880 DSP&P depot still stands right off the highway.  The adjacent Hungry Moose Caboose restaurant, reopened for the first time in three years and under new ownership, was our place to stop for lunch.  The restaurant sits right on top of what would have been the west leg of the Jefferson wye.  

While we weren’t adventurous enough to order “The Trainwreck” sandwich which we were told by the owner was “huge” (In fact, you can buy a T-shirt that says “I survived the Trainwreck”), we indulged on a truly delectable bacon cheeseburger made from beef from a ranch just five miles away.  

BN caboose in primer west of Jefferson depot

    While eating, we got to chat with the owner.  He and his wife own both the restaurant and also the depot.  They live in the former depot presently and are in the process of converting it to be an Airbnb rental.  They hope to have it available next spring 2023.  Recently, the couple replaced all the original station windows to make it better insulated.  The old windows are sitting in the yard.  He explained that all the exterior and interior walls are original and the ticket window still exists as well.  As if this hard work wasn’t enough, he acquired a standard gauge Burlington Northern caboose and put it on a short stretch of track on the old roadbed just west of the station and plans to convert it to a two-person Airbnb rental too.

  

We asked him what it’s like to live in such a small town.  He remarked that he loved it, loved the quiet, and loved the closeness to nature.  There are 15 residents in Jefferson right now and the Community Center, across the highway next to the historic Jefferson school building with its old-time bell tower, offers a way to connect with neighbors.  Winters, he remarked, are challenging as it is very cold and very windy.  This reminded me of photos and stories I’ve seen of South Park cars being blown off tracks in the area.  It also explained the reason for those odd, wooden vestibules built outside the doors of the Como depot.  The South Park gets serious wind!

Palisade wall repair 2023.

For those who might not have a Facebook account, here is the video posted by History Colorado showing the work being done in the Fall of 2023 on repairing the stone wall below the Palisades on the South Park Line's western approach to Alpine Tunnel.

They predict completion in 2024!

C&S Rotary 99201: C&Sng at the Colorado RR Museum video

The first piece of C&Sng equipment that I ever came across in my first visit to the Colorado Railroad Museum as a teenager was Rotary 99201.  The reason I saw it first was because it wasn't even inside the museum.  Instead, the giant snowplow was sitting on a Burlington Northern spur across the street from the CRRM entrance.  It remained there for many years until being brought inside the grounds along with a Union Pacific switcher.

This rotary is fascinating for many reasons. 

1. It was built for the famous Alpine Tunnel route, but it was found to be too large and heavy.  To my knowledge, no photos of a trip on that line with 99201 exist.

2. It was so large, in fact, that it could also be used to clear standard gauge routes.  The C&S simply switched out the running gear.  The 99201 was used out of locations such as Cheyenne, Wyoming.  

3. It plowed the last surviving stretch of the South Park Line, the standard gauged Leadville to Climax, Colorado branch.

4. While it was a steam powered machine it outlasted steam powered locomotives.  The Leadville to Climax branch was the last regularly-scheduled class 1 steam operation, using steam locomotives until 1962.  The coal-fired Rotary 99201, however, was still used for three more years being pushed by C&S diesels.

The following photos are from early 1990 visits to the museum.

A Burlington Northern freight rumbles past on the former C&Sng Clear Creek Line across the street from the museum.

99201 on the old spur across from the museum entrance.

99201 across the street

The Union Pacific 0-6-0 behind 99201.

South Platte Hotel-how long until it's gone?

The South Platte Hotel along the C&S narrow gauge still stands, but barely.  The video below tells a bit of its history and the structure's current precarious situation.  C&S railroad book author Tom Klinger appears in part of the news spot as well.  

 

Dumont Depot on the road!

Thanks to someone over at the C&S discussion forum I got word that the old C&S narrow gauge depot in Dumont (on the way to the Loop) was moved to the Moffat Road Railroad Museum. It's a bummer that it is leaving C&S territory, but it's great to see it going to what looks to be a good new home. The depot had been moved from its original location in Dumont and was most recently used for a rafting company. Now it will go back, at least partially to its original design: selling train tickets, albeit for a children's-sized train.  Here is the article from The Aspen Times.

