“A Voice for Colorado’s Rail Passengers”

Issue #73September-October 2013

A big Saturday is ahead for ColoRailand National Association of RailroadPassengers on September 14th.Meeting at the Southeastern Colo-rado Heritage Center, activities inPueblo will begin at 1:00 p.m. Be-fore that, however, some membersand friends from the Denver metroarea will have started the day on a

charter bus tour of Front Range railsites.

The Heritage Center, at 201 West“B” Street is handy to the beautifullyrestored Pueblo Union Dept. Thelandmark station was last served bythe Chief connection between LaJunta and Front Range cities whenFederal planners deleted it in 1971.

Now Amtrak’s Southwest Chief itselfis threatened with relocation toTexas, or possible dismemberment.

Ross Capon, President and CEO ofNARP will join a panel discussion of“How Do We Save the Chief?” Hewill share experience gained in other

(Continued on page 2)

Hail to the Chief

ColoRail and regional NARP to meet in Pueblo on September 14th

Pueblo Union Depot - 2013

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battles. Other speakers will includeRick Klein, City Manager of LaJunta, activist Ford Robbins ofSanta Fe, Steve Nawrocki, Presi-dent of the Pueblo City Council, arepresentative from Amtrak andspecial guests.

The meeting will begin with coffeeand refreshments in the HeritageCenter. A special lunch offer avail-able to attendees is described inthe adjacent column. The meetingis expected to wrap up at 4:45p.m., according to Jim Souby,President of the Colorado Rail Pas-senger Association.

Key in this meeting is that Amtrakmay have to move the Chicago toLos Angeles Southwest Chief outof Colorado due to maintenanceissues and related speed reduc-tions on the BNSF Railway line thatruns from Newton, Kansas throughsoutheastern Colorado to Albu-querque, New Mexico. The trans-continental stops in Lamar, LaJunta and Trinidad. A Thruwaybus services links it with Pueblo,Colorado Springs and Denver, andknowledgeable travelers use that inconjunction with the CaliforniaZephyr for circle trips and Denverstopovers.

Due to low freight traffic, BNSF nolonger needs to maintain the linefor heavier, high speed traffic of itsown and wants Amtrak to pay forthe higher level costs. The currentcontract for maintenance expires in2015. Costs are estimated to be$20 million per year for upgradesand regular maintenance. Amtrakhas proposed that the three af-fected states, BNSF Railway andAmtrak split the costs 5 ways. Lo-cal leaders from the three statesbelieve the national line should befunded by the federal governmentwith limited state and local support.

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Speed reductionsimpact Colorado ColoRail activities show variety

ColoRail Board andColorado NARP CouncilMembers:(with telephone numbers)and <e-mail addresses>

Jim Souby, President,NARP Council Member(303-355-7985).

<jsouby@comcast.net>

Bob Brewster, Board Member, Boulder,<railbob@q.com>

Edie Bryan, Vice-President, Lakewood,<twobryans@aol.com>

Helen Bushnell, Board Member,Lakewood,<sunhelen@fastmail.net>

Gary Carter, Board Member, Pueblo<pueblosilver@yahoo.com>

Elia Fisher, Secretary, Denver,<eliafisher@yahoo.com>

Jay Jones, Treasurer, Denver,<sunjones@earthtones.com>

Jay Jones, NARP Council Member,Denver.<sunjones.railguy@gmail.com>

Joan Shaffer, Board Member, Loveland,<joantshaffer@silverliningstrategies.com>

Ira Schreiber, Board Member, Aurora,<ischreiber@aol.com>

————————————–--Robert Rynerson, Newsletter Editor,Denver. (720-570-0647)<rw.rynerson@att.net>

————————————–--ColoRail, the Colorado Rail PassengerAssociation, is in correspondence andcoordinates with NARP, the NationalAssociation of Railroad Passengers.Membership in both organizations isencouraged.

A round trip charter bus has beenarranged on September 14th forDenver region members andguests at $30 per person.

Reserve your seat by emailingvolunteer@colorail.org or bet-ter yet, go to our membershippage at www.ColoRail.org anduse PayPal or a credit card topay your charter fare. Pleaseindicate in the comment box thatyou are paying for the charterbus. You may also use the reser-vation form on Page 7 of thisnewsletter, but please mail it byWednesday, September 11th.For more information please con-tact Bob Brewster at:

railbob@q.com.

Our bus will depart RTD’s I-25 & Broadway light railstation at 8:00 AM and fol-low the joint BNSF/Union Pacificrails south, via the Palmer Lakecommencement of single trackoperation – the biggest physicalimpediment to Front Range pas-senger rail or fast intermodalfreight.

We’ll make a brief stop at thePikes Peak Historical Street Rail-way Foundation museum, wherewe will take a (very) short ride ona former Philadelphia PCC trol-ley.

We will make a second board-ing stop near the Briargate in-terchange of I-25.

Upon reaching Pueblo we willhave an opportunity for lunch andvisits to the beautiful Pueblo Un-ion Depot and the operatingPueblo Railway Museum. Themuseum’s staff is offering Col-oRail a great “Boxcar Burger”

Hail to the Chief...

lunch and train ride for only $10 – ina genuine former BNSF crew car.

We expect to return to Denver about7:30 PM.

Charter bus to make Pueblo trip easier,

with stops along the way

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Station volunteers soughtfor Labor Day weekendColoRail will again provide volunteerhosts at Denver Union Station duringthe Labor Day weekend holiday pe-riod. (Friday evening 8/30/13 throughTuesday evening 9/3/13). If you areavailable to help out anytime from8/30/13 through 9/3/13, would youplease either e-mail Jay Jones atsunjones.railguy@gmail.com or callhim at 888.464.0199 X1.

The evening slots are the hardest tofill and if any of you can volunteerevenings that would be very helpful--

but know that you are welcome tovolunteer for any time period.

Amtrak's on-time performance hasbeen fairly good, but at times theystill run late. Even though the train isrunning late, it does help to have usthere to answer questions and try tocalm the anxious impatient riders.

And if you would please sign in onthe sheet provided in our "office" boxat DUS it will help us to determinewho is eligible for a free VolunteerHost Shirt. As you know, the Boardapproved providing a free shirt toeach volunteer who has volunteeredfor ColoRail at DUS five times or

more. This is how we keep track ofthe number of times you have volun-teered. Please also let me know ifyou have served 5 or more timesand have not received your shirt.

Hopefully, next year at this time, wewill be back at DUS.

Thanks. We appreciate your help.

Don Zielesch

[As of this week, Amtrak still expectsto move back into the historic build-ing on February 1st. Constructionwill be continuing around the site intomid-year. -- Editor]

Aid Amtraktravelersof opportunities to participate

Hi everyone,

I've reached something of an impasse with the Pioneer restoration effort.Our need continues to be an independent study that would analyze the po-tential for a Pioneer train operating under a realistic scenario, rather thanthe sort of rehashing of the train's historical problems - as in the Amtrakstudy of 2009.

I have spent the last couple of years exploring possibilities for funding sucha study. This has been a very slow process - it's not as if it's taken much ofmy time - but now I've exhausted the funding sources to which people havereferred me. Some foundations do not even answer phone messages; it isnot easy to get one's foot in the door.

Does anyone out there have any ideas how such a study could be funded?Right now we have a researcher interested in doing the work, but he willneed as much as $83,333 in matching funds from a foundation, interestedwealthy individual, or the like, to complete the research budget.

Barring that funding, we are not going anywhere with our effort. Any brain-storms out there?

Thanks,

C.B. Hall

360-468-2611

Pioneer Restoration Organization coordinator

Pioneer impasse shows difficulty

of restoring a discontinued route

[Editor’s note - - C. B. Hall is beingmodest in describing the effort he putinto this project, as well as the effortsof ColoRail members such as PeterRichards and Mike Rowe and activistsall along the line. The resistance to

restoring the service was mainly basedon the fact that it had been discontin-ued , not on a realistic analysis of themarketplace, nor on a realistic requestto the host railroad. Restoring a train isfar more costly than keeping it.]

“Yes, Virginia, there is an Amtrak

clause….

States step up

rail programsVirginia is the latest state to takeover planning and funding for Amtrakservice in its commonwealth, as partof the U.S. government’s big “goingout of business sale” known as thePassenger Rail Investment and Im-provement Act of 2008 (this actraised the barriers to restoring thePioneer and mandated that statestake responsibility for routes under750 miles in length).

19 states that participate in Amtrakroute support are required to com-plete takeover agreements by Octo-ber 1st. The 2008 act is intended tostandardize arrangements with thestates, which currently vary widely.When Amtrak was created in 1970-71, state participation was an after-thought. Some states obtained re-gional routes without state or localcontributions, while less influential orinconveniently located states had topay a variety of expenses.

The new law is interesting otherstates that have no regional trains,most recently including Minnesota.

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High points ofU.S. tourism ColoRail member tours the rails

by Bob Brewster

Inspired by last year's ColoRail seminar onColorado's tourist railroads, and the 50th anni-versary of my first visit to Colorado, I decided itwas high time for me to visit the high countryand its world-class rail treasures.

I confess to not having visited other regions of our beau-tiful state in a couple of decades, but I was immediatelyreminded of what I had neglected when I headed west.Every turn in the road reveals a new panorama worthy ofan extended stare - but don't dare - unless you like inten-sive care! I often thought how preferable it would be toconsume the kaleidoscopic vistas through a train win-dow.

Which brings me to our wealth of tourist railroads. Thatthere are railroads penetrating what was thought to beimpenetrable remains a marvel of man's ingenuity andentrepreneurial ambition. The early railroads were themore efficient successors to crude trails and wagon ruts,but financial failures were often the rule rather than theexception.

And, devised to haul away the hidden riches of MotherEarth, the railroads also imported "riches" in the guise oftourists clamoring for the breath-taking (literally, at10,000 ft.!) scenic wonders. Thankfully for us, despite aplethora of challenges, portions of these rail marvels stillexist for our enjoyment - for the very same reason: Colo-rado's abundance of spectacular beauty! These rail-roads are living history.

My first stop was the Leadville, Colorado and South-ern in Leadville. This line clings to a hillside for about 9miles - the last 9 miles of a line that once originated inDenver. The profuse stands of aspen make this a must-see in September. I shall return. Leadville also hosts anumber of other attractions well worth the journey.

www.leadville-train.com

Next up is what some might call the ‘granddaddy’ of railtourism, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge. Stillan incredible ride - and 50 years to the day since my firsttrip! This tourism magnet is what business people callan economic generator for both endpoints. And Durangohas grown ten-fold since my first visit, when the train wasstill operated by the D&RGW Railroad.

www.durangotrain.com

The Rio Grande Scenic Rail-road in Alamosa was 3rd onthe agenda. This formerD&RG line traverses La VetaPass and serves the San LuisValley with both freight serviceand passenger excursions.Noted for special concerts in abeautiful mountain meadow(Fir Station), accessible onlyby train, this line is a newerbut very welcome entry in thestate's rail tourism portfolio.

I was a week too early for thesteam train trips but I did seeone of the two Rails and Alesspecial trains headed for saidmeadow for an afternoon ofbeer-tasting. Eight hundredtrain tickets were sold for theevent, requiring all hands ondeck for the railroad! GeneralManager Matt Abbey spokeat ColoRail's rail tourism sum-mit last year and I promised a

(Continued on page 5)Britain’s ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ meets an American veteran on the Cumbres & Toltec, areminder that rail way interests appeal to all ages. Thomas will be at the Colorado RailroadMuseum on Saturday & Sunday September 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, & 29, 2013

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visit: promise kept. Parent company, Iowa Pacific, is ledby Ed Ellis, also a former ColoRail speaker while in hisformer Amtrak role. "Ed's Empire" was featured recentlyin Trains, highlighting his other rail tourism endeavorsand Ed's growing collection of rail equipment in Alamosa,creating some welcomed restoration jobs.

www.coloradotrain.com

The amazing Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad wasmy 4th stop. Located at the other end of the formerD&RG narrow gauge network, and now owned jointly bythe states of Colorado and New Mexico, this operationexists because of "extreme volunteerism." Hyper-dedicated individuals come from near and far for the"privilege" of working on this railroad - and pay their ownway. What a business paradigm! But more are alwayswelcome.

Just another breathtaking marvel and scenic wonder, ofcourse. Yes, I know it's a drive from the Metro area butdo it! And if you time it right, the Rio Grande Scenic willtake you to it, nose-to-nose. This is an obvious pairingfor the rail tourist.

www.cumbrestoltec.com

I was able to squeeze in onemore rail adventure beforeheading home: the RoyalGorge Route, through the fa-mous gorge of the same name- and the only way to visit thearea due to the recent fire,unless you want to get wet in araft on the Arkansas River.

The famous "hanging bridge"was an early rail tourism high-light when regularly scheduledpassenger trains paused at thesite for a view. The open aircar is a visitor favorite.

www.RoyalGorgeRoute.com

There are other operating tour-ist railroads, such as theGeorgetown Loop and thePikes Peak Cog train. Andthere are rail museums of allsorts, some offering train rides.Our local, yet world-famousColorado Railroad Museumbeing the most prominent. Wealso have the Platte Valley

Trolley in Denver and the Pikes Peak Historical StreetcarRailway Foundation in Colorado Springs.

I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of my rail tourism ad-venture. Without exception, I found the staff at thesefacilities friendly and most helpful. Likewise with the sur-rounding merchants. And NO, I'm not being paid by theChambers of Commerce! This is what I found and I en-courage all of ColoRail's members and friends to visitthese rail gems we have in our virtual backyard. Use itor lose it!

Our fellow Coloradans deserve our enthusiasm and sup-port for preserving these historical icons that enable usto enjoy and appreciate our state in our favorite fashion -rail!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention a great visit with Col-oRail's "president emeritus," Jon Esty, nestled in thehillside above Ridgway-without-the-e.

