Review by Allen Best
Transportation – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine
Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future
by Iain Carson and Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran
Published in 2007 by Hachette Book Group
ISBN: 978-0446698665
Transportation
The price of gas, politicians, and our way of life
Letter from Kenneth Jessen
Transportation – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
Politicians are promising something they cannot possibly deliver. The price of oil, thus the price of gasoline, is not controlled by the United States. Oil is an international commodity, and 79% is owned by foreign countries, many of which are not friendly to the United States. It seems that politicians want to beat up on “Big Oil,” but this is not the problem. Oil is become increasing scarce -it is not renewable. The increase in price during the last year is due in part to the steady decline in the value of the U.S. dollar. Recent strengthening of the dollar has resulted in a temporary reprieve in the price at the pump -but it will not last. Another even larger factor is demand, especially in India and China. These countries add millions of new cars each year. The oil futures market and speculators add to the problem. Production quotas, set by cartels such as OPEC, also control the supply and thus the price of oil. All of these factors conspire to drive up the cost of gasoline, but conservation is something under our control.
Why can’t Colorado be as smart as New Mexico?
Letter from Peter Bulkeley
Transportation – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
Keith Baker’s letter in the September edition brought up a subject that has been sticking in my craw for a considerable time. What is the matter with the citizens of Colorado and their lack of support for rail transportation? New Mexico, a state with a substantially lower median annual income than Colorado and much smaller population, purchased the former Santa Fe Railroad right of way from Belen, south of Albuquerque, to Santa Fé and installed commuter rail (Rail Runner). The connection into Santa Fé, which required some track rerouting and bridges on a former spur, is scheduled to be put in service in mid-December. The rest is already in operation. There is also talk of purchasing the track the rest of the way to Raton Pass. Oh yes, this is the same state which kept up its financial support of the Cumbres & Toltec during hard times while Colorado didn’t.
This big SUV really gets bad mileage
Brief by Allen Best
Transportation – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
Bummed about the 12 miles per gallon your SUV gets when gas is $4 to $5 a gallon? Think of what it’s like to hurtle across the landscape in a Gulfstream, the airplane of choice for many billionaires.
The newest Gulfstream, the G-V, burns 400 gallons of fuel per hour in the air, and more when taking off.
Put those idle tracks to use
Letter from Keith Baker
Transportation – September 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
Only one transportation arterial consisting of segments of Highways 24, 50, and 285 runs the length of the Upper Arkansas Valley. An unused railroad parallels this route. High speed light commuter rail would reduce vehicle miles traveled and all sorts of pollution, probably increase tourism revenues, and serve as an attraction for our area. Citizens of several counties wish they had an existing rail line. Some can, like the Roaring Fork Valley and I-70 corridor, even rue a day they allowed a rail line to be torn up or defeated light rail proposals (NOTE: a high speed monorail would have come with the 1976 Winter Olympics).
How about another road across the Front Range?
Brief by Allen Best
Transportation – July 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
The debate continues about how to best defy Colorado’s mountainous geography between Denver and the mountain resorts. Last winter has brought a spate of new ideas — including some old ideas filched from the discard bin.
Why did UP’s Operation Lifesaver visit Salida?
Brief by Central Staff
Transportation – July 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
It’s been a while since we’ve heard any gossip about the Tennessee Pass rail line from Parkdale (west end of the Royal Gorge) to Minturn and beyond. The usual chatter is that increased traffic on the Moffat Route, which runs more or less due west from Denver to Glenwood Springs and beyond, might require the Union Pacific to re-open the Tennessee Pass line to reduce congestion.
Ski towns riled up about proposal for tolls on I-70
Brief by Allen Best
Transportation – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
The proposal to levy tolls from motorists using Interstate 70 between Denver and some mountain towns has riled the locals to an extent not seen in years.
From Steamboat Springs to Granby, and Idaho Springs to Eagle, it was a two-Tums case of indignation after State Sen. Chris Romer, a Democrat, and then Andy McElhany, a Republican, introduced legislation to begin tolling.
From Antonito to Denver, it’s the Ralph Carr Highway
Brief by Central Staff
Transportation – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine –
U.S. 285 from Denver to the New Mexico line has been christened the “Ralph Carr Memorial Highway” by our state legislature; the joint resolution passed unanimously on March 15.
