December Pictures Worth A Thousand Words

These are rough samples of some of my earliest railfan photography. Not something to brag about but as usual, it does bring up the normal regrets about shooting more of the stuff in the scenes. Just playing with the cheap slide scanner I bought recently. The shot on the left is from June 1978 and the one on the right is from Nov. 1975. Two different cameras, two different compositions, two different films and most of all, two different levels of locomotive identification skills.

Trilby Rd. was halfway between Ft. Collins and Loveland on the Colorado and Southern mainline that followed the front range of the Rockies through Colorado. Here the track was that new fangled continuous welded rail and 115# CF&I at that. Most of the main was still well maintained 90# stick rail. With six axle power the norm - to spread the weight and to climb the grades - I'm sure the track took a pounding. As you can see from the left photo, plenty of 3000 HP, 6 axle power was the norm. Actually, I recall dashing off in a family car to catch that odd 4 axle power on the point before going to my summer job. It was some time years later that I knew the significance of my catch. I had a U25b and a U25c or U28c (all rare on the old C&S and disappearing on the BN) in the same shot! At that time, the trailing SD45 and SD40-2 were "ho-hum" common. I took the shots with a recently acquired Olympus 35mm SLR that I kept until it died in 2005.

The earlier shot on the right reflects "youthful exuberance" but little photographic skill. I had a very old Kodak 35mm fixed lens camera that I should have left for a museum. I had to guess at all of the controls and even with a new light meter I couldn't make sense of the settings in a hurry. But, it was my first foray into 35mm and one learns from mistakes. Besides, the rig was given to me and it held up okay until I got my first SLR for Christmas.

Burlington Northern had a big presence in Denver in those days. Early on we learned to walk out onto the 32nd Street viaduct that went right over the old CB&Q roundhouse as well as affording a good view of nearly every line that passed through town. This also was the northern end of the now famous "Joint Line" between Denver and Pueblo. Coal trains were becoming common and BN was playing with remote controlled helper sets. This old "b-unit" was converted into a "radio control unit" to be coupled in with the normal helper units and provide operating controls for the lashup by a remote control set up front. I don't have much personal knowledge of those things but I was told that there were some exciting times in the experimental stages when radio signals cut out in rough terrain. Lots of emergency applications of the brakes and "pull aparts". They must have learned from their mistakes. By the time I saw this unit, most coal trains headed south had mid-train helpers and the radio controls were part of the locomotives. I guess they still had "master" and "slave" units that had to be in the mix, but easier than adding in a piece of dead weight. C&S had a set of SD40-2's like this. #996 was the "master" and #980 was the "slave". Those units were always on the "must photograph" list. Today, "DMU's" are a common sight on coal trains out of the Powder River Basin.

Now, aside from the RCU, which was the reason for the shot, there are two "ho-hum" SD45's. Who wouldn't want a shot of those now! These two probably ended up on the Wisconsin Central, Montana Rail Link or the Susquehanna. Odds are they've been scrapped or re-engined by now. I used to take a lot of pictures around this spot. It's the only place I ever saw the unique C&S SD9 #828 which was customized for winter operations on the Climax branch out of Leadville. I saw plenty of the other SD45 variants and the AT&SF showed up from time to time because of the "Joint Line" and the "C&S/AT&SF" joint subsidiary that switched their yards.

We used to walk from 32nd St. to the CRI&P/D&RGW's North Yard, or over to Union Station the other way. Following the various mains in that short stretch you could see Amtrak's SF Zephyr, the Rio Grande Zephyr, UP, CRI&P, D&RGW, BN, C&S, AT&SF, not to mention a lot of interesting industry and street trackage. The 23rd St. viaduct was another interesting perch nearer to Union Station. At North Yard there was a public road right through the yard throat and up to the tower. How I'd love to go back in time to walk that area again! Most of these places are gone now since Coors Field and the relocated Elitche's Amusement Park sit in the middle of things between the viaducts and Union Station. The yards have been moved to better utilize the real estate. I'm sure access at North Yard has changed too for safety and efficiency.

"You can never go home again" is probably the saying best applied here.

BC