(Video is at the bottom of the post)

 

1979 C&S News (1) - Running snowplows through Alpine Tunnel, club trip to Boreas Pass

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 miscellaneous South Park Line/C&S-related news from the 1979 editions.   

1979

March

(Man who rode the last rotary through Alpine Tunnel turns 95)

OUR VERY BEST WISHES to George Champion who just celebrated his 95th birthday! George worked on the South Park line (he rode the last rotary snowplow run through the Alpine Tunnel) and the Moffat Road and is a fountain of information when the topic of conversation is about those fascinating lines.

(Ed. You can hear an audio recording of Champion describing his experience taking a rotary through Alpine Tunnel below)

July

(Exploring Como and Boreas Pass with Ed Haley, Dick Kindig, and George Champion)

A PORTION of one of Colorado's most colorful narrow gauge lines will be the subject of the club's August field trip as we explore the Breckenridge Como grade of the DSP&P. The 20-mile grade over Boreas Pass has not heard the exhaust of a steam locomotive since the late 1930's, but most of the route is still intact, and a few relics of the railroad's past are still evident. 

Baker Tank 2018

The field trip will start at the east end of the Villa Italia Shopping Center in Lakewood near the Joslins store. Departing from there at 8:00 A.M. on Saturday, August 18, we will proceed to Breckenridge and the beginning of the grade. There will be a number of "wandering" stops along the way, such as at Baker's Tank and the summit, but only one very short walk during the day. 

Just about anyone could make this trip, and the road is passable for autos. Ed Haley, Dick Kindig, and George Champion will be along to answer questions on the line, and describe points on interest relating to some of their experiences in riding the line back in the "good old days'?" We will stop along the way for lunch. We ask everyone to bring their own picnic lunch and beverages, and perhaps a blanket to throw on the ground.

Richard Kindig

Upon arrival at Como, we will take a look at the site of the rail yards, including the station and roundhouse. George, who is intimately familiar with Como, will explain the yards and answer questions and show photos of the facilities as they once were. Supper will be served in the old Como Eating House by Keith Hodges, who is renovating the structure for use, once again. 

After supper, we will go up to the old school house and enjoy a slide program by Ed Haley and Dick Kindig on their experiences in riding the passenger train from Denver to Leadville by way of Como and Boreas Pass. 

The fare for this all-day outing, which will cover the handout, dinner and program, is $7.00 for adults and $3.00 for children under 12. Tickets MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE, and will be sold on a first-come first-served basis. Please send orders to the club's post office box. Please use the order blank at the end of the newsletter, or forward the same information.

August

THE BOREAS PASS-COMO FIELD TRIP will take place on Saturday, August 18. Refer to last month's newsletter for details and ticket order blank. 

A reminder that tickets must be purchased in advance, $7,00 adults, $3.00 under 12. For those who have ordered theirs already, the tickets will be in the mail soon. Even if you have been over the pass, and many of us have at one time or another, this is still a good opportunity to refresh the memory (and the lungs), get first-hand information on the line, have dinner at the recently reopened railroad eating house in Como, and see a slide program on riding the line in the 30's. The drive is about 150 miles round trip from Denver, and will include little walking. Departure from Villa Italia Shopping Center is at 8:00 A.M., although if you wish to meet the group on the south end of Breckenridge, we will depart from there no sooner than 10:00 A.M. Bring a picnic lunch. If you have any questions, call Darrell Arndt at 321-2723, or Ardie Schoeninger at 238-4485. * * * * *

(Ed. Take this same adventure over Boreas Pass with me below!) 

The 5 Remaining C&S Locos - Update 9

  As my reading and research continues I want to continually update this article from its original form as published in The Bogies and the Loop.  Updates are in bold and underlined.   Thanks to recent research, this update includes new details related to C&S No. 9.