Just say No to driving for every little thing
Essay by Alan Kesselheim
Transportation – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
I ‘VE BEEN MARKING DAYS off the calendar with a black X, like a prisoner might in a jail cell. Only I’m not counting down a sentence, I’m celebrating days of liberation. Liberation from the alarming gas pump, from town traffic, from sedentary, bad-posture travel. X marks the days I don’t drive at all. Days I never turn the car key in the ignition.
Autosock could be a godsend for truckers
Brief by Allen Best
Transportation – March 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
Truckers are excited about a new product called Autosock, which is a high-tech fabric that can be slipped over a tire, delivering the same traction in snowy and icy conditions that now require chains. The Autosock can be installed on tires of tractor-trailer trucks in about 5 minutes, instead of 35 to 40 minutes, product representatives tell the Vail Daily.
The ghost siding of Barrel
Brief by Central Staff
Transportation – March 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
This spot between Salida and Cleora is not exactly a “ghost town,” since it never was a town. It was a siding named Barrel, where the railroad used a rotary dump to transfer limestone from the narrow-gauge cars that served the Monarch Quarry to the standard-gauge cars that served the CF&I steel mill in Pueblo. The machinery was erected in 1924, and was used until 1956 when the Monarch branch was converted to standard-gauge; the branch was abandoned in 1984.
Crested Butte leery about paving Kebler Pass
Brief by Allen Best
Transportation – January 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
Crested Butte remains uncertain whether it wants to be more closely connected to the world.
That issue showed up several years ago when paving of Cottonwood Pass on the west side was proposed. It is already paved on the east side, from Buena Vista to the Continental Divide. That paving would have had the practical repercussion of shortening, by about a half-hour, the time it takes to drive between metropolitan Denver and Crested Butte.
Tracking Highway 285
Brief by Central Staff
Transportation – January 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
Here’s one of those things you find out when you’re looking up something else. The “something else” started with an email which said there was talk of naming a portion of U.S. 285 in honor of Ralph Carr.
Former Marshall Pass resident goes back to work
Brief by Central Staff
Transportation – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
A former resident of Gunnison and Salida has gone back to work after years of idleness in Durango, where the former resident starred in a movie.
It’s the Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow-gauge steam locomotive No. 315, which has been rebuilt by the Durango Railroad Historical Society. In September, it steamed from Durango to Silverton and back.
Reviving the rail route
Letter from Keith Baker
Transportation – October 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
Dear Ed & Martha,
I am happy to see someone else speculating about the possibilities our unused railroad offers the region (the thoughtful letter “Putting Tennessee Pass Back Into Service,” September Colorado Central).
Putting Tennessee Pass back into service
Letter
Transportation – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine – No. 163 – Page 37
Dear Mr. Quillen,
I was surprised to learn recently that Amtrak has the power of eminent domain — including over other rail carriers. Interestingly, Amtrak actually did condemn a railroad line once and then quickly sold it to a different carrier, with the following provisions: the original railroad (Guilford transportation) could continue to serve its existing customers on the line, but the new railroad (Central Vermont) could go after new business.
Crested Butte comes back for more flights
Brief by Allen Best
Transportation – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
Although other ski resorts in Colorado smiled through last winter, Crested Butte took it on the chin.
The difficulty was partly reflected in the direct flight program. American Airlines lost $765,000 on its flights, mostly from Texas cities, and the local transportation authority covered $500,000 of the loss.
Multiple gauges
Letter from Kenneth Jessen
Transportation – August 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
I was fascinated by the July edition covering the history of railroads in south-central Colorado. Otto Perry’s 1952 photograph taken of a Rio Grande passenger train clearly shows the dual gauge used in the Salida yards to accommodate both standard and narrow gauge trains. Colorado was lucky in that it had to contend with only two gauges. Granted, there was an extensive two-foot tram system in the Central City-Black Hawk area, but it did not complicate matters in other parts of the state.
No public transportation
Letter from Roger Williams
Transportation – August 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
Not only has the “Ark Valley” lost all its trains, it has also lost its bus service. When I first visited it in 1973, passenger trains were long gone; but Continental Trailways still served the Valley, from Leadville to Buena Vista. With no car and I didn’t drive, I made the most of it, to bag 14ers and even, later, make a memorable hike from Buena Vista over the mountains to Aspen via Trailways to Buena Vista, then a van or hitch from Aspen to Glenwood Springs and the then Rio Grande Zephyr back to Denver.
Current Trains
Sidebar by Ed Quillen
Transportation – July 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
In recent years, passenger trains have made a comeback in Central Colorado — not as regular modes of transportation for people interested only in getting from here to there, but as tourist excursions for passengers to enjoy the scenery and the experience of riding on the rails.
