Oscar Perschbacher's adventures on the C&S

Conductor Oscar Perschbacher had the sad honor of giving the final C&S narrow gauge train order to the engineer of No. 76 in Leadville. 

Boarding house Oscar helped build (behind the station)

Perschbacher had a long career with the C&S. While he later served as a brakeman and eventually a
conductor,  he began as a carpenter repairing bridges. He later moved to work at Alpine Tunnel around 1906. There he helped repair the tunnel and construct the two-story boarding house after fire had destroyed the facilities there.

A testimony to Perschbacher and his fellow crewmen's work: the boarding house stood for roughly 50 years after abandonment before its collapse sometime in the 1960s.

Remains of the boarding house today

Working in Alpine Tunnel

Inside Alpine Tunnel 1948 - Ed Haley photo from the Feb. 1991 Rocky Mountain Rail Report

Not long after his arrival at Alpine, a crew of men including Oscar went to work repairing some tunnel timbers. Oscar and some others perched themselves on scaffolding to insert the keyblock at the top of one of the arches. Nearby, others dug out rock or dirt debris (possibly from the ceiling work being done). It seems the scaffolding had been perched on or around some of this debris so that the digging inadvertently caused the scaffold to collapse. As he fell, Oscar saw the ceiling collapse as well. This came down on top of Oscar and the other workmen. He recalls the fear that the torches (kerosene torches drilled into the timbers) would go out and plunge them all into darkness. 

Thankfully, others dug them out. Oscar credits 'Tuck' Simpson's help in getting dug out.

Train Consists on Alpine and Boreas Passes

Eastbound train leaving Pitkin (H.L. Curtiss Photo)

Oscar remarked that trains running over both Alpine and Boreas Pass had four engines. Two led up front while two pushed from the rear, just in front of the caboose. Due to the ice in winter on these lines, it was hard to get a stopped train moving again without at least four locomotives.

Ignoring the Rules for Georgetown Loop

The Loop High Bridge today

Procedures were different on the Clear Creek division of the C&S. One time Oscar and some other trainmen from the South Park division were called over to the Clear Creek Line during tourist season. He recalls being conductor on a train “racing” a doubleheader over the Georgetown Loop’s high bridge. He didn't know that the railroad had concerns about how much weight could be put on the bridge. Someone in the coach asked if he knew that they were supposed to take one engine over the bridge and then bring the rest of the train with the second engine. Oscar simply replied “No. I don’t, but it’s too late now!”

Speeding Through the South Park

Relaid track in the South Park today

Speaking of speed, Oscar marveled at the speed of the fast freights from Denver to Leadville. As a brakeman he rode on top with his brake club in hand and enjoyed what he called a “wild ride.” Sometimes that speed came to trouble, particularly in the South Park at night. It was hard to see what was on the tracks and a few times his trains hit cattle. 

Dips in the track due to a slight washout were another issue. The daring engineers, whom Oscar called “hogheads,” seemed to fire through them at speed to get over the inverted humps. He commented, “They killed a lot of good men that way.”

The adventures on the C&S never cease to amaze a flatlander like me!

Source:

The stories above were gleaned from an article in the Summer 1974 Slim Gauge News entitled "Recollections with Oscar" by Elwood Bell

Como roundhouse 1981 "reaching the point of no return"

For anyone who has seen the startling restorations in Como in the last few years, it is good to remember just how far things have come.  

In perusing old copies of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club's Rocky Mountain Rail Report newsletters, I came across the following from one year shy of four decades ago.

June 1981 

IF YOUR TRAVEL PLANS INCLUDE ANY EXPEDITIONS across Colorado in the future, and you are motoring through South Park on 285 around eating time, stopping to vanquish hunger pains at the Como Depot [sic - the hotel] at Como may be worthy of consideration. We don't "own any stock" in the restaurant, but Jo and Keith Hodges deserve credit and mention for providing a useful function for the building by the operation of their restaurant, which also results in the preservation of the historic railroad hotel. The food is good, and reasonably priced. (A recent visit reaffirmed a previous observation that the prime rib is "tops".) Hours are 6:30 AM to 9:00 PM (until 8:00 PM on Sundays). They are closed on Tuesdays.

