Fremont Pass Engine House | 4 Comments - Click Here :

    To the west of Dickey, is Fremont Pass. About 20 years ago I purchased the enlarged print below from the Denver Public Library (the original is now available online). It shows the only known photo (unless more have surfaced in the last 20 years) of the engine house and enclosed turntable located at the summit (aka Climax). Click on the picture to enlarge.

    It appears to be very similar in design to the ones located atop Boreas Pass and the Alpine Tunnel, except for it being constructed of wood as opposed to native stone. Records do exist stating that this structure burned down in 1907. But other than that, no other information.

    If any more photos or information have come to light of which I have missed or forgot about, I would be interested in hearing from you.

Happy Thanksgiving! | 2 Comments - Click Here :

Breckenridge Bulletin; Nov 24, 1899
A Turkey Shoot.
    The Breckenridge Rod and Gun club has arranged for a free for all turkey shoot, at the grounds south of town. Everybody is invited to participate in the pleasures of this event. If you havn't a gun come anyway, you will be provided with one on the grounds and all it will cost is the ammunition used.
    The club has sparred no effort in arranging for the comfort and accommodation of its guests and we predict in advance a most successful termination of this affair.

More Sn2 Memories | 5 Comments - Click Here :

    To add to the previous post of a trip down memory lane; here are a couple more photos I've found of my attempt to model the Gilpin Tramway in Sn2. It's hard for me to believe that these were taken over 13 years ago. Seems like yesterday I was tearing all of that out of here.

Shay #4 at the enginehouse in Blackhawk

Blackhawk

Eureka Street in Central City

Gunnell Hill from Eureka Street

The mines on Gunnell Hill

"Along the Blue" #22 | 2 Comments - Click Here :

    Call me crazy, but I've always wanted to build a model of a dredge boat. I've doodled plans for a possible future exhibition layout centered around the spur and boats at Valdora (approximately two miles east of Dickey).

Summit County Journal; Jun 1, 1907
Building Spur to the Swan
    A party of nine surveyors under A.E. McGregory were up from Denver surveying a line for the new spur from the Colorado & Southern tracks to the scene of the works of the Colorado Gold Dredging company at Valdora on the Swan River. The railroad spur will be about a half a mile in length and will be used to transport the material for the dredges, supplies, etc.
    The Colorado company is working a big force of men, and the material for the two big boats is expected along now at anytime.

Boats No. 1 and No. 2 - Valdora, Colorado

Boat No. 2 - Valdora, Colorado

 Photos -  Denver Public Library

"Along the Blue" #21 | 2 Comments - Click Here :

Summit County Journal; Jan 7, 1899
Frisco Promised a Passenger Depot.
    The people of Frisco are delighted over the prospect of securing a depot building and other accommodations from the Colorado & Southern. The railroad company has already had a representative on the ground for the purpose of sizing up the situation. In this connection, we might add that Manager Ogden of the Recen properties has agreed to contribute lumber, light and labor in order that the camp may enjoy these desirable accommodations.

Original depot - Town of Frisco

New Depot - Denver Public Library

Visitors and Distractions | 8 Comments - Click Here :

    Over this last month I've been quite busy, and unfortunately I don't have a railroad update to share. I did have some visitors as my good friends Joe Crea and Keith Pashina dropped by. Keith was in town for his annual sojourn into the Colorado mountains. Years ago, the three of us had collaborated with research on the Gilpin Tramway. Keith still models the Gilpin exclusively, while Joe now models large scale traction. It was great to see you two again!

Joe, myself and Keith.

    I have to admit that Casper (the beetle) has stolen much of the thunder from the railroad. I'm really enjoying working on it. Right now the engine is out to do a full tune-up and cleaning. Once it goes back in, I hope to hit the workbench and finish installing DCC and sound in one of my locomotives.

Engine out!

    One of my other modeling friends Doug Heitkamp, is also a Volkswagen expert. He has been helping and schooling me all about these cars. The cool thing is that when he comes over, we can play cars, or we can play trains! Thanks Doug!

Doug inspecting the clutch

I really do plan to work on the railroad this winter. Yes I really, really do plan to work on the railroad this winter!

~ Cowboy up!