And Then There Were Five:

 The Stories of the Remaining Five C&S Locomotives 

By Kurt Maechner  

          On a cold winter morning in 1986 C&S 71 was hauled up onto a flatbed truck in Central City. The destination was the newly reconstructed portion of the Georgetown Loop route. The engine got away, but much to their surprise, when they tried to move the tender, they were met by a string of Central City residents barring its passage out of town. They gathered in protest like Greenpeace stopping a whaling ship. What is it about these little engines that pulled people out of bed to protect it? Why do we still haggle on internet groups about the fates of these relics of a bygone railroad? Perhaps they each say something about life, even about us. Maybe we can even learn from their stories.

         Five engines remain of the C&S from its roster of 69. Each has an intriguing story of how it outwitted the grim scrapper. These are their stories…and a little about what each says about life.

The Other 64 

    A vast majority of the C&S engines met the scrapper one way or another. 35 of the 69 were scrapped by the C&S itself. 29, though eventually scrapped, were sold or traded to various companies and lumber railroads including Morse Brothers, Hallack & Howard Lumber Company, Manistee & Luther R.R., Clarkson Saw Mill Company, B.G. Peters Salt & Lumber Company, Oak Grove & Georgetown R.R. Co., J.J. White Company, Ed Hines Lumber Company, and the Montrose Lumber Company. A few notable exchanges include C&S 55 that was sold to the Milwaukee Road and operated on their Bellevue & Cascade narrow gauge line. Number 64 was moved to Mexico to run for the Sosa & Garcia Company. Two engines (no. 69 & 70) went to the White Pass & Yukon Route in Alaska. Finally, two of the C&S’ last and largest engines, no. 75 and 76 were eventually purchased, and converted to standard gauge, by the Central Railway of Peru to be used for the Cerro de Pasco Copper Corp. There are several hearsay reports that one of the engines tumbled to the bottom of a canyon due to an unrecorded derailment. 

In 2017 I was contacted by Bob Whetham, author of In Search of the Narrow Gauge.  During

a trip to Peru in 1965 he stumbled upon what he and others believe to be the remains of either C&S 75 or 76 in a scrap yard in Huancayo.  He noted at the time that he "remember[ed] the canted cylinders which were very unusual."  His photo (right) shows the tender in the background and the boiler behind that tender (it is not the engine in the foreground). 

Mike Trent on the DSP&P forum commented, "I would state that I am quite certain, beyond a reasonable doubt, that this is #76's tender. I have spent quite a bit of time comparing this image to others of #76. This had a distinctive rivet pattern, and it seems to fit, right down to the bunker sides.  It seems likely that the boiler in the back is one of the two. The only other photo I have ever seen shows a boiler complete with piston valves with the steam dome cover removed in what appears to be a different location than this one. The boilers would be harder to distinguish....But I'm going to get on board that this is #76's tender."

Presumably, it was eventually scrapped completely at a later date.

     And then there were five.

71: All Roads Lead to Home  

       Do all roads really lead to Rome? In real life, all roads lead to home. In all its small positive and negative nuances, our home affects us more than any other influence in life. Whether we love it or have run from it, it must be reckoned with. One C&S loco was adopted by a town, and despite unsuccessful efforts to remove it, and successful efforts to abuse it, it remains affectionately at its adopted home.

       When the railroad finally received permission to abandon the South Park in 1937, the C&S, finding no buyers in 1938 for their surplus locomotives, began the process of scrapping them.  This began in 1938 with No. 5 and one month later consumed 65 and 58.  

     There was an attempt at saving at least one engine for posterity.  The railroad made an offer to any town along its line: A free narrow gauge locomotive to stuff and mount. This would have been engine 6.  Despite the number of people who protested the abandonment of the line, not a single town along its remaining rails took them up on the offer.  A memo to the Superintendent of Motive Power stated that "the scrapping of 6 narrow gauge engines, one of which we asked you to hold up anticipating that we could use the engine for historical purposes.  We now find that none of the towns is agreeable to accepting this engine.  You may therefore scrap engine 6."

