Hi guys,
I’ve been sort of out of service for the last 3 weeks, on a lengthy trip. First to Carson NV, for the annual V&T conference. Was a blast, as usual; and I was able to give my talk on the Sutro Railways to the V&T crowd, and also a group of folks at Sutro Tunnel.
Then I flew from Reno to Denver, while Linda flew from Baltimore to Denver, and we commenced our main 40th anny bucket list trip which, strangely enough, involved railroady stuff sometimes. I’ll focus on that.
While in Denver, we were able to meet up with two of my sisters and one BIL, and we had a great time doing Denver… the highlight being the Georgetown Loop RR…
… and Georgetown itself. What a neat western town. And yes, I’m often using my wife for scaling purposes. She’s 5’4".
Next railroady thing was the Forney Transportation Museum, the main artifact (for me) was the tiny Forney loco as the first exhibit. It was used on an elevated railway back east.
As I posted earlier on, we saw the Big Boy there. It still amazes me that they were able to get that sucker into this relatively small building.
We then spent a week at Estes Park (a popular town in the Rocky Mountains), with my sisters and us each having a cabin, and going for walks and meals as we felt like it.
Visited the Stanley Hotel there, built by the “Stanley Steamer” Stanley, and local of “The Shining.” It was decrepit and about to be demolished at the time of that shooting; but Stephen King bought and renovated it. The hotel is now uber poshy pricey. Which, though we’d never afford it, is a cool restoration story.
They had fair prices for good beer at the bar. But their high end bourbon flight of 5 2-ounce shots was $550!!! I’m glad I’m not into that hobby, haha!!
Our family had a last dinner bash, but beforehand we pulled over to see some elk. Who kinda trapped our car for a bit…
OK, back to railroady stuff. After EP, we went back to Denver and the CO RR museum. Awesomeness! I can only post a tiny bit, but here goes.
Their garden railroad:
A couple of Westside shays,
… two geese,
… a weird “test weight car”,
… and a cattle car that seems to be the proto of one I have:
All kinds of stuff. Here’s a quick pano of the turntable area.
https://youtube.com/shorts/WEHEUJewPTc
The rotary is so cool…
And they have their flanger. This was the main artifact I wanted to see, since I put so much time into researching and building a model of the earlier V&T’s version. The two are very similar.
We had time that day to visit the Coors plant, very near the RR museum. A lot of fun. The factory is vast, this being only a “small” section.
We didn’t have the required tickets for the plant tour (booked a month in advance, sheesh) but we were able to buy into the “Hospitality Lounge”, which worked just as well.
I don’t care for Coors, but I like some of their other brands (which I didn’t know were theirs), like Blue Moon and Lillian’s Red. And a bunch of others. Even a bourbon, but it’s only made and sold in KY. Devon, Dan, maybe check that out??
After that, we headed to the Denver Union Station for our epic Amtrak trip back home to MD.
We’ve been saving for this bucket-list 2-nighter 1st class bedroom trip, and had high expectations.
Here beginneth the lessons.
As we learned, longer Amtrak trains (like, all the big routes) can be delayed. Though legally they have the right of way before freight trains, the fact is that they travel over commercial tracks (UP, BNSF, CSX, etc.), and the freight trains come first.
So, our 7:00pm departure from Denver, on the California Zephyr, east to Chicago, was delayed by 5.5 hours. Kids were crying; I and others were griping; but it was interesting that all the Amish adults and children (about 40 folks all told) were fine, even at 11:00 pm, after all that waiting.
Finally got on board, and waited for our room to be prepped.
Rolled along the prairie the next day, and saw some weird cars, what are these?
My favorite portion of the ride was crossing the Mississippi River, over this long steel bridge with its lift section at the front.
We made it to Chicago, but of course missed our 2nd train to DC. But Amtrak did their best to make it up, with food vouchers, free hotel, shuttle to and from said hotel, and $350 travel voucher for a next trip as an apology. Good on them.
We therefore had extra time in Chicago, and walked from their Union Station to the lake area. Cold, but a nice walk. After that, we had fun riding the “L” through downtown. My phone battery totally died, and I regret not having taken pix of the wonderful iron bridgework that holds up the L’s. But Linda took this shot for me:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FoVDvS57FYg?feature=share
We then came back to the Chicago Union Station (I guess they’re all called that?) and, thankfully got on board for a 7pm departure, with the room we’d paid for (though a day later — so, subject to availability, but it worked out).
We were happy to be on board, in the proper room, though a day late.
The next day (yesterday), Amtrak took us through the Appalachians, and here’s a few vids from the car-side view.
https://youtube.com/shorts/jELTDGQSzJg
https://youtube.com/shorts/wPFk2jzaWgQ
https://youtube.com/shorts/6UWeHJ8pIe0
We passed Harper’s Ferry, and here’s a shot to the other RR bridge.
Washington DC’s Union Station “great hall” is as spectacular as the others.
We snagged our luggage, and waited there a couple of hours.
Then took the regional to BWI station, our home turf. Wow, the train ran so much faster on this “high speed” line.
Well, that’s about it.
Cliff
