caboose

The Caboose

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by Forrest Whitman I recently took a lovely walk up the old Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad grade to the Orient mine in the northern San Luis Valley. It’s a spot anyone can visit on their own. Just stop at the Valley View Hot Springs office and sign in. Graded in 1881, this narrow …

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The caboose

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by Forrest Whitman

A Magic Goose Ride

A buddy and I just rode the Gallopin’ Goose #5 on the Cumbres and Toltec R.R. It was a magical ride. We started out in a rainstorm at Chama; and as we reached the summit, a full moon lit up the golden aspens. There were deer, elk and a bobcat jumping out of the way. Food at the top was good too, with prime rib and baked chicken entrees.

They’ll be pulling out the Goose again and it’s a trip worth planning for. Built in the 1930s for the long defunct Rio Grande Southern, these geese are hard to define. Are they a train? Well, they do have air brakes, ride steel wheels, and carry markers front and rear, so they’re a train. On the other hand, they are built on an old school bus body and are powered by a W.W. II surplus gasoline engine from GM. They carried mail and freight too, so they were early UPS trucks. Ride them and decide what in the world they are. They’re great fun.

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The Caboose

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by Forrest Whitman

Ed Quillen Catches the Westbound

Back in my brakeman days we’d say: “He caught the westbound.” That feels right for Ed, because he was a rail guy. Of course he was many other things which will be written about in this issue of Colorado Central. We’ll remember him especially as a loving, humorous and involved husband and father. He will be remembered as the crucial publicist for The Colorado Trail, as a great Colorado historian, a progressive columnist, founder of this very magazine, curmudgeon (never really true), definer of Colorado’s red zones as “stupid zones,” and above all really funny writer. But, I’ll remember him as a rail guy.

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The Caboose

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by Forrest Whitman

Ed Quillen, Yellow Slime, and our own Southwest Chief

Ed Quillen is no longer with us, but in late spring he had sent me a train report on his trip to the Pacific Northwest. He reported that the trainsets built by train manufacturer Talgo are great, and more are on order from the big shops in Wisconsin. Their tilting wheels make for a super ride around curves. He pointed out an irony in those new car orders since Wisconsin had just retained one of the most rabid anti-union governors in the country and the Milwaukee train shops are unionized.

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The Caboose

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by Forrest Whitman

Hobo News from Colorado Central County

Spring nights bring the low, long moan of a freight crawling up the ruling grade. That sound makes solid citizens roll over in their sleep and remember some hobo dreams. When the nights get warm some of our readers vow to “by golly go rail ridin’.”

Not many will actually go hoboing and some hobos do eventually get over spring fever and settle down. Wayne Iverson for instance. He rode the rails for twelve years, but now he’s settled down in Colorado Central country and written a book you can buy at the Book Haven. Hobo Bob, on the other hand is still catching out on freights and he’s got to be over sixty. Both of their stories are great.

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I Live in a Caboose

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By Forrest Whitman

I’ve spent a lot of my adult life sleeping, eating, and working in cabooses. These days I live in a grounded Burlington Caboose. It’s located near mile post 41.77 on the Moffat Tunnel Sub. That’s the former D, & R..G.W. (“dangerous and rapidly growing worse line” as we used to joke). Today that main line is owned by the Union Pacific, but is jointly used by the B.N.S.F., a consolidation of three lines including the former Burlington. The logo on the side stills says “C.B. & Q – Route of he Zephyrs.” It was purchased for $100 when the Burlington sold off many of its old wooden heavyweights. The buyer was a fellow named Woody who’s now a resident of the Big Rock Candy Mountain, where my Dad, my hobo uncle Wen, and all good dogs go.

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The caboose

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by Forrest Whitman

Fun Fall Train Trips

Fall is a great time of year to take a train trip anywhere … crisp fall mornings add a little zest, and when those steam whistles blow you step right along the platform. Rail history buffs enjoy train trips just for the chance to retrace old routes from a century and a half ago, and hear those steam whistles scream. But you don’t have to be a history buff to ride the Georgetown loop railroad or the San Luis and Rio Grande Scenic Railroad. Those rides are just plain fun. AMTRAK riders have some news this fall too, which I’ll get to in this column.

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The caboose

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by Forrest Whitman

This column is dedicated to two Colorado Central readers I ran into in a Salida coffee house. They tell me they are planning to go hoboin’ this fall. This column might prove useful to them. I love hearing hobos spin yarns, at least when they are fairly sober. I had an uncle who was a hobo for a while. He’s gone off to the big Rock Candy Mountain now, but at least some of his information is still good today. My recollections from my own time on the rails as a brakeman is dated, but possibly useful. I’ve also interviewed four hobos out there right now so some of this column is hot off the rails. If it’s of no use, well as the hobos say, “What the hell; it’s free isn’t it?”

Where did all the hobos go?

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The caboose

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by Forrest Whitman

The California Zephyr Report

Train #5, The California Zephyr (CZ), pulled out of Union Station Denver at exactly 8:05 a.m., as advertised, on May 2. The conductor welcomed us over the PA and reminded us that National Train Day, May 8, would feature special displays and even goodies in the old Union Station waiting room. That waiting room still seems rather grand. It’s many feet high and has those vaulting windows at either end. Some of the echoes in there have been reverberating for over a century it seems. Getting there from the Ark Valley could be a bit of a challenge. The bus does stop at Union Station, but the schedules don’t line up well. One would have to spend the night in LODO to catch the Zephyr out in the morning.

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The Caboose

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by Forrest Whitman

COLORAIL Loses on Union Station?

Union Station, the premier rail hub in Colorado, won’t have much room for rail passengers if current plans go through. COLORAIL (Colorado Assn. Of Rail Passengers) has sued over the plan. The COLORAIL claim is that Union Station has become little more than another big real estate development and marginalizes passenger rail and inter city bus routes too. For example the light rail platforms will be far from the main station and future expansion on inter-city rail is out of room. COORAIL is gearing up for a long legal fight.

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