The Como roundhouse sits nearby, of course, looking more forlorn everyday. The building and grounds are for sale for a reported $50,000, a sum hardly attainable by any group desiring to acquire the building for preservation, particularly when con­sidering the cost of needed repair. It is sad to see such a memorable part of our state's railroad history reaching the point of no return. Ideas, anyone? Oh yes, the name of the company handling the property is Leach Realty.

Below are some photos of photos of the roundhouse in the 1980s.   These shots were in the roundhouse office when I visited in 2018.

50th Anniversary of the last South Park trains with Bob Richardson

I just purchased Bob Richardson's autobiography, Chasing Trains.  Richardson, who co-founded the Colorado Railroad Museum, has a number of C&S tidbits that I didn't know about.  Below is one of them.

The modelers at Boulder, Colorado, who maintained Engine 74 in the city park there, loaned us the so-called "bear-trap" cinder catcher they had built from Colorado & Southern patterns for that 2-8-0.  

Photo Source: Heritage Rail Alliance

So, in April of 1987, on the occasion of the final-runs anniversary on the South Park line, we operated No. 346 with our single ex-C&S stock car and the little four-wheel C&S way-car (caboose).  

Author's photo: 1991

It made an unusual and authentic 50th anniversary train, for in 1937, Engine 346 had been on loan to the C&S, and she handled the last livestock train on the South Park--into Jefferson.  The engine has a steel cab instead of the original wooden one, a result of a wreck on the C&S at Kenosha Pass in 1936.  

After the last stock train in 1937, there was a mix-up, and the crew put No. 346 into the Como roundhouse and dumped the fire.  Then, the crew got an automobile ride back to Denver.  The men were supposed to have run the 2-8-0 back to Denver, so the engine could be loaded onto a flatcar and sent back to the D&RGW.  As a result, a crew had to be taken back to Como, where No. 346 was fired up, and the men ran the engine light to Denver.

Drone over the Como yard - 2019

The South Park Rail Society recently posted this video by Michael Randol SOCO Elevated Drone Photography Ltd including outstanding drone footage of the Como roundhouse yard.  A light snow blankets the South Park and many new acquisitions of narrow gauge equipment rest outside for their turn to come back to life including two recently acquired Rio Grande stock cars and a drop down gondola.

The Last Mason Bogie - another look

We visited the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield village again in October 2019 and caught a bit of footage of the Torch Lake, the last remaining Mason Bogie in the world.  One of the docents explained that she was hidden (intentionally?) in the back of a shed behind other locos when taken out of service.  This is what allowed her to avoid being scrapped (like DSP&P 57 was scrapped) for the wartime scrap drive during WWII.

The Torch Lake was originally narrow gauge, just barely.  She was built as 4 foot 1 inch gauge, but later standard gauged.


Another bit of interesting info from the Henry Ford site:
"The last time the Torch was fired-up by the Calumet & Hecla Mining Co. was in 1933. Being the last of their steam locomotives and after 50 years of service, it was decided to place the Torch Lake in indefinite storage. The locomotive had to be towed on the mainline part of its journey to storage due to it not having air brakes. When the main line portion of the trip was completed, it was left on a siding at Lake Linden. The boiler was fired up and it continued under its own power. As they crossed a bridge and main highway on the way to Ahmeek, Mich., engineer Edward Carter blew a long whistle thinking this would be the last steam train whistle heard in the Keweenaw Peninsula. It was placed in a storage shed at the C & H facility in Ahmeek, drained of water and left there untouched until 1966.

"That same year the Torch Lake was pulled out of the shed and towed to Calumet, Mich., to become part of the Calumet & Hecla Centennial. The train was cleaned, painted and put on display. After the Centennial, C & H offered the locomotive to the Edison Institute (now The Henry Ford) as a gift."

The Jefferson Depot-under new ownership 2019

The Jefferson Depot: "Serving travelers since 1880" reads the headline on the website .
www.thejeffersondepot.com

The depot was abandoned in 1937/8 along with the South Park Line, but has had a few lives in the intervening years including the most recent as the Hungry Moose Caboose restaurant.  It's newest owner bought the former C&S depot in the heart of the South Park in 2019.

Their website reads: "In 2019, Frank and Jackie Marinaro purchased the Depot with the dream of creating a place where hikers and anglers, photographers and commuters, passers-thru and lifelong residents can gather, eat, drink and relax in the midst of towering mountain vistas, sparkling rivers, and star-filled Colorado night skies."