     However, by 1941, one town (and eventually Idaho Springs), Central City, who had lost its railroad connection 10 years earlier, changed its mind and said yes, though it had to fight the management of the Burlington Route (now owner of the C&S) for many months to get it at this point.  By this time the Q didn't want to give away any assets, even if it was scrap value. Engine 71, that had the unfortunate privilege of being used on many scrapping operations on the line, was chosen. Along with gondola 4319 and combination car 20, it was taken to the end of track at Black Hawk in April of 1941. It was then hauled by truck and found a home on exhibit near the site of the Central City depot.

     There it would remain for a little over 45 years.

   She did receive some attention over the years.  During the 1950's or 1960's, the CB&Q sent someone along to spiff up the paint and, in the process, added the Burlington herald to the whole train.  A fence was also added to keep vandals out.  Rick Steele comments in the Narrow Gauge Forum that he scraped and repainted the engine and No. 20 back to the original C&S markings in 1970.

       Puffs of steam would return to the air in Central City, however, in 1968 as the Colorado Central Narrow Gauge tourist railroad laid track to Packard Gulch. They ran trains with two Central American locomotives. This group, along with the locos and rolling stock, eventually moved to take over operation of trains on the Georgetown Loop project in 1973. The Colorado Historical Society (CHS), who owned the track, had the idea of also taking 71 to Silver Plume to restore it and run it on the Loop. The engine was indeed taken to Silver Plume in 1986 which lead to much consternation in Central City. A town newspaper referred to the situation as the “Great Train Robbery.” When the CHS then tried to move the tender, this is when some city residents came out to stop it. Their town had requested the locomotive and they wanted to keep it. Following this incident, the engine was promptly returned home...sort of.

   For reasons I have yet to determine, around this time, instead of returning the engine to its display site in Central City, it was placed on display, along with the rest of its train, on a new stretch of rail in Black Hawk.  During the winter of 1987, a trucker by the name of Steve Clifford, who related his story in The Bogies and the Loop, happened to pass through Black Hawk when he noticed "a flimsy make-shift shed constructed over locomotive No. 71 and its tender."  This chance encounter led him to find out just what was going on (and also to him receiving a bid to transport the train on his truck back to Central City).

      

     Something was indeed going on.  Steam rose again from the bear trap stack of 71 from 1987 to 1990. Another organization stepped in to run the Central City line, this time named The Blackhawk and Central City Narrow Gauge Railroad, and No. 71 was their star. There is a lot of discussion on the efficacy of the running of the locomotive in these years. That being said, she did live again, if even for a brief moment of relived
history. The group certainly had big goals. A tourist guide from 1988 states the railroad as planning “to reach Blackhawk in the next five years.” This, unfortunately, was not to happen. The railroad folded and 71 sat again, still, with her gondola and combine until she was moved once again. 

  The Narrow Gauge Discussion forum states that at some point the land where the train had previously been displayed was sold, and so the train, minus the gondola, was transferred to the Couer d'Alene Mine on the opposite side of the valley in the early 1990s.  By 1996 a chain link fence had been erected around the engine .

Casinos came to the City of Central in 1991 and she was eventually placed high up with the combine on a display track by Grand Z Casino and Hotel. The gondola sits in a park near Eureka Street. There’s much consternation over her most recent appointment, but, let’s face it, she’s at least at home.

74: Being left behind may be a part of the plan 

     We are all prone to asking, “What might have happened if…” Regret and longing make us wonder if we had not been left behind by some person, job, or opportunity, would we have found what we really wanted? Then again, maybe being left behind was part of the plan, a far greater plan than our own. 74 may have wondered this as it sat lonely at Morse Bros. Machinery in 1948.

