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Colorado railroad spots

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Colorado railroad spots
Posted by MP173 on Friday, June 26, 2015 8:45 PM

Any suggestions of good spots to watch/photograph trains in Colorado?  Are there any Colorado railfan reference websites that can be recommended?

Ed

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Posted by denveroutlaws06 on Friday, June 26, 2015 10:18 PM

here is a good map of the Denver area with all the RRs that come in and out of Denver.

http://www.coloradorailfan.com/data/maps/map-detail.asp?p=122005

http://www.coloradorailfan.com/data/data.asp

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Posted by MidlandMike on Friday, June 26, 2015 10:21 PM

The busiest line has to be the "Joint Line" between Denver and Pueblo, although probably less so with coal being down.  An interesting way to view it is to take the parallel Denver light rail line out to Littleton/Mineral.  You also pass the ex-DRGW Burnham Shops.  You can view the Joint Line at the outer stations.  South of town, Palmer Lake is at the top of the grade, where the line becomes single track.

The UP (ex-DRGW) "Moffat" line is less busy but the Moffat Tunnel portals are classic photo locations.  The East Portal can be reached from a good dirt road west of Rollinsville, and the West Portal is next to US 40, at Winter Park.  Glenwood Springs is a nice place to watch Amtrak (the EB and WB Zephyr passby mid-day), and there is a hotel across the street from the depot (I think it s called the Denver) from which you can watch/listen to trains all night.

If you are a narrow gauge fan, Durango and Chama (NM) should not be missed.  Georgetown loop is also interesting.

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Posted by MP173 on Saturday, June 27, 2015 8:29 AM

We really do not plan on spending much time in Denver, more so out and about in the mountain areas.  We do plan on going to Alamosa to the RioGrande Scenic.

Is the line thru the Royal Gorge still in operation for either freight or tourist?  My family went there in 1964 (I was 9) and it was quite a site.

Ed

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Posted by Convicted One on Saturday, June 27, 2015 11:04 AM

Glenwood canyon, for sure. Not sure what the traffic count is like these days, but that whole area where I-70, US 6 and the DRGW all parallel the Colorado river is just full of incredible photo opportunities. From Dotsero all the way west to the state line if you have the time.

Also, although the line is dormant, US route 24 from Leadville to Minturn (Tennessee Pass, basically) is something you probably shouldn't miss, if you've never been there before.

 

 

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Posted by mudchicken on Saturday, June 27, 2015 11:24 AM

MP173

We really do not plan on spending much time in Denver, more so out and about in the mountain areas.  We do plan on going to Alamosa to the RioGrande Scenic.

Is the line thru the Royal Gorge still in operation for either freight or tourist?  My family went there in 1964 (I was 9) and it was quite a site.

Ed

 

MP173

We really do not plan on spending much time in Denver, more so out and about in the mountain areas.  We do plan on going to Alamosa to the RioGrande Scenic.

Is the line thru the Royal Gorge still in operation for either freight or tourist?  My family went there in 1964 (I was 9) and it was quite a site.

Ed

 

MP173

Is the line thru the Royal Gorge still in operation for either freight or tourist?  My family went there in 1964 (I was 9) and it was quite a site. Ed

Royal Gorge RR (tourist, RGCX) and Rock & Rail (freight, RRRR) both in the gorge. The gorge is still healing up from the fires and is greening-up. Both railroads end at Parkdale on the west end of the gorge. Dormant from that point west.

Right now, traffic west of the front range is really light.

Flying in, #5 or Driving in? ...You're already ahead knowing the east half of Colorado is flat, there is much more to CO than Denver and you are willing to get off the main drags. The water in the high country is really up right now.

Ruxton Hill, Palmer Lake, Golden, Glenwood Canyon (avoid Glenwood Springs), Tin Cup, Gunnison, Gore Canyon, Gallinas, Portland, Pueblo Jcn., Utah Jcn, Lunch at Guiseppe's in Colorado Springs, Windsor, Fox Junction, Plum Creek, Loveland, Silver Plume, Delta, (avoid Last Chance or Punkin Center), Silverton, Leadville

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by MP173 on Sunday, June 28, 2015 10:49 AM

We are driving from Chicago area west...havent decided whether to go via I80 to North Platte or take I70 thru Kansas City.  Will probably be a game time decision.  This is not a railroading vacation, but a husband wife vacation so I must selectively be in the right places.  

