I've been watching from the sidelines as this sniping has been going on and there' a lot of ignorant BS stinking up these C&S No. 9/ Georgetown Loop rambles.
First, I will take on the uninformed Mr. Webster.
Chris,
The Interstate was blasted away because the CHS and the State of Colorado saved the land where the Loop was located for a future park, where the railroad in question is located now. If the CDOT or Feds would have had their way, this discussion would not be taking place because the whole valley would be under tons of interstate concrete.
The trees there are second growth. The original forest was logged to timber the mines in the Georgetown and Silver Plume Area. They are trees and vegetation that are native to the area, nobody planted them, they just grew. Would you stop God in the name of "Authenticity?". If you want it "Authentic" then show up one day with a chain saw and a contract from Champion Paper and see how far you get before you land in the hoosegow.
Third, the ersatz east end depot was built to intentionally differentiate it from the historic strucutres. I think that an "Interpretive Center" is a really funky name for a depot but it wasn't my money that provided the grant to build it.
Ah... The very modern steel bridge, from your "Backing under" remark you must mean the Devil's Gate Bridge. The bridge is steel, but it was built to conform to the original CC/C&S Specs. (circular legs and all). It was built of steel instead of Iron in consideration of Safety and weight requirements. Other than that, it is practically identical to the original bridge. As for the other bridges, I suggest that you take a trip over to the John Maxwell collection and take a gander at the bridges that the C&S used to replace the original wooden bridges. The only ones that are not correct, as Todd Hackett correctly pointed out, is the one that replaced the turntable (which I understand had been condemned). The replacement did, however, follow the pattern of the original wooden truss bridge which preceeced the turntable bridge. How correct was the turntable bridge, very correct. It was C&S. The Ironic thing about your statement is that you have made fun of what was probably the only original piece of equipment that was reused during the reconstruction with the exception of the Silver Plume Depot. I have copies of the plans for the bridge which the turntable bridge replaced, which, bye the way, are at the CHS Library. The other incorrect bridge is the pin-truss bridge. The plate-girder bridge used here by the C&S was a replacement for a wooden truss bridge. The pin-truss bridge follows very closely the original wooden bridge in size and length. So, in all of the replacement steel bridges, the original or C&S replacements can be easily identified and the same types of bridges were used.
Now, you complain about the parking lot. Once again, thank the State of Colorado. Why? because the east abutment of the high bridge was removed by the Highway department when old US 6 was extended from Georgetown to Silver Plume. The parking lot is on the fill created by the highway department to facilitate a highway switchback to gain altitude. The state just used what was there to make a parking lot in a very narrow canyon. Or would you have people park on the sides of the highway? I can agree that going all the way into Georgetown would ba a great thing, but I truly doubt that the homeowners that have built their high-dollar homes on the right of way into town would willingly donate them to the CHS for a path for the Choo-choo.
Your hilarious statement about the smoothness of the track being machine done is truly a tribute to Bill Farquhar, Mike Squibb and the other track men that worked on the Loop. I was there when the track was built and the ONLY mechanized equipment used was a dozer to smooth the right-of-way, a front end loader to unload rail, and a train and flat car to haul track materials. The Dozer and loader were equipment brought by the SeaBees. If there was any other machinery used in construction or maintenance, it was well hidden whenever the train made its appearance. When I started there, we hadn't yet reached the pin truss bridge. Each week we would extend the line a bit more. First, it was over the bridge, then through the rock cut. No, the cut walls weren't built by professional stone masons and the walls were not mortared. We used the original Cornish Wall Techniques. How do I know? Because Dave Woodring and I built a lot of them. The ties. Yes, they are not the original 6' 6" or 7' ties that the CC/C&S used. Most of them were used standard gauge ties that were shortened. Dave Woodring would be out there every weeknight and weekend with his chain saw cutting the ends off of them for the seabees or track crew to use the next weekend or the next day. Why used ties? because it was all that we could afford at the time. Remember, we were running a two car train whenever people would show up. Sometimes we'd run with a full train, sometimes it was a family. The ties were bought by the concessionaire, not by the CHS because the CHS was full of promises but short on funding and deliveries. (no gambling revenue back then because there was no gambling) We used what we could get to extend the line. I can't comment on the bike trail because it wasn't there when I was there, but the Lebanon Mine platform was. In those pre- McDonald's Coffee days, