2022 National Garden Railway Convention preview: The Denver Garden Railway Society welcomes you to Denver this June! This year’s event will be held at the Crowne Plaza hotel, and will include an ice cream social, a BBQ at the Colorado Railroad Museum, daily bus tours to the railways on display, and pre- and post-convention tours. […]
Zone & Region: Mountain West
Railcar restoration firm and owner convicted of fraud, exposing workers to asbestos
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The owner of a Wyoming railcar refurbishment company has been convicted of wire fraud and for intentionally exposing his employees to asbestos. The Cowboy State Daily reports John Eldon Rimmasch, 47, faces a maximum penalty of 95 years in prison and $1.2 million in fines, while his company, Wasatch Railroad Contractors, faces […]
New Colorado passenger rail board holds first meeting
DENVER — The effort to develop rail service along a corridor between Fort Collins and Pueblo, Colo., entered a new phase on Friday with the first meeting of the Front Range Passenger Rail District board, created by legislation in 2021 to plan, develop, finance, and operate rail service in that corridor. Colorado Newsline reports state […]
Rocky Mountaineer’s Colorado Adventure
In the fall of 2021, Trains.com staff rode Amtrak train no. 5, California Zephyr from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Denver, Colorado, with the expressed intent of capturing seasonal operations of Rocky Mountaineer’s Colorado-Utah excursion. While best known for day treks into the Canadian Rockies, this new Rocky Mountaineer route offers patrons a similar mountain canyon experience […]
Santa Fe’s first 2-10-4 on Raton
Santa Fe No. 5000, the first 2-10-4 Texas type built for the road, and 2-10-2 No. 3873 climb the 3.5-percent grade on the north side of Raton Pass with a westbound freight extra on May 18, 1946. Pushing at the rear of the 37-car train is 2-10-2 No. 934. Preston George photo […]
New model train exhibit at Scottsdale’s Museum of the West
Scottsdale’s Museum of the West in Arizona announces a new exhibition featuring the story of how the transcontinental railroad transformed and built the American West. “The Railroad Opening Up the West” is now open to the public. Western Spirit contracted with members of the train clubs of Scottsdale’s McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park to undertake the design, fabrication, […]
Santa Fe 4-4-2 crossing stone culvert
Santa Fe 4-4-2 No. 1440 leads the Colorado & Southern’s southbound Pike’s Peak Special over a stone culvert on the “Joint Line” between Denver and Colorado Springs in 1910. The C&S train is operating on trackage rights over the Santa Fe, which shares the route with the Denver & Rio Grande. L. C. McClure photo […]
Utah’s FrontRunner to remove Comet cars from service
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Transit Authority’s FrontRunner commuter service will remove its fleet of single-level Comet passenger cars from service April 18. The 25 cars were built for Erie Lackawanna in the early 1970s and used in commuter service in New Jersey by EL and New Jersey Transit. The cars have served UTA […]
Moffat Road train loading at Denver
An Adams Express Co. horse-drawn wagon is backed up to the Denver & Salt Lake (Moffat Road) depot in Denver around 1900. Several crates and barrels of LCL and express can be seen on the platform. Classic Trains coll. […]
Big Boy heads west in June
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific’s famed Big Boy steam locomotive No. 4014 is set to return to the tracks this summer for what UP’s Steam Club is calling the “West Coast Steam Tour,” kicking off on June 26 from the railroad’s heritage headquarters in Cheyenne. This year’s tour celebrates Union Pacific’s 160th anniversary, its heritage, […]
Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide 2022
PLUS Brass engine fix-up Taking the mystery out of brass Add a metal foundry An industry you can model Visit an iron ore hauler An inspiring 23 x 27-foot HO layout You’re the power desk Operating tips from the prototype Add a paved roadway Convincing concrete quickly Modeling a small town Operating possibilities abound […]
BNSF worker in Denver accident killed in fall from locomotive
WASHINGTON — A BNSF Railway employee was killed when he fell from the front of a locomotive he was operating using remote control, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report on a Feb. 9, 2022, accident at a Denver rail yard. The incident at BNSF’s Globeville Yard in downtown Denver was originally […]