Royal Gorge would work great as it is a wonderful scene...whether or not trains run thru would not be a decision maker.  Ditto Tennessee Pass area (obviously!).  

I would like to recreate some steps taken back in 1964 and 1966 to Pueblo (by train) and LaJuanta (by train).  Also down to Alamosa (by car).  I dont recall too much from those trips, but it is always fun to go back to places.

Ed

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Posted by switch7frg on Sunday, June 28, 2015 11:13 AM

Smile MP173 Ed. Grand Junction  yard  is a good spot. Amtrac runs thru there on the way to Denver. There is freight traffic also. Glenwood Springs where the tracks  run on the south side of the river . A good spot to  pull off the road by Glenwood Hot Springs  Also eagles gather along there .

                       Have fun on the "shoot"

Y6bs evergreen in my mind

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Posted by Convicted One on Sunday, June 28, 2015 11:36 AM

MP173
but a husband wife vacation so I must selectively be in the right places.

 

Add "Garden of the Gods" to your itinerary. Just west of Colorado Springs. You can use that as a bargaining chip with wifey to let you enjoy some railroad centric time as well. (you'll probably both enjoy it)

Just an option to consider, but Utah is even more scenic than Colorado. But for you to go that far west would add a serious burden to your driving time.  Unless you fly to Salt Lake Cty, rent a one-way, and drive I-15/I-70/US-24 to Colorado Springs, with a detour to Royal Gorge on the closing leg.  You'll see alot of cool stuff, and can consider either dropping the rental off and flying back home, or driving the whole way, depending on how much time you have left.

Whenever I drive through the west for a vacation, I always end up wishing I had more time to spend in places that I didn't even know about until I drove past them.  My suggestion is intended to give you the freedom to explore such places.

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Posted by MP173 on Sunday, June 28, 2015 4:42 PM

Seriously considering Leadville, Colorado for a night.  There is a scenic railroad - Leadville, Colorado, and Southern RR.  It appears that Tennesse Pass is nearby.

Are there any trains (locals) on that line?  I know UP mothballed the line years ago, but I would still want to explore the line...a train would be a huge bonus.

BTW, Mark Hemphill wrote an article in another magazine on the Tennessee Pass line...does anyone know which magazine it was?

Ed

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Posted by mudchicken on Sunday, June 28, 2015 5:39 PM

The weedsprayer has done its thing for the first round....nothing running between Parkdale & Gypsum. Colorado Leadville & Southern (Climax Br.)hanging on barely,  is cut off by CDOT (not UP) in Leadville (x-ing paved under US-24, the town is following suit)

Avoid I-70 in MO if you can - it's a sorry mess. Come back thru La Junta on US-50 and continue east to Garden City, Up KS-156 to Ellsworth/ I-70 to Topeka and North on US-75 to either US-36 or I-80 (Marysville, KS is a busy UP hub)

Can recommend an excellent B&B north of Durango (our favorite) or at Gunnison.

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Sunday, June 28, 2015 6:07 PM

MP173
[snipped - PDN] . . . BTW, Mark Hemphill wrote an article in another magazine on the Tennessee Pass line...does anyone know which magazine it was?

Ed, are you sure it wasn't Trains ???

"Opportunity lost: Tennessee Pass and the Royal Gorge Route - Will merger mean the end of the line over Tennessee Pass?", by Hemphill, Mark W., from Trains, March 1997, p. 34
 
"Paradise Lost - Why Denver & Rio Grande Western's line over Tennessee Pass is idle now", by Hemphill, Mark W., from Trains, June 2003, p. 40

 - Paul North.

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Sunday, June 28, 2015 6:24 PM
I sincerely recommend stopping in Colorado Springs and riding the Manitou & Pikes Peak cog railway, (www.cograilway.com/) While in CS, see the Garden of the Gods. Then go south to Canyon City & ride the Royal Gorge, (https://www.royalgorgeroute.com/) then head SW to Alamosa and ride the Rio Grand SW. (https://www.coloradotrain.com) While there, from Antonito, take the Cumbres & Toltec to Chama and return. (cumbrestoltec.com/) Continue West  to Durango and ride its train to Silverton. (www.durangotrain.com/) From there, continue your circle trip  by going North to Glenwood Springs. Here as stated earlier, by Midland Mike, you can watch the CZ's. Continue East on I-70 and you can get to the Georgetown Loop train. (georgetownlooprr.com/)
I've done this with my wife while pulling a camper and had a great time. If you are adventourous (sp) you can take back raods up to the East portal of Moffat tunnel. This trip is for those who want to see scenery and ride trains. If you just want to photograph freight trains, Midland Mikes post has good suggestions.
Have a good trip and let us know what you chose to do.
 