Some Last Trains
Sidebar by Ed Quillen
Transportation – July 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
Last scheduled narrow-gauge passenger train from Alamosa to Durango: the San Juan, Jan. 31, 1951. After that there were special excursions chartered by the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club and similar organizations, and these continued into the 1960s. Summer tourist service on the segment between Antonito and Chama, N.M., resumed in 1970.
Rail Recollection
Sidebar by Kirby Perschbacher
Transportation – July 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
My last train trip from my Grandparents’ Cain home in Climax to our home in Salida was when I was probably about ten and my brother Mike was eight. Grandma took us to the station at Malta and bought tickets for the trip to Salida. As we waited around with several other people for the train, I remember a man noting that the D&RGW wouldn’t continue to talk about closing the line if there were this many passengers every day. I recall there being about fifteen people in line.
Rail Recollection
Sidebar by Carol Slaughter
Transportation – July 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
I remember my excitement when, as a young girl, I took my first ride on a passenger train, from Buena Vista to Salt Lake City. My cousin, Hazel Hemstedt, who traveled the world teaching for the U.S. Army, had come home for a visit. Apparently, she thought it was time I started my apprenticeship as a traveler by taking a short trip. My excitement grew as departure time drew near. It was like being in one of those movies I loved, where the action takes place on trains steaming through the night; characters eating and sleeping in those elegant cars.
Rail Recollection
Sidebar by Laird Campbell
Transportation – July 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
My wife and I were privileged to ride this train when it went beyond Salida. We took it to Glenwood Springs, stayed overnight, and rode the California Zephyr back to Denver.
Who’ll be waiting?
Sidebar by Suzanne Macdonald
Transportation – July 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
What, who, will be waiting at the station?
Rail Recollection
Sidebar by Gwen Perschbacher
Transportation – July 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine –
Riding the trains has been a life-long experience. My first train memory is riding to and from school in the second grade on the Galloping Goose in Kansas. The last was going through Copper Canyon in Mexico. However, it was during the 1940s that my train rides are most memorable. At the time, my parents were living in Climax and I was attending school in Kansas. The trip was often from Malta [the railroad stop near Leadville] to Pueblo, where I changed trains for Geneseo, Kansas — and vice-versa.
Rail Recollection
Sidebar by Bill Murphy
Transportation – July 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
My first visit to Salida was by rail in the summer of 1959. I came here to check out a radio station that was for sale. I rode the Burlington from Chicago to Denver, then the Rio Grande from Denver to Salida. You didn’t get off that train; there was some switching when you might have to move from a sleeper car to a coach, but you never stepped off the train.
40 years since the last ‘All Aboard!’
Article by Ed Quillen
Transportation – July 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
IT WAS A BITTER January morning in 1985, so cold that my car wouldn’t start; so I walked downtown because I needed a power strip from Gambles. After a couple of chilly blocks, I turned the corner and looked down F Street. Instead of seeing Salida’s focal point, the art-deco Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad depot, I saw a pile of rubble.
Last steam was in 1969
Letter from Neil Reich
Transportation – June 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
Enjoyed your article in the May issue on the return of steam operations on the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad. This should help build ridership on what is already a beautiful railroad experience.
Scenic byway now includes Independence Pass
Brief by Central Staff
Transportation – June 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
The Top-of-the-Rockies Scenic Byway will be about 40 miles longer, thanks to a recent decision by the Colorado Department of Transportation. The designation will now extend from Twin Lakes over 12,095-foot Independence Pass through Aspen to the Maroon Creek bridge west of town.
We want your rail recollections
Brief by Central Staff
Transportation – June 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
Next month marks a 40th anniversary. On July 27, 1967, the last regularly scheduled passenger train ran between Salida and Denver on the Denver & Rio Grande Western.
Steam returns
Brief by Central Staff
Transportation – May 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
Steam Returns
On Memorial Day weekend, the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad (it was the San Luis & Rio Grande last summer) plans to begin operating a steam-powered passenger train over La Veta Pass (or just plain Veta Pass, depending on whom you consult). Steam trains will run on weekends and holidays this summer, with diesels handling weekday excursions between Alamosa and the town of La Veta.
Rails to Wolf Creek Pass?
Brief by Central Staff
Transportation – March 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
It’s been a long time — perhaps the standard-gauging of the Monarch Quarry line in 1956 — since there’s been any railroad construction in this part of the world.