They honor the heritage of the depot throughout their website including a map of the entire C&S narrow gauge system, several historical photos of the depot during operations, and images of C&S trains hanging on the walls of the building.

In their "About" section it states, "Formerly the railroad depot for the Denver South Park and Pacific

Railway, The Jefferson Depot has stood at the gateway to the South Park Valley for nearly 150 years welcoming travelers to the breadth and beauty of western Colorado. Located at the base of Kenosha Pass on US 285, the distinct blue train depot building offers respite for travelers passing to and from Denver and towns located in Colorado's central mountains."

While giving the entire operation the name The Jefferson Depot, they still retain the name Hungry Moose Caboose for the take-out grill structure that is made to resemble a simplistic caboose.  Inside the station is the Moose Saloon and also a new area for dining in.  Tables are found in the passenger room, freight room, and agent's office.   

If you would like to see the inside of the depot you can see a virtual tour here from a site that previously posted the property for sale and has yet to be taken down.

While all of us would love to see a train again pull up to the Jefferson depot again (maybe Klondike Kate will get there someday from Como!), it's great to see this historical station still having life and retaining more than a few nods to its past.  Many blessings to Frank and Jackie Marinaro on their new venture!

The Resurrection of Gondola 4319

Happy Easter!  Happy Resurrection Day!  My family and I are today celebrating that when Jesus came back to life He proved that nothing could keep us separated from God anymore, not even death.

In honor of the Great resurrection, I made a video to celebrate a tiny resurrection, a C&S resurrection that had its beginnings almost one year ago: the return of C&S gondola 4319 to Como, Colorado.  For too many years, it sat alone and with little care in a Central City park, wasting away in the elements.  Today, the South Park Rail Society has the following plans for her:
We are very pleased to report that we have been awarded a grant from the Tom E. Dailey Foundation. This grant will go towards the complete restoration of Colorado & Southern gondola #4319. In 2018 the South Park Rail Society raised the funds needed to move the #4310 from Central City to Como, Colorado. The railcar is now scheduled to begin a full restoration inside the Como roundhouse. 

Enjoy this short film of photos and video of the only remaining C&S narrow gauge gondola from 1941 to its new start in 2018.

A Mini-DSP&P-Now I Know!

In my last post, I asked who this "mini-DSP&P" was.  Several people tracked down the answer.  According to their website, "The DSP&PRR is the highest 7 1/2 inch gauge railroad in the world at an elevation of 9,200 feet above sea level."  It is located near Hartsel, Colorado, south of Garo.

After having purchased land in 2000, the group surveyed the route that would run on their 40 acres.  Three years later they began grading and by 2010 were laying track, even using hopper cars to drop ballast.  They presently have 4,330 feet of track in two divisions, called the Northern and Southern Divisions.

Ballast hoppers

The private railroad welcomes all railfans to come and ride or even bring their own 7 1/2 inch gauge locomotives to run, providing an unloading pad and a turntable 20 feet in length at waist level to enable turning.

In much the same way that the C&S had to figure out ways to avoid starting fires from their locos, most famously with Ridgeway Spark Arrestors, this DSP&P only allows propane steamers because of the "extreme fire danger" of the South Park area.

While perusing their site and videos, I noticed most equipment was not DSP&P themed.  However, the two exceptions include what they refer to as The South Park Mogul, a red painted 2-6-0 built to represent a high-drivered standard gauge steamer, but with its tender lettered "D.S.P.&P.R.R.".  The other exceptions are the ballast hoppers that are also red and DSP&P lettered.

On the other hand, their route uses South Park names throughout including: Como, Selkirk, Boreas Pass, Windy Point, Midway, and Peabodys Siding.

Below is a video of The South Park Mogul, with a quick shot of an incredibly accurate C&S 70 live steamer (though I don't think this video is at the DSP&PRR) and another video showing their ballast cars.



Finally, here is a video of another DSP&P locomotive on the line.



Below is their track plan:

The last news update on the site is from July 2017, so I don't know of anything more current, though there is a "Contact" section with an email.

The narrow gauge is back in Pine after 80 years!

Shelly Means photo, December 30, 2017

"For the first time in 80 years, the narrow gauge railroad is returning to Pine Grove."  So runs a January 5th, 2018 Park County news article.  Pine was, in the time of the South Park and later C&S, the location of a coaling dock.  The memory of the importance of coal and the railroad has now been commemorated in a new display.

