2012 – Railfanning East of Town

On this day trip we head out east on I-70 with three planned stops…

Stop #1 is a quick drive to Montebello, CO which is just east of Denver in Adams County.  Here we track down the Union Pacific Freight Depot also know as Roydale.  Not much to look at but still another Railroad Station located and photographed!  I will also take some other Railfan shots of equipment that I will save for the full trip report…

From there we head to Strasburg in Arapahoe County.  Our primary stop here is the Comanche Crossing Historical Society Museum.  Lots of interesting items big and small to enjoy including the old Union Pacific Depot that was moved to this location for preservation.

We also know that the old CRI&P Simla Depot from Elbert County has also been moved to just south of town and is a private home of a major Railfan in this area.

Our third and final stop of this chapter of RRAdventures in Limon in Lincoln County.  Here we head for the Limon Heritage Museum and Railroad Park which also include the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific / Union Pacific Depot along with other railroad RR equipment and historical items of this area.  To our surprise we will also find Ron from the Georgetown Loop working at the museum; it was his first day and it was great chatting with him.

I will also find the current UP Freight Depot just behind the museum.

From there we head back home in 90+ degree heat logging nearly 200 miles of driving for the afternoon trip

 

2012 – Denver, South Park & Pacific – Part 2

Looks like we will have another sunny morning so we head back into DSP&P / C&S territory.  We take a different route in this time coming in via Sedalia using CO HWY 67 to reach South Platte River Road.  From there we turn north towards the ghost-town of South Platte.

Before reaching South Platte, we come across where Nighthank, CO use stood and the railroad did have a spur up to here in 1904; abandon 1916.  At this point we will be traveling on the old DSP&P ROW.  I will take lots of photos and Point-n-Shoot video clips to capture the ROW which is mostly still as it was; now just a dirt road.

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We now reach South Platte, CO where the only part of town that still survives is the old hotel.  From old photographs we can easily spot where the depot once stood. as is was across the street/track from the hotel.  We will also hike a section of the old ROW that is a rail trail but only a shot distance this trip.

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From here we head towards Foxton, Argyle, Ferndale, and on into Buffalo Creek.  We take photos along this stretch to catch other RR related items for our history research and detailed trip reports.  Once in Buffalo Creek we will find the old Section House that has been somewhat modified.  We will also find where the depot here once stood base on historical photos and buildings that still stand today.  I will also stop again in Pine Grove to get shots of the old RR cabins I took in the pouring rain the day before.

From there we head on into Bailey, CO for lunch but our research also tells us an old railroad bridge was moved there to a park and slightly altered to be a foot bridge.  As we pull into town I spot it and we will also find a C&S Caboose near by.  I might also have found an old RR Wait Station but that is not yet confirmed next to the caboose.

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Time to eat and I will take Lisa to a historical place that nearly was lost but survived by getting moved to Bailey, CO.  It can be a wait to get your food but it’s worth the time.

We will now head over Guanella Pass which has been closed for three years for renovation

As we head down the other side we locate FR 248.1 which is important for a future trip to get deeper into Argentine Central RR territory but will be some serious 4×4 driving to get to where we need to go for that trip.

As we head down the hill more we come across a stop that was added as part of the Guanella Pass renovations.  We will also learn at this stop there is some more RR stuff to come back to find from the mining Gold/Silver mines here at the ruins of Silverdale, CO

As we get to the other end of the pass we come into Georgetown, CO.  If you are a Railfan like us you know this is Georgetown Loop territory.  One thing that has always bothered me is where was the ROW below the loop.  I took this quick shot near  39.7036° / -105.7001° as this is where the ROW below the loop gets cut off by the road.  Where in the heck did it go from here and get to the depot in town that is still in it’s original location was still a mystery.

Well today’s stop in Georgetown is not RR related but to visit the Energy Museum which is an old Hydroelectric plat that has been in operation since 1900.

