The C&S goes musical!

The Colorado & Southern Railway has gone musical!!!

Ok, just kidding, but I happened on these guys while doing a web search.  I have no idea what C&S stands for in this case, but I thought it was interesting none the less.

Their self-description is: C&S Railroad is a Blues band that melds all types of Americana with soul. Lead by Chris Sutton (who twice qualified as a soloist for the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN) on acoustic and vocals; Mark the Harp who learned the harmonica hitch-hiking across the US; JJ Brankham formerly of "Mass Transit Suicide" on bass; Steve Hall,frequent drummer for Landau Murphy, on percussion. C&S Railroad...playin' the blues like a freight train!

The C&S Railroad Band can also be found on Facebook.

A short reflection on Combine 20 in the 1990s

During my teen years I kept every doggone train magazine I received in the mail.  I have been attempting to thin out my collection lately and I came across the following write-up in the Sept/Oct 1990 Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette on combination car #20 that now sits behind C&S 71 in Central City.

"Comination car #20 is the most famous of the four C&S combination cars that lasted until the end of operations.  Originally number 25, the number was changed when the car was put on display at Central City, Colorado.  It remained there for many years, and now you can ride in this historic car on a restored segment of the C&S line that runs towards Black Hawk from Central City, Colorado.  This 32-foot-long combination car is also one of the oldest cars left in Colorado, having been built in 1878.  It operated as an Adams Express Company car for many years before it was retired and placed on display."

Sadly, this return to life ended within the year when the short-lived Black Hawk and Central City narrow gauge tourist railroad closed up.  The combine was never again to roll behind a locomotive.

I saw it in 1990 & 1991, resting on the idle tourist railroad track.  The track was eventually torn up and the train moved to one site and then another.  It now is on display on a raised pedestal behind #71 next to Harvey's Wagon Wheel Casino.

If you're looking for more on this combine, I wrote up a more thorough history of #20 in the most recent Bogies & the Loop.  I'm also working on a new piece for the B&L chronicling the two tourist routes in Central City and a possible third.  The first installment of what will be a two-part article should be in the next edition.

The above photos are from two trips I took, one in 1990 and the other in 1991.

Below is a postcard I bought on one of the trips when the tourist route was in operation:

Remains of Selkirk Trestle in 1946

I recently came across a photo that shows the remains of Selkirk trestle outside of Breckenridge in 1946.  I wonder what remains of this site today.

Photo from Denver Public Library.

C&S 60's class lamps restored!

I continue to be thrilled with the work being done by The Colorado & Southern Railway Society.  They are actively at work restoring the electrical system on C&S 60 in Idaho Springs.  Below is the first work done.  They restored 60's class lamps. 


Their facebook post reads:
"Colorado & Southern Locomotive 60's class lamps.

These are 60's original lamps which were recently restored by Ron Kaiser.

Restoration was paid for by donations to the Colorado & Southern Railway Society.

60's lamps represent to first component of the locomotives electrical system to be restored. Eventually we plan to restore her complete electrical system as it would be in regular service with an additional electrical hookup added so that as she sits on display the locomotive headlight, lamps and cab lights will be illuminated.

Thanks to Ron Kaiser for his beautiful craftsmanship."

Platte Canyon, Then and Now

Another great image from Then and Now, Images of Colorado and the West

Notice the rock formation at top left (a large rock with a smaller one on top of it).  You can see the same formation in the 2015 photo.

Here is the description from the Facebook post:

Tracks of the Colorado & Southern narrow gauge in Platte Canyon. Early 1900's to 2015. The distance to Denver would have been roughly 28 miles by rail from this point when L.C. McClure took the original photo. Today, the most dramatic portions of the canyon are inundated by the Strontia Springs reservoir which was completed in the 1980's. When I visited in 2015, the water levels had receded just enough to allow me to stand out on the sandbar and capture this view.

Original photograph from the Denver Public Library Western History Collection.

Clear Creek trestle identified

On a family trip with my parents back in the early 1990s, we drove through Clear Creek Canyon.  Upon exiting a tunnel, we stopped to along the side of the road to get a look at the C&S roadbed that clearly wound around the mountains that the road tunneled through.  We were treated to a neat surprise because when we looked over the guardrail we saw an abutment of a C&S trestle.

I took several photos of this abutment.  It wasn't until years later that I figured out how to identify which specific trestle it once supported.  By looking above the roadbed I noticed a very distinctly shaped rock formation rising up to the left.  I was then able to identify this formation in old C&S and Colorado Central photos.

The abutment, then, belongs to what once was Elk Creek Bridge No. 19, named for nearby Elk Meadow.  It was built in 1872 as a wooden trestle.  The track is on a 3 percent grade, then is level on the bridge, and returns to 3 percent as the road heads toward the west including Forks Creek and beyond.

On the side I am standing on, there once was a section house, a pump house, a handcar, a stone cellar, and water tank.  On the 9th of July, 1907, a deluge took out the original bridge and it was replaced with an iron one.

I also took a photo of what appears to be a small bridge.  I don't know for sure which one it is.  My guess, based on it's small size, is that it is bridge No. 18.  This was 8 1/2 miles west of Golden.

The third photo I have shows the rockwork along Clear Creek on the grade headed east from Elk Creek bridge.

The fourth and final photo I took that day shows what I perceived to be old railroad ties in Clear Creek.  I have no idea if a wooden tie would remain unrotted after all those years, so it is not for sure that these are ties at all.

Historical details above and the b&w photos are from "Colorado Central Rail Road" by Abbot, McCoy, and McLeod.

New cab doors for No. 60

I love getting updates on work on the C&S!  The Colorado & Southern Railway Society recently took a trip to No. 9 in Breckenridge to aid their work on No. 60.  Check out their photos here below and their Facebook page description:

 "In January 2016, members of the C&S Railway Society made a trip to Breckenridge to measure the cab doors and windows of C&S locomotive #9 on display in the High Line Railroad Park. With the help of Cindy Hintgen of the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance we were granted access to the cab of the #9. This was extremely helpful as we prepare to make new cab doors and windows for C&S locomotive #60 in Idaho Springs."

"The first new replacement door for C&S locomotive #60 has been completed. This is one of the rear cab doors, which will be hinged to another identical piece to create a bifold style door. These doors are made from white oak and fitted together with mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to our resident wood worker Leighton Moreland for all of his help in making this a reality!"