Memory Lane | 2 Comments - Click Here :

    My friend David Keith recently updated his Sn2 Trains blog with a trip down "Memory Lane". For many years, Dave hosted a website for my Sn2 Gilpin Tram layout. I dismantled that layout 12 years ago. But Dave said it received so many hits, that he left the site up until last year when his web subscription expired.
    Because they were sold many moons ago, it was great to see pictures of my models again. It is also great to see that I'm still an expert in foam core mock-up construction. Lol!
Thanks for the "trip" Dave!

Link to: Sn2 Trains

"Along the Blue" #20 | 6 Comments - Click Here :

    It's been a few weeks since my last blog entry. I have to admit that working on trains has been far from my mind lately. Besides having a day job, within the last month I had a death in the family, visiting relatives, raging flood waters, emergency horse evacuations, rodeo, a fan trip to Chama, and the arrival of my new baby:

1961

    Hopefully, once winter sets in I will get back to making some significant progress worthy of blogging about. There is a Narrow Gauge Convention coming to town soon which I will need to be ready for. Until then, here is another little article to help tide us over:

Summit County Journal; Aug 11, 1917
No. 1 Dredge Cuts Railroad Grade
    A crew of railroad men were here in Breckenridge the first of the week, and laid a new track around the No. 1 dredge of the Tonopah Placers Company. The dredge then cut through the old right-of-way. As soon as this right-of-way has been crossed, the track of the Colorado & Southern railroad will be returned to its original position, using the tailings pile for a roadbed.
    This shows a much different spirit on the part of the Colorado & Southern than was formerly the case. The last time the right-of-way had to be cut, the railroad service stopped at Breckenridge. The officials of the road now state that the business is so great on the west end that it would be impossible to tie up the service for even a few days. This is a much different plea than it was a few years ago, when the only cry was that the railroad was losing money by operating the branch.
    We are glad to know that the company is rushed, and we are also thankful for the service we are getting. The business is here, and by going after it in the right way, the Colorado & Southern can get it.

At Dickey, C&S boxcar 7642 awaits shipment east to Denver.  

The 7642 was last photographed on Trout Creek Pass years earlier.

"Along the Blue" #19 | 3 Comments - Click Here :

    With summer in full swing, its been nearly impossible to work on anything railroad related. Come this fall, I hope to start making some real progress again. The kind of progress you'll see photographic evidence of!
I once had some On3 locomotives guilty of doing the following:

Summit County Journal; Jun 19, 1915
C. & S. Engine Has Severe Accident
    A pin on one of the drive wheels of the engine pulling the passenger train over from Leadville worked out when the train was a couple miles below town Tuesday morning and let the drive rod down, causing quite a smashup. The engine did not leave the track however and no one was injured.
    A freight train was at Dickey and the engine from that was pressed into service and pushed the passenger train with the wrecked engine into the Breckenridge yards, then pulled it on out an hour or so late.
    Had the accident happened on a down grade at the top of a high cliff, instead of on a stiff up-grade where the engine was quickly stopped, it might have been quite a serious wreck.

"Along the Blue" #18 | 2 Comments - Click Here :

    For those "scale"operators who think it is OK to just put the caboose back on the track after it derails; you might consider checking the health of your miniature conductor and crew members who were riding in it. This may add a little time to your switching maneuvers:

Summit County Journal; Sep 17, 1921
Conductor Ward Hurt In Accident At Curtain
    Conductor Alfred Ward met with a very painful accident when the caboose of his train left the track on the west switch at Curtain Tuesday morning. The train was rather heavy, consisting of a couple of cars of coal, a couple of merchandise and several loads of ore from Kokomo. The grade of the track is rather steep at this point, and when the caboose left the track it was impossible to stop the train at once.
    Conductor Ward was riding in the cupola at the time the car left the main line, and the jar caused him to fall to the floor, where he struck a stove. He was bounced around pretty much, and received a dislocated shoulder, a broken arm, and fractured one or two ribs.
    He was taken to Breckenridge at once, and in the absence of Dr. Condon, Dr. George Smith, of Dillon, was called in attendance. At first it was thought that Mr. Ward had also received internal injuries, but a more thorough examination after he had been removed to Leadville Wednesday proved that he was unhurt internally.