     World War II either saved or destroyed many an engine. Many of the unemployed locos were scrapped for the war effort. Others were used where needed. C&S 74 had the privilege of working with two sister engines on the last remaining narrow gauge portion of the railroad between Leadville and Climax. Molybdenum was a hot commodity in the war effort and Climax had a lot. So much, in fact, that they needed to standard gauge the line, which they did in 1943. Numbers 74, 75, and 76 were then placed on flatcars and shipped to Denver. They were sold to Morse Bros. Machinery and sat on their property for three years. That’s when a Peruvian railroad came looking for some narrow gauge motive power. They took 75 and 76. 74 was left behind to wallow away alone. Left behind.

     Two years later, though, another life awaited 74. In 1948, the Rio Grande Southern was wheezing out its last breaths. The Galloping Geese had bought it a few more years, but the light was fading. The Rocky Mountain Railroad Club knew their chance to see and ride the line was dwindling. They wanted to plan as many excursions as possible. When the club approached the RGS receiver about this, he remarked that it was too costly to lease a D&RGW engine to haul their trains. The Club countered by suggesting that they buy a locomotive. For whatever reason, they took the bait and purchased 74.

     One member of that railroad club was a man named Dr. John B. Schoolland. He was very interested in the Colorado & Northwestern Railroad which ran through his resident town of Boulder and discovered that 74 had started its career on that very railroad. Recognizing that the RGS was near its terminus, he set out to save the engine so it could be displayed in Boulder. The city’s community started various fundraisers that eventually ‘bought’ 74 and had her shipped via rail. 74 returned home in August of 1952 and was placed in Central Park along with a D&RGW coach and RGS caboose.

  The years were not kind as neglect and vandalism set in. Various community members and students worked to touch up the engine off and on. Unfortunately, the RGS caboose was destroyed via a student prank using dynamite and was replaced with a Rio Grande caboose. In 1979 the Boulder Model Railroad Club committed to taking care of the site. 

74 and her train were eventually moved a bit to a new curved track.  Mike Trent on the Rio Grande Southern Technical Page wrote, "In February 1982, the train was moved about 40 feet north of its original location to allow improvements to be made in the park and because the track under the train had deteriorated badly. Almost all ties under the engine were completely rotted away, and the weight of the locomotive had caused her to settle about three to four inches. The BMRC volunteers were called upon to help, and they did, in a big way. Rail was located and donated with the help of the Georgetown Loop Railroad and State Historical Society. The City of Boulder bought brand new ties, and the volunteers, along with some willing professional help, laid a curved section of track for the train's new home. Dr. Schoolland was present to help drive the 'Golden Spike.'"  For a few months after the move the engine was dressed up in C&S livery and even sported a fabricated Bear Trap stack before being returned to its original look as C&N #30.

In the early 2000s the Colorado Historical Society shipped it to a company to see if the engine could be restored for use on the Georgetown Loop Railroad. This was decided against, but 74 was cosmetically restored by the West Side Locomotive Company of Denver and returned to Boulder.  In 2012, she was leased to the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden where she resides today.  Who could have guessed that being left behind in 1948 would have saved her for our enjoyment today?

9: Sometimes reinventing yourself opens new doors.  

     Most of us like to stay on the rails marked out for us. With change comes friction and we like to avoid it at all costs. But complacency can also destroy us. Some of us learn that to find life anew we must reinvent ourselves in some way: physically, occupationally, or spiritually. Sometimes that reinvention comes whether we like it or not. This is the story of little number 9, a mogul that has lived more lives than any other C&S engine.

     If ever there was controversy surrounding a C&S locomotive, number 9 takes the cake. Built by Cooke in 1884, the loco started out on the South Park Line. She had the honor of pulling the last scheduled passenger train from Denver to Leadville in 1937. She spent two more years on the Clear Creek line and South Platte branch, but an opportunity in 1939 put the engine out of the scrapper’s hand. From 1939 to 1940 New York hosted the World’s Fair. Many railroads sent representative trains. The Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy, which now owned the C&S, planned on sending one of their Cooke moguls as a narrow gauge representative.  Engines 5, 6, 8, or 9 were the options.  They settled on No. 6, leaving the others to be scrapped.  However, according to Narrow Gauge to Central and Silver Plume, "the suggestion was made that the 9 was in better shape and might well be used instead--which was in fact done."

