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UPCOMING IMPROVEMENTS
Posted Sunday, August 26 2001 at 1118 h MDT
Well, after two and a half weeks, I'm finally back in Colorado (at least for a few days) and ready to get something done on the site again. You'll notice that Photo of the Day has had a few days off (or rather, a few weeks off...) - this is be back to normal again starting today. In the new and exciting department, however, are a number of things. Tom McConnell has been kind enough to contribute a large set of scanned track charts and timetables, both from his own collection and from that of the Colorado Railroad Museum. As soon as I get a free minute, I'll be formatting these appropriately and putting them online. Included are such things as a set of 1963 track charts, a full set of 1963 timetables, and various older timetables from around the system. Also, while not terribly Rio Grande related, I'll have the usual trip report posted within a few days, including the Feather River route, the ex-SP Donner Pass line, Rio Grande geeps in California, the California Northern, and much more. I'll post news items as each of these actually comes on line - thanks for your patience. - NDHolmes
DRGW 5410 PATCHED
Posted Tuesday, August 21 2001 at 1004 h MDT
DRGW 5410 became UP 8601 via one of those ugly yellow patches today, after spending a week or better at Jenks in North Little Rock, AR. That leaves us with only fifteen of the original seventy-three SD40T-2s in full Rio Grande paint, and only one in factory condition (horns, lights, etc...) - DRGW 5356, headed out of the Feather River Canyon today and eastward towards Ogden, UT. - NDHolmes
T-2s RETURN TO HELPER
Posted Friday, August 17 2001 at 1826 h MDT
Well, maybe not for long, but at the moment there are five RG T-2s sitting in Helper, UT - 5390, 5413, 5401, 5377, and 5371. This might be your best chance to see this many T-2s in one place ever again, except possibly at a scrap dealer. Meanwhile, I'm still hiding in California. - NDHolmes
TENNESSEE PASS LOCAL TODAY!
Posted Tuesday, August 14 2001 at 0933 h MDT
The word is that there's a local running out of Pueblo today that will head on up Tennessee Pass after making a stop at Portland, CO. I have no idea whether it's bound for Malta to get the gons or to Vallie to pull those coal cars back out, or even what it has for power. So, take your day off work and go get it - I'm not going to be able to this time. Thanks to Paul B. of MWR for this. Update (1700h - 8/14): Sorry, everyone - false alarm. Apparently the train is scheduled for next Wednesday, 22-Aug-2001, not today. - NDHolmes
TWO MORE DOWN - 5389 AND 3123
Posted Saturday, August 11 2001 at 0941 h MDT
DRGW 5389 has been patched to UP 8582 at North Little Rock, AR, and DRGW 3123 has been patched to UP 1346. Thanks to Jim Harrawood for this bit of information posted to the DRGW list. As a note, I'm in Iowa at the moment, and will be in California for two weeks starting tomorrow night, so news may be a bit slow - sorry. - NDHolmes
NEW SECTION - THE D&RGW THROUGH THE EYES OF OTHERS
Posted Wednesday, August 8 2001 at 2050 h MDT
It's been my goal all along to have some section where we could allow others to show off their view of the D&RGW and Colorado railroading, and despite getting several willing contributors I hadn't come across the time to actually implement it. Such a creature is finally up - for now, called the Contributing Photographers' Gallery. Long, convoluted name (suggestions, please?), but hopefully soon full of interesting photos from both the modern era and from years past. The first batch are already up - photos of the Rio Grande power accumulating in the Council Bluffs dead line, courtesy of Bob H. from the Omaha area. Shortly, I'll have more posted, but it may be a bit slow - I'm bound for Iowa for a few days, and then off to the San Francisco area of California for two weeks of work (and hopefully a lot of railfanning). - NDHolmes
SPANISH FORK CANYON FIRE
Posted Wednesday, August 8 2001 at 1919 h MDT
Just received word from Jim H. via the DRGW list that there's some sort of fire in Spanish Fork Canyon that's shut down the UP and Utah mains through here. For those unfamiliar with the area, this is the canyon on the "west" side of Soldier Summit out in Utah. I currently don't know if this fire is railway-related or just shutting things down. - NDHolmes
CASTLE ROCK JOINT LINE REALIGNMENT
Posted Monday, August 6 2001 at 1148 h MDT
Union Pacific is considering moving the southbound (ex-Rio Grande) mainline through Castle Rock to the west side of I-25, eliminating its passage through the middle of downtown. Three plans are currently being considered: First, for a grand cost of $63M, realign 18 miles of line from Sedalia to Larkspur, presumably to create a double track main along the ex-ATSF alignment. Another option, for $52M, would realign 14 miles from Meadows Parkway to Larkspur, or, for $45M, realign from 7.5 miles from Meadows Parkway to Bell Mountain Ranch. This appears to be the result of people complaining about how noisy and obnoxious trains are, once again, but by considering moving the line next to the existing southbound main they've stirred up more NIMBYs. Thanks to an Altamont's Railroad News Network for featuring this from Larry W. Grant's article in the Denver Post yesterday. - NDHolmes
WE'RE BACK - FINALLY
Posted Saturday, August 4 2001 at 1001 h MDT
Okay, so the ISP switch didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped. Included are problems configuring routers, getting a bank of IPs entirely too small for my needs, and a handful of other issues. After downtime of nearly 15 hours, we're finally back up and online, and hopefully there won't be any more service outages. Hopefully... though in all honesty I have to make one more change this afternoon which may take things down for 10 minutes. Please drop me email if you notice any residual strangeness - NDHolmes
LAST SMALL-LETTERED GP40 RETIRED
Posted Thursday, August 2 2001 at 1832 h MDT
DRGW GP40 3060 was retired this afternoon at Burnham in Denver. According to UP's computer, it's status is now stored serviceable, which tends to mean it's gone. Unfortunately, this was the last small-lettered GP40 in service, and another piece of the Rio Grande comes to a close permanently. I just photographed this unit last Saturday on what I believe was its last revenue run - the Fort Collins local. It just goes to prove - get them now, for tomorrow they'll be stored serviceable. - NDHolmes
DRGW 5508 GONE
Posted Thursday, August 2 2001 at 0822 h MDT
This morning, UP 5102 was released from North Little Rock, AR, after arriving about 10 days ago as DRGW 5508. I don't know if it's a patch job or a full repaint, but based on the length of time it was there, I'd have to say full repaint. DRGW 5501 is also there, presumably receiving the same treatment. Assuming 5501 is also gone, that leaves only four of the original seventeen black and orange SD50s on the UP system. - NDHolmes
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