But Permian Basin Railways is looking into some construction. It has hired an engineering firm to examine the possibility of building a 17-mile branch line from South Fork to the summit of Wolf Creek Pass.
The White Cascade, by Gary Krist
Review by Ed Quillen
Transportation – February 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
The White Cascade – The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America’s Deadliest Avalanche
by Gary Krist
Published in 2007 by Henry Holt & Co.
ISBN 0-8050-7705-7
Other tourist trains hold their own, or better
Sidebar by Ed Quillen
Transportation – February 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
Does the addition of a new tourist railroad in our area take business away from the other lines?
A qualified success in 2006 for the new train in the Valley
Article by Virginia McConnell Simmons
Transportation – February 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
AMID ENTHUSIASTIC PUBLICITY from railroad operators, chambers of commerce in Alamosa and La Veta, tourism promoters, and fans, the new Rio Grande Scenic Railroad excursion train hummed across the Sangre de Cristo Range on May 27, 2006, to open its first regular season. And it rolled to a smooth stop on October 15.
Aspen arguing again about rail transportation
Brief by Allen Best
Transportation – January 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
Will it be a leap forward to the past in mountain valleys of the West? The “past” in this case is rail-based transportation.
For years, some people have been arguing that train systems similar to those we abandoned decades ago are the answer to growing traffic demands, and the debate is on in Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley.
Bicyclists get speeding tickets
Brief by Allen Best
Transportation – December 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine
Police in Mt. Crested Butte have begun enforcing the letter of the traffic laws as they apply to bicycles, to the regret of one Justin Blakelee. He was given a $40 ticket for going 10 miles over the 30 mph limit.
The phantom railroad of Tennessee Pass
Article by Kendal Stitzel
Transportation – October 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine
ONCE A TANGLED WEB of silver rails, Central Colorado has enjoyed something of a railroad renaissance at the turn of the 21st century. Despite the numerous ghosts of abandoned railroads, a streamlined passenger train now leaves every day from Cañon City to ply the tracks of the Royal Gorge, some of the passengers eating luxuriously in a full dining car. Above Leadville, a diesel pulls trainloads of tourists to timberline amid lovely mountain views. The San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad recently began passenger service over La Veta Pass then down to Antonito. In Antonito, the antique steamers of the Cumbres and Toltec continue to haul thousands back and forth into New Mexico. And plans remain afoot to revive a railroad line to Creede.
Don’t give in to the UP
Letter from Name Withheld By Request
Transportation – October 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine
Ed:
While I certainly agree that a dead railroad is a much better place to walk the dog than a living railroad, I cannot believe that such a reason constitutes your admission of defeat at the hands of Union Pacific.
Slow down, you move too fast
Essay by Jim Stiles
Transportation – August 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine
THESE ARE DIFFICULT TIMES for people like me. I love to drive. Nothing soothes me more than a long, empty stretch of road and a full tank of gas and no known destination. I love the rumble of the road, spotting a café in a town, stopping for pie and coffee and listening to locals talk about the price of cattle. I love hearing meadowlarks as I rattle by their perches on fence posts. I like to roll down my window and moo at the standing cattle and wonder if this urge is an affliction that will someday produce its own special medication. I love driving into a thunderstorm and listening to the rhythm of my wipers.
Engines on the track
Letter from Roger Williams
Transportation – July 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
How appropriate: that engine on the track in your latest issue is a 4-8-2 Mountain type, with no tender (it wouldn’t go very far), on p. 12. (the engine on the cover is a tenderless 4-4-0 American). Some issues back, the tracks across the top led to a small SUV just like my Suzuki jeep, a 1990 Samurai. It’s been all over the West, and part of the Midwest too.
Learning to enjoy Salida without the trains
Essay by Ed Quillen
Transportation – June 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine
SINCE I WAS a little kid, trains have fascinated me, and Salida’s status as a one-time rail hub was one factor that made the place attractive when we moved here in 1978. Passenger service had stopped in 1967. In 1971, Salida quit serving as a terminal where all freights changed crews. The immense old railroad shop building housed a limestone-processing plant, and the two roundhouses had been razed.
Excursion trains along the Arkansas
Article by Ed Quillen
Transportation – June 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine
IF YOU LOOK at this region’s excursion trains as journeys through time as well as space, then the Canon City & Royal Gorge takes its passengers back about half a century to the 1950s, when air travel was a novelty and trains were the way to go. And 120 miles upriver, the Leadville, Colorado & Southern has the feel of even earlier times.