It s fun/short/FREE stop and what to my surprise I find photos that show railroad ROW in it.  One of the gentlemen there could not solve 100% of my mystery but certain clear up the ROW picture for me.  See the ROW went behind the plant and not into town.  From there is stayed along the mountain side until it reach either a Switch or a Wye that the train would use to go back into down to the station.  So, train traffic heading out of Denver towards Silver Plume that would stop in Georgetown would take this siding heading into the depot and then had to backup to the mainline.  Coming down towards Denver the train would pass through Georgetown and the backup to the station via the siding and then pull forward to Denver from there.  Now that makes a whole lot of since knowing layout of town.  Exactly where the Switch/Wye was is not 100% certain but now I have knowledge to work from.  Also from behind the Hydro plant you can still see the ROW!!!!!!!

Well, with that it was time to head home and down load nearly 500 Photo/Video Clips we took these past two days.  Stay tuned for a full RRAdventures trip report coming later that will show all the details we learned from this trip…

 

2012 – Denver, South Park & Pacific – Part 1

This weekend we took off to do some “Ghostfanning” (a.k.a. Railfanning of lost railroads).  Our primary objective of this day is to hike a section of the DSP&P roadbed that is now a Rail-trail near Pine Grove, CO.  I will take along just my Point-n-Shot camera this day and take a series of shots as we hike along the ROW within the Pine Valley Ranch Park

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We will stop for lunch at Zoka’s (YUM!) and shot some old caboose and part of a boxcar

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We head back to Pine Grove and also local and photo some old Railroad housing from days gone by and it’s now pouring rain so the shots taken are a bit rough…

With the weather clearing a bit we head over to Kenosha Pass to see if there are any brochures in the box but once again we find it empty.  Will take a few shots and then head for home…

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2012 – Wichita Kansas – Part 5

Well, it’s the final day of our mini vacation to Wichita but we have time to make one more jaunt.  We will head for Wellington, Kansas this time to track down some more SF / AT&SF / BNSF railroad structures.

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Time to turn back to Wichita and head to the airport.  We will grab lunch at the airport and wait for our plane to arrive.

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We are one again home after getting dumped off on the tarmac at DIA.  Our niece who had just graduated is there to pick us up and take us home via the scenic route,  Now if she can get a job at the Denver Zoo all would be great.

 

2012 – Wichita Kansas – Part 4

It’s now Day #4 of our five-day mini vacation.  The rest of the family heads home today but we will remain to explore more of the area.  We will start off heading out to Beaumont, Kansas to track down a Frisco Water Tower that is the last of its kind.

We now head to Augusta, KS to track down an old SLSF (Frisco) Depot as well as an old AT&SF Depot that is now used by BNSF.  We found a few BNSF critters while we were there along with some other equipment.

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From there it is off to Winfield, KS to track down an AT&SF Depot and by chance I spot the “modern” BNSF building behind it and also catch a diesel engine that I can get a quick shot of.

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Our next stop is Mulvane, KS where we are again tracking down another AT&SF Depot along with a Santa Fe Caboose.  It’s a museum that we knew would not be open but that does not mean I can’t take photos of the outside!

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We get a bite to eat as we head back to Wichita, KS.  As the wife reminds me often; not everything on our trips gets to be RR related.  I agree and at 1PM the Museum of World Treasures opens up and it’s a very nice museum with items from many different eras so off to museum we go.  The second floor is filed with all sort of military stuff from old to semi-modern times; well worth the stop

Afterwards I drop Lisa off at the hotel as it has gotten extremely hot and she is wiped.  During our travels earlier in the day I spotted what looked to be a depot and a caboose near Douglass so I will head back out.  Sure enough I find a AT&SF Depot (which is actually a replica) and another SF Caboose; score!

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The caboose is actually For Sale so if anyone is interested I have the owner’s contact info.  I wonder what the S&H costs would be on it as I think it would look great in my backyard.

Well, time to head back to Wichita and take Lisa to dinner but I have still a little time to stop by Friends University to check out the campus my niece just graduated from.  I will take a few pictures to add into the video I going to make for her of her graduation.  Here is the Admin. Building that is the largest of the buildings on campus.

 

2012 – Wichita Kansas – Part 2

It’s Day #2 of our mini vacation and today we head off in another direction.  It’s going to be another clear day but also HOT so we head out early and head to the Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure in Salina, KS.  This “Zoo” is two-fold. the normal outside zoo and an interior Museum.