   According to The Mineral Belt Vol. 2, "C&S 2-6-0 Number 9, Railway express and RPO car 13, and coach 76 were put on exhibit in Denver before being moved to the New York World's Fair in 1939.  Number 9 had just been run through the backshop and coaches were resplendent in new paint.  The 2-6-0 was the only engine of this wheel arrangement saved from scrapping."

     Evading the torch by inches, number 9 then was sent along with her two cars to the World's Fair. CB&Q then kept the little train in storage at their Aurora, Illinois shops until 1948 when Chicago held its railroad fair. The engine and her coaches were leased to the fair to be run as a quaint old time western train. Painted for the defunct Deadwood Central (which, incidentally, according to The Mineral Belt Vol. 1 was the railroad from which CB&Q 537 came from), labeled “Chief Crazy Horse”, and sporting a hack false balloon stack, the engine chugged around a small track pulling visitors.

     She was again stored until the Burlington loaned the engine and 3 cars in 1956 to the tourist hauler Black Hills Central in South Dakota.  According to the July 1956 edition of Narrow Gauge News, the line planned to use ex-White Pass & Yukon No. 69 for power, and intended No. 9 for standby power. The line simply put the engine on display. I have read in a few spots that some believe the engine was pulled

behind another engine and made to look operational by burning tires in the boiler.  Jason Midyette, author of a book on No. 9, pointed out that a 1912 law in South Dakota forbid the use of coal-burning locomotives anyway.  Since No. 9 was intended for backup use, maybe the Black Hills hoped to someday convert it to burn oil?

     Twenty-four years later, in 1981, the Colorado & Southern was finally absorbed into the Burlington Northern and the controversy began. By 1986 BN and the Black Hills Central entered a legal fight over the ownership of the mogul. The end result was that BN decided to send it home by giving it to the Colorado Historical Society. They had it stored on Morningstar siding near Silver Plume on the Georgetown Loop RR. It was relettered on one side in alignment with C&S days, though it still retained a red cab for some time. Its greatest surprise was yet to come.

     When the CHS, who owned the GLRR trackage, and the folks who owned and operated the railroad  reached an impasse in negotiations, a major debacle resulted. The end result was that the operator took all of the rolling stock and locos off the property and moved or donated them elsewhere. Still wanting to operate the railroad, the CHS, hunted for a new operator. However, they had no locomotives…except number 9. Both 74 and 9 were shipped away to check the feasibility of restoring one of them to operation. It was determined that number 9, using 74’s tender would be the best bet. In 2006 Uhrich Locomotive Works completed work on number 9 and sent her back to the Loop. It was an exciting day, yet, retained a bitter end.

     There was already an uproar over the changing of GLRR operators, but the furor was somewhat tempered by the excitement of seeing a real C&S loco run again. When number 9 was pulled out of service due to mechanical problems before the end of the season in 2006, many people’s anger erupted. Regardless of opinions on all sides of the issue, number 9 was traded to the town of Breckenridge. They had an old Sundown and Southern locomotive at their Rotary Snowplow Park. This engine seems to have had more promise to have the power to pull trains on the Loop and is being refurbished.

     The trade originally required that number 9 had to be operated. There were plans to build a short section of track in Breckenridge and run the loco off of compressed air. This has all changed and, after an impressive cosmetic makeover at Mammoth Locomotive Works, the engine was put on display in December 2010 between a rotary and a C&S boxcar at what is called Highline Railroad Park. Reinvented once again.

31: Age Matters 

     Popular culture (read: those trying to make money) bombard us with a belief that whatever is young and new is better. It wasn’t that long ago, however, when age was venerated, when being older made your opinion and insight valuable to others. Today, it seems, all it takes is being young, trendy, and having the ability make a hit song. C&S 31 comes from the former era and it holds a title: the oldest locomotive in Colorado; and that counts for something.