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Posted by MP173 on Sunday, June 28, 2015 7:44 PM

Paul:
I found those two in Trains, but there is another massive photo article Mark penned in another magazine.  I will find it (downstairs in a box). It was probably 20 pages with WOW photography.

 

Ed

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Posted by Deggesty on Sunday, June 28, 2015 7:53 PM

MP173

Paul:
I found those two in Trains, but there is another massive photo article Mark penned in another magazine.  I will find it (downstairs in a box). It was probably 20 pages with WOW photography.

 

Ed

 

Wild Old Women photography? There was a WOW (Woodmen Of the World)  camp near home; one of my older brothers told me it was a Wild Old Women camp.

Johnny

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Posted by MidlandMike on Sunday, June 28, 2015 9:46 PM

We usuall go to Colorado one way and come back the other way (I-70/80), although a couple of years ago we came back by US 50, so I can second MC on that (although we went all the way along the old ATSF, Pueblo to Emporia/KC, overnighting in Newton).  If you go out I-70, going past Vail to US 24, you can follow the Tennessee Pass line to Leadville.  Part of the UP ex-DRGW Leadville branch is now a bike trail.  All this, plus the Leadville tourist line could disappear at any time, so I would not put it off.

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Posted by MP173 on Monday, June 29, 2015 9:24 PM

Anyone know what the line thru Paoni, Colorado is used for?

At one time it was a Rio Grande branch.

 

Ed

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Posted by vintageracer on Monday, June 29, 2015 10:23 PM

I believe you mean Paonia, Colorado. It being used for coal trains.

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Posted by MP173 on Tuesday, June 30, 2015 6:19 AM

Thanks....do you know frequency of the trains or operator (UP perhaps)?

Ed

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Posted by hontell on Tuesday, June 30, 2015 8:46 AM

Western Museum of Mining and Industry in Colorado Springs is very ineresting.  Run many steam powered machines on compressed air.  Don't miss it.

H

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Posted by MP173 on Tuesday, June 30, 2015 4:24 PM

What scanner frequencies are used on the UP on the Moffet route?

Ed

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Posted by mudchicken on Tuesday, June 30, 2015 4:59 PM

Paonia is on the North Fork branch, served out of Grand Junction via Delta.  (check out the Black Bridge winery of CO-133, the sweet corn and the peaches... two of the three working coal mines on the branch are idle right now, traffic is down.)

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by vintageracer on Tuesday, June 30, 2015 10:24 PM

It was UP last fall. Sorry I don't know how often they run. There are good spots to watch along the Gunnison river after they leave Delta, Co.

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Posted by Thechief66 on Wednesday, July 1, 2015 7:24 AM

mudchicken
 
MP173

We really do not plan on spending much time in Denver, more so out and about in the mountain areas.  We do plan on going to Alamosa to the RioGrande Scenic.

Is the line thru the Royal Gorge still in operation for either freight or tourist?  My family went there in 1964 (I was 9) and it was quite a site.

Ed

 

 

 

 
MP173

We really do not plan on spending much time in Denver, more so out and about in the mountain areas.  We do plan on going to Alamosa to the RioGrande Scenic.

Is the line thru the Royal Gorge still in operation for either freight or tourist?  My family went there in 1964 (I was 9) and it was quite a site.

Ed

 

 

 
MP173

Is the line thru the Royal Gorge still in operation for either freight or tourist?  My family went there in 1964 (I was 9) and it was quite a site. Ed

 

Royal Gorge RR (tourist, RGCX) and Rock & Rail (freight, RRRR) both in the gorge. The gorge is still healing up from the fires and is greening-up. Both railroads end at Parkdale on the west end of the gorge. Dormant from that point west.

 

Right now, traffic west of the front range is really light.