Zoo

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Museum

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Also at this location is the UP Tescott, Kansas Depot that today is their old ticket office for the Zoo.

Our next stop is Lindsborg, Kansas (also know as Little Sweden) to track down a MoPac Depot and AT&SF Steam Engine and let the wife do a little shopping.

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We then head for Newton, KS to track down a AT&SF depot and steam engine and well we found allot more, this is a major BNSF town with all sorts of other RR things to enjoy.  Here is a few sample shots…

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Our final destination for the day before heading back to Wichita is Halstead where we will track down one more AT&SF depot.

 

2012 – Wichita Kansas – Part 1

We head to Wichita Kansas to attend my nieces college graduation and add some time before/after to make a mini vacation out of it.

Well our flight out turned out to be a Turbo-Prop but at least we sat far enough back to be away from most the noise.

We get in to our hotel close to midnight and then get up early to start our next RRAdventures of 2012 by heading for Hutchinson, Kansas to track down some depots; including the Arkansas Valley Interurban Depot.

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From there we head for Fort Larned National Historic Site near Larned, KS

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We then head down the road a bit to the Santa Fe Trail Center that has lots of historical stuff but not as much on the Santa Fe Trail as we had hoped but still very much worth the stop; especially since they have a depot there!  The depot is from Frizell, KS and is AT&SF

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With the major outside activities done (to avoid the heat) we head back into Larned itself to track down another depot

From there we head for Pawnee Rock, KS to track down their historical depot

Our next stop in Pawnee Rock is Pawnee Rock itself which was a geologic structure that mark the midpoint of the Santa Fe Trail.  We also find a lone grave to Nehemiah Carson (PVT Mexican War) who died here from an unknown illness.

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We don’t have much time left but we quickly pass through Great Bend, KS to track down AT&SF Steam Engine #3416

Time to head back to Wichita, Kansas to call it a night

 

2012: Railfanning Parker, CO

Yippee!, it’s out first Railfan Trip of 2012 and we are off to Parker, CO.  We knew an old 1909 Passenger Coach had been moved from Centennial, CO to Parker that I had not yet photograph but a friend at work made me aware of a Caboose in downtown Parker.  So, since we were already heading out that way to see family we decided to make a quick RRAdventures trip out of it too.

Here is the building that holds the Denver and New Orleans Model Railroad Club…

… and as you can see, D&RGW Caboose #1416 along with other RR pieces are outside as well!!!

From here we headed north along Parker Road to track down the new location of the C&S Coach. (Built. 1909)

(I understand this is actually a Santa Fe Coach; possible #9656)

Also at this location was a nice sign talking about RR History of Parker, CO that I didn’t know about.

Well, it was just a quick couple of stops but well worth the time.  Took a few different angles at both locations that will get posted on my RRAdventures website later but these are my choice photos I wanted to share right away.

On a side note I also found this old photo that shows the original Depot and Water Tower.

Parker’s railroad depot, circa 1900. The depot was built by the Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf Railroad in 1889. A replica of the depot has been constructed at the railcar at Parker’s Preservation Park & Trailhead just north of the Cottonwood subdivision. Photo Courtesy of the Colorado Historical Society. Photo by YH

 

2011 – A Year in Review

With this being that last day of 2011 I thought I might look back at the RRAdventures taken this past year and ask which trips folks enjoyed the most and why.

1. FEB – 2011: Railfanning North of Town
2. APR – 2011: San Diego Vacation
3. MAY – 2011: Tunnel District
4. MAY – 2011: Eldorado Springs
5. JUL – 2011: Moffat Route
6. AUG – 2011: A Day Out with Mark
7. SEP – 2011: September Outing
8. OCT – 2011: October Outing

For my current 82 Followers and their family and friends as well as all the other readers;

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

 

Trip Report: Georgetown Loop (2010-06-25)

The complete Trip Report of our journey is now available online on Trains.com <Click Here> related to RRAdventures blog entry 2010: Georgetown Loop Railroad taken on June 25th, 2010.