     C&S 31's story is not as storied as her other surviving companions, but it contains its curiosities just as well.  In the words of Jason Midyette who chronicled her story in The Bogies and the Loop, her "survival was more a result of random chance than any actual plan; had the C&S kept it, it would have been rebuilt and modernized (and ultimately scrapped) and had the locomotive been in better shape, it might not have been set aside for display in 1932."  

    Built in 1880, C&S 31 began its career as number 51 on the South Park Line. It later joined the Denver, Leadville, & Gunnison as 191 and finally the C&S as number 31 (though it was never renumbered in actuality). It served for 22 years on those lines until it was sold for $2000 in April 1899 (or 1902-sources vary), a year after the creation of the C&S, to the Edward Hines Lumber Company in Wisconsin and run as Washburn & Northwestern #7. In 1905 it was sold to the Robbins Lumber Co. in Rhinelander, which was bought in 1919 by the Thunder Lake Lumber Co. As a side note, one source said that the cautious owner of the line thought it was too heavy to be used unless the ground was frozen. Midyette states that "By 1932, No. 191 was completely worn out and seldom used."  It was retired that year and placed on display at Wisconsin's Rhinelander Logging Museum, next to the paper mill in town, moving there under its own power for the last time.  It was later moved to Rhinelander's Pioneer Park.  The engine remained on display for a little over four decades.


    The locomotive's time at Rhinelander was not kind.  The museum at the time pursued a philosophy that the more access the public has to history, the more likely they are to feel connected to it.  Consequently, the engine was fully accessible and climbable.  As a result, many parts went missing and the loco's condition diminished.
     
    At the beginning of the 1970's, Cornelius Hauck, co-founder with Bob Richardson of the Colorado Railroad Museum, learned of the existence of 191 and contacted the Rhinelander museum.  The logging museum was open to 191 moving to Colorado if a fitting replacement locomotive could be found for them.   Hauck discovered a Mexican railroad that owned a former Thunder Lake Lumber Co. engine was closing down.  This engine wasn't a trade or later purchase for the Wisconsin line, like 191, but was actually built new in 1925 specifically for the Wisconsin logger.  Hauck convinced the Rhinelander Museum to accept his offer that if he could get this engine to them, they would give him No. 31/191.

  

    Finally, in February 1973, Bob Richardson made the trek to Mexico to orchestrate the move of the Thunder Lake engine to Wisconsin and then oversaw the move of 191 from the Rhinelander museum onto a railcar for its move back home to Colorado. 

   Now back in her home state she was restored to her appearance as Denver, Leadville & Gunnison 191, including cutting back her smokebox to its length while on the South Park.  One very unique aspect of 51/191/31 is that, as stated in The Bogies and the Loop, she "received little in the way of updates and has remained a remarkably original example of an 1880's narrow gauge freight locomotive."  In addition to its authenticity, it is believed to be the oldest surviving locomotive in the state at over 130 years old.  One more curiosity to South Park fans is that the link and pin coupler installed on the pilot of 191 by the Colorado Railroad Museum was found along the grade to Alpine Tunnel, likely there as a result of some distant wreck.  In 2009 the engine received an entire cosmetic make-over at CRRM and has been proudly displayed on numerous publicity materials related to the museum. For at least a few of us, yes, age matters.

 60: Stay ready for work 'til the end.  

     For those who relish the goal to eat, drink, and be merry, life’s twilight years hold little promise. But for those who believe their lives hold a greater purpose, one that outshines occupation, we want to stay ready for work, whatever divine work this might be.  One of the five C&S survivors did just that.

     C&S 60 began her life on the Utah & Northern in 1886. She eventually joined the DL&G and ultimately the Colorado & Southern. A story concerning her latter days suggests that the engine was being used to scrap the remainder of the Clear Creek line in 1941 when, well, she just broke down in the town of Idaho Springs where the loco was subsequently donated to the city for display.  

     The "break down" story, however, is likely a myth.  The Colorado & Southern Railway Society, a historical preservation group that has taken on the mantel of caring for No. 60 and her coach, have studied the engine's service records at the Colorado Railroad Museum and there found evidence to discredit such a story.  