On December 30th, 2017, an old Rio Grande gondola was installed on a rebuilt segment of track in Pine Grove History Park.  Jim Jordan of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Heritage Society worked with Lindsey Ashby, who donated the car, to help make the new display happen.  The DSP&P Historical Society was responsible for laying the tracks.

While we wish a C&S car could have been used, it's delightful to know that the display was built on the original South Park right-of-way.  The D&RGW car (no. 1499) was purchased in the '70's by Ashby, seeing use first on the old Colorado Central Narrow Gauge tourist route in Central City and then on the Georgetown Loop.  It later traveled with Ashby to the Royal Gorge route. 

The town also has a standard gauge caboose, CB&Q 14359, on display.  I don't have any knowledge of how or why it got there, or whether it is a private or public display.

Steve Schweighofer graciously provided the news article included in this post.

Joan McDonald photo, December 30, 2017

References:
"Platte Canyon: Pine Grove received railroad gondola car." The Flume. 5 January 2018.
Midyette, Jason.  "A gondola for Pine."  The Bogies and the Loop. January 2018.

C&S narrow gauge mileage is growing! Update

* This is an update to a previous post.  On December 30th, 2017, a short section of track was laid at Pine, Colorado.  See below for details.

In the first half of the twentieth century, the years went up, but the mileage of the C&S kept going down.  Minus the Climax to Leadville line, the last narrow gauge C&S-owned rail to be pulled would be from Chatfield to Denver completed by December 1942, leaving the route standard gauged and finally the narrow gauge rails at Union Terminal and the yards at Denver, finished by the 15th of April in 1943.

The big finale, of course, was when the narrow gauge rails were uprooted from the now standard gauged Climax to Leadville route after the final narrow gauge run on August 25th, 1943.  Technically speaking, C&S rails still held on from Gunnison to the Baldwin Mines, albeit under the "new" ownership of the D&RGW, but were eventually gone by the 1950s. 

It struck me, however, that there is more C&S narrow gauge trackage today than over fifty years ago.  The mileage of this lost railroad has actually increased since the mid twentieth century as tourist routes have sprung up and historical displays and re-creations have dotted the Colorado landscape.

I don't have exact amounts in terms of mileage, but I thought it would be curious to recount the number of places that now (or still) sport C&S narrow gauge track.

Original track still in place

Length of Alpine Tunnel

Reconstructed track on original roadbed

Silver Plume to Devil's Gate Viaduct

Wye on Kenosha Pass

Rocky Point on Boreas Pass

Snowplow park, Breckenridge

Como

Alpine Tunnel

Sherrod Curve

Display Parks

Tracks are on or in the vicinity of former C&S roadbed

Boreas Pass

Silver Plume (The caboose is now indoors under restoration, so I'm not sure the status of the track at present)

Central City

Idaho Springs

Pine
On December 30th, 2017 a short stretch of track was built on the old right-of-way to display a narrow gauge gondola in honor of the South Park's heritage in Pine, once the location of a coaling dock.  The car is a D&RGW high side gondola, acquired from Lindsey Ashby.

Shelly Means photo, December 30, 2017

Reconstructed track that was later removed

Central City towards Black Hawk-twice rebuilt and removed

First time

Second time

Georgetown depot 

(I don't recall what is still here.  At one point Central American Railways #44 was displayed on track outside the old Georgetown depot.  I know #44 is gone, but I am not sure if track remains)

And the great news is: the mileage keeps growing!  Especially in Como this year!

References:

Poor, Mac. DSP&P pp. 412-3
Midyette, Jason. "A gondola for Pine." The Bogies and the Loop, January 2018.

Video of Kenosha Pass tracks and interpretive signs

I stumbled upon this video of the tracks at Kenosha.  While I've driven the main road over Kenosha I have never had the chance to stop and see the tracks there.  The Youtuber who posted the video seems to think these are abandoned tracks.  As most of you know they were rebuilt many years ago as a display and to run a handcar if I recall correctly. 

The author of the video walks along the tracks (beginning at roughly 2:14) and also has shots of the interpretive signs which I had not seen before.  At the end of the video he is walking along a dirt walking path.  My hunch was that this might be more of the C&S grade.  Does anyone know offhand if that is correct? 