And the sacred ground of the Rio Grande Southern. Jonand Rosemary gaze out their windows at a row of rockthat blocks their view of New Mexico. I think he said therow of rock was called the San Juan Mountains.......

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of camera-ready colorful Colorado Narrow meetsstandard gauge

Cameras are ready for Windy Point on the Cumbres & Toltec, a segment of the one-timenarrow-gauge empire of the Denver & Rio Grande.

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When your editor was a boy, he and hissiblings wore out a picture book titledGreat Trains of the World. It featured astriking illustration of the Rio Grande’sSilverton narrow-gauge, and, of course,the Santa Fe Super Chief through Colo-rado. It also featured trains that wenever had the opportunity to ride, asgovernments around the world pouredmoney into other modes and rail man-agers grew defensive.

As Bob Brewster found on his expedi-tion, the heirs to the passenger market-ing savvy of the old-time railroads aretoday’s tourist lines. They have madethemselves into conveyor belts formoney coming into struggling ruraleconomies, often doing so with limitedfunds of their own.

From out of thepages of history Colorado trains great

Above, tourists still marvel at the Royal Gorge byrail, despite fire damage to the area. Left, observa-tion car on the “new” :La Veta Pass route. Below,just a part of the marketing material rolled out an-nually by Colorado tourist lines.

That this bootstrap industry had potential was first recognized -- negatively -- by the top dogs of the transportation field, high-way officials. In the 1960’s, when funding for roads seemedunlimited, Oregon’s tourism program (run by the Highway De-partment) refused to show the Glenwood, Oregon Trolley Parkoperating museum on state highway maps of attractions. Thereason? Rail vehicles did not pay gas taxes. In the 1970’s,Oregon’s new DOT refused to show Amtrak lines on the“Transportation Map” because the tracks were privately owned.But privately-owned commercial aviation was identified, be-cause the airports were publicly owned. A look at vintageColorado state material suggests the same logic was going onhere. Today’s tourist lines still have to work hard, but are rec-ognized more widely for their contributions.

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Easier gradeson Texas routeChief issue summarized

Name: ________________________________________________________________________

Names of additional passengers __________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________________

City: ______________________________ State: _____________ Postal Code: ___________

Telephone, with area code: ___________________________________________________

E-mail address, fax number or other contact information:

_________________________________________________

P.O. Box 9613Denver, CO 80209

Please enclose check ormoney order.

$30 per personRound-trip to PuebloColoRail and NARP

meeting

At the request of new readers, we are republishing the map which helps to understand the difference between po-tential alignments for Amtrak’s Southwest Chief. The current route through Colorado has the potential of tappingFront Range cities, as Amtrak’s predecessor Santa Fe did. Pueblo is the junction point shown on the map northwestof the La Junta - Trinidad line. But the Colorado line is being downgraded as a freight route in favor of the easiergrades on the line through Amarillo. The Texas line, which like the Front Range cities was served by Santa Fe until1971, featuresa cc es s t oWichita andAmarillo. Itp a s s e sthrough Belen,New Mexico,an Albuquer-que suburb.Based on sev-eral prece-dents, includ-ing Cheyenneand Phoenix,Amtrak wouldconsider Belensatisfactory forAlbuquerque ifthe train is re-routed.

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P.O. Box 9613Denver, CO 80209

Less likely to defaultif close to transit Notes from here and there

Researchers find homes neartransit less risky than others

A study published by mort-gage giant Fannie Mae hasfound that where a 30% ormore share of commuting isdone by transit, there is a58.4% less chance of mort-gage defaults.

University of Arizona profes-sor Gary Pivo led the study,which also found that everyadditional minute of com-mute time raises the risk ofdefault by 3.7%. And, theresearch into massive FMAdata files showed that forproperty within 1000 feet of a free-way, the risk of default went up by59%.

The study adds to earlier researchthat was used to develop the Hous-ing + Transportation Affordability

Index. It’s online calculator reportson 180,000 U.S. neighborhoods:

http://htaindex.cnt.org/

From Pueblo to Eugene by Talgo

Little noted in Colorado, the first oftwo 286-seat Talgo train-sets wastested in Pueblo this summer andthen sent on its way to Oregon.Scenes along the Oregon segment

of the trip - available on YouTube --show it whipping through snow. OnJuly 26th, it was greeted in Eugene

by a celebration, and thensent into the Seattle equip-ment pool which covers theCascades between Eugeneand Vancouver, BC.

Addition of this and a secondOregon train-set will allowmore experimentation withschedules and reduce theneed to use conventional roll-ing stock for back-ups.

Talgos currently make thecurvy 186 mile Portland - Se-attle trip in 210 minutes.

Photographs in this issue by BobBrewster are in color for readerswho request e-mail PDF delivery ofthe ColoRail Passenger. Drop anote to join the e-mail list torw.rynerson@att.net .