     Their research reports, "The C&S mileage records for 60 show she received a complete overhaul in April of 1936. She ran for a year till mid 1937 when she was stored serviceable in Leadville from mid 1937-January 1939.  The records contain monthly inspection sheets filled out for every month of her layup and which state she was stored serviceable in Leadville."

     There the diminutive consolidation lived out her remaining years ready to do the work she was born to do.  In fact, she had the chance to do just that one more time when in the early winter of 1939 she again plied the rails for 6 months.  She was stored again in June, but this time, as she awaited another fire in her belly, the mileage record demonstrates that it was not to happen again.

     The C&S Ry. Society, consequently concludes that "all of our research seems to support that the idea of the breakdown is a myth."  They theorize that "the story of the 'breakdown' seems to come from having one of her eccentric links disconnected.  We haven't determined why that is or when it was done.  However, from the records, and from physical inspection this far, 60 appears to be in excellent mechanical condition with only mild wear from her service time."

     In 1938 the C&S offered towns along its line a locomotive for display purposes.  No one took the bait.  Yet, a 1941 article in the Clear Creek Mining Journal calls No. 60 in Idaho Springs a "gift."  There is a bit of a complication in this gift, though.  Apparently, Clear Creek County argued, as long ago as 1936, that the railway had not paid a tax debt.  In 1941 the county accepted the locomotive as a settlement for this dispute.  Curiously, the town specified in the agreement that they wanted No. 60 to wear a snowplow.

     On Tuesday, May 13th, scrapper Rube Morris hauled the engine and a coach (no. 70) to Idaho Springs using engine 69.  The engine and her small train were on display on a small strip of land between Miner Street and Colorado Blvd.  At some point a log-cabin styled gift shop was built next to the train.  Some have referenced that the gift shop owner sometimes burned old tires in the boiler to simulate steam in order to garner customers.

   As in the case of engine 71 in Central City, it appears that the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad sent a crew to spiff up the engines in the 1950s or 1960s and consequently repainted the engine with the Burlington herald on the tender and "C&S" under a smaller engine number on the cab.  When the paint scheme was returned to the original, as it is today, is unclear.

     Using temporary track, the train was moved forward on March 14, 1987 into what is now Harold A. Anderson Park, the spot where a few year earlier, an old school house was moved as well which serves today as Idaho Springs' city hall.  This is where she is today.  In the summer of 2015 the C&S Ry. Society completely needle scaled and repainted 60's smokebox with a graphite based paint mix to reflect its appearance while in operation.  They also added coal boards to the tender.

     In the early 2000s number 60 also was taken into consideration for operation on the Georgetown Loop.  Jason Midyette, one of the directors of the South Park Rail Society, explained that, "CHS (now History Colorado) did approach Idaho Springs in 2004 about using No. 60 on the Loop and Idaho Springs was seemingly favorable to the idea. In further discussions, it was brought to everyone's attention that 60 was the only surviving C&S narrow gauge locomotive that was completely original and essentially untouched from its days on the C&S. As returning it to operation would entail changes and replacement parts, a case was made that 60 should be preserved as a record of C&S practices which would be irrevocably lost if the locomotive was operated on the Loop. CHS and Idaho Springs decided that the locomotive should be preserved and it was no longer considered for operation.  
     Today number 60, with her coach, still sits proudly on the track looking ahead down the former right-of-way on Idaho Street.

     History has led these five locomotives down a trail as serpentine as the grades they once climbed. Where will history take us? It might, like 71, take us back where we came from. We might find ourselves left behind like 74, but it could turn out better than we expect. Maybe we’ll find ourselves in a situation that requires us to reinvent ourselves like number 9. For those of us who’ve earned our keep, we may need to remember that age matters like C&S 31. Yet, no matter what life brings our way, no matter when we might finally drop off the serviceable list like number 60, there’s a calling to keep doing the work we were created to do until we change trains at that great Union Depot that awaits us all.

References

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