According to this page on the South Park Rail Society, these tracks, along with the stretch at Windy Point on the Boreas Pass route, were laid by the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railway Historical Society.  Oddly, I don't see any reference to these locations on the DSP&PHS site. 

Additionally, the Forest Service website has a page dedicated to this railroad display and gives a few good close ups of some of the interpretive signs there.

Como gets a gondola for its future passengers

Como got one of the old gondolas from the Georgetown Loop on August 3.  The Loop operation had labeled it for the Georgetown, Breckenridge, and Leadville.  I recall riding in this gondola or another like it on one of my trips on the Loop over 15 or so years ago.  I don't know its origin.  My guess is that it was a D&RGW car, as the Loop had lots of Rio Grande equipment.  I don't know if this came directly from the Georgetown Loop or if it was moved off the property in 2005 when management changed.  If I recall, much of the equipment owned by the Ashbys went to the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden.

Photo is from the South Park Rail Society's Facebook page

No. 4 is painted and soon to be delivered!

Number 4 has a new cab and it just got painted.  The South Park Rail Society state in the post "Currently we are planning on delivery [to Como] early next week."

Photo taken by Mike Pannell, posted on South Park Rail's Facebook page

Ring rail spiked in Como turntable pit!

On August 10th, 2017 the ring rail was spiked in the Como turntable pit.  Can you believe it???

Photo from Como Depot Facebook page

Ride the rails in Como!

See what it's like to ride the rails in Como for the first time since 1938!  This clips gives a walking track view of the line from the roundhouse to the depot and then from the depot to the mainline towards Alpine Tunnel and Gunnison.

And, can you believe it? Steam is on the way in just a week or so!

The C&S in Trains Mag Again?!

The number of times the C&S narrow gauge has shown up in Trains magazine this year has to be a
record.  It made an appearance again this year in the September 2017 edition.

Not even relegated to the "Preservation News" section in the back of the magazine, the Como roundhouse renovation made it to page 10!

With a nice widescreen shot of the roundhouse and turntable pit, the news brief reads, "COMING ALONG: Work resumes on restoration of the former Denver, South Park & Pacific roundhouse in Como, Colorado.  It is expected to become the centerpiece of a museum dedicated to the narrow gauge railroad."

Photo from comoroundhouse.com

C&S Narrow Gauge Mileage is growing!

In the first half of the twentieth century, the years went up, but the mileage of the C&S kept going down.  Minus the Climax to Leadville line, the last narrow gauge C&S-owned rail to be pulled would be from Chatfield to Denver completed by December 1942, leaving the route standard gauged and finally the narrow gauge rails at Union Terminal and the yards at Denver, finished by the 15th of April in 1943.

The big finale, of course, was when the narrow gauge rails were uprooted from the now standard gauged Climax to Leadville route after the final narrow gauge run on August 25th, 1943.  Technically speaking, C&S rails still held on from Gunnison to the Baldwin Mines, albeit under the "new" ownership of the D&RGW, but were eventually gone by the 1950s. 

It struck me, however, that there is more C&S narrow gauge trackage today than over fifty years ago.  The mileage of this lost railroad has actually increased since the mid twentieth century as tourist routes have sprung up and historical displays and re-creations have dotted the Colorado landscape.

I don't have exact amounts in terms of mileage, but I thought it would be curious to recount the number of places that now (or still) sport C&S narrow gauge track.

Original track still in place

Length of Alpine Tunnel

Reconstructed track on original roadbed

Silver Plume to Devil's Gate Viaduct

Wye on Kenosha Pass

Rocky Point on Boreas Pass

Snowplow park, Breckenridge

Como

Alpine Tunnel

Sherrod Curve

Display Parks

Tracks are on or in the vicinity of former C&S roadbed

Boreas Pass

Silver Plume (The caboose is now indoors under restoration, so I'm not sure the status of the track at present)

Central City

Idaho Springs

Reconstructed track that was later removed

Central City towards Black Hawk-twice rebuilt and removed

First time

Second time

Georgetown depot 

(I don't recall what is still here.  At one point Central American Railways #44 was displayed on track outside the old Georgetown depot.  I know #44 is gone, but I am not sure if track remains)

And the great news is: the mileage keeps growing!  Especially in Como this year!

Reference:

Poor, Mac. DSP&P pp. 412-3

-->