Flying in, #5 or Driving in? ...You're already ahead knowing the east half of Colorado is flat, there is much more to CO than Denver and you are willing to get off the main drags. The water in the high country is really up right now.

Ruxton Hill, Palmer Lake, Golden, Glenwood Canyon (avoid Glenwood Springs), Tin Cup, Gunnison, Gore Canyon, Gallinas, Portland, Pueblo Jcn., Utah Jcn, Lunch at Guiseppe's in Colorado Springs, Windsor, Fox Junction, Plum Creek, Loveland, Silver Plume, Delta, (avoid Last Chance or Punkin Center), Silverton, Leadville

 

 

Some good advice, except Guiseppe's restaurant (in the old DRGW depot) in Colorado Springs is now closed.

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Posted by sfdepot on Monday, July 6, 2015 5:38 PM

When you go through Kansas, get off the interstates and take the smaller highways and if you have the time and are adventurous, get on some country roads and explore -- just be sure to start out with a full tank of gas.  Kansas is NOT a pass-through or fly-over state.  And we also have trains.....

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Posted by jphelps on Monday, July 6, 2015 7:26 PM

1] Don't miss The Colorado RR Museum west of Denver at Golden CO.

2] Either or both the Cumbres or the Durango-Silverton railroads are spectacular.  Re the Cumbres, the leg from Cumbres NM to the midpoint is usually an impressive double-header.  Re Dur-Sil I recommend paying the bucks to take the last car, and in that car get the last seats closest to the observation platform.  Memorable.

3] On the Moffat route, the gravel road off the state highway to the tunnel has several fine picnic spots with a mountain stream running by and the rr tracks on the other side.  Lovely way to spend midday.

4] An enjoyable day trip on Amtrak is Denver to Glenwood Springs in the morning, returning to Denver that afternoon.  One can take hot springs in GS.

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Posted by MP173 on Tuesday, July 7, 2015 8:59 AM

I will provide a little field trip.

We arrived in Colorado July 3rd and stayed at YMCA of Rockies a couple of nights then headed to Granby and on to Kremmling.  US 40 between Granby and Kremmling offers a great canyon view of the UP and Colorado River.  Unfortunately there were no trains as we passed thru.  An EB BNSF passed by while we were having breakfast (Chuck Wagon outside of Granby....great Country Fried Steak and gravy breakfast) and an EB UP coal train passed while we approached Kremmling.  Meanwhile clouds had moved in, so I didnt chase it back to the canyon.

Went to Gore Canyon between Kremmling and State Bridge to await the WB California Zephyr but it was over 2 hours late and clouds turned to rain.

Drove from Minturn to Leadville and was awed by the Tennessee Pass route of the UP (Rio Grande).  The tracks and signals are still in place.  If trains ever run that route I will be back.  After flyfishing in Leadville yesterday, we drove across Independence Pass and settled in Paonia for the night.  There are 3 coal mines on a UP branch, but only one is active.  Hopefully today I see a train.

Mudchicken...the Black Bridge Winery was an excellent recommendation.  We loved it and picked up a couple of bottles.  Today we tour the orchards and wineries.

Ed

 

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Posted by MP173 on Tuesday, July 7, 2015 7:20 PM

This morning a loaded coal train headed west on the branch.  I was able to catch up with it at Hotchkiss.  Interesting train with a mixture of UP, Rio Grande, and Missouri Pacific hopper.  

Next will be the Royal Gorge line in Canon City, possibly tomorrow.

Are there any freights on that line?  I hear rumors of "rock trains".

 

Ed

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Posted by MidlandMike on Tuesday, July 7, 2015 8:33 PM

There is a quarry in Parkdale at the W end of the Gorge.  I believe the freight operation is called Rock and Rail.  There is also an environmental clean-up project south of Canon City with rail service.  Not sure if either is still active.

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Posted by mudchicken on Wednesday, July 8, 2015 12:17 PM

Rock & Rail (RRRR) is still active ... train goes to Drennan Industrial Park (Colorado Springs & returns)....Power, when not loading at Parkdale is usually found at either Portland (think CO-120 at the Arkansas River bridge - the cement plant smokestack is the first thing you see...CO-115 or CO-67 south of US50 will get you down there)....The Uranium & Zinc Cleanup on the Rockvale Branch (Cotter Corp Uranium Mill) is largely complete...little goes up this very old ATSF coal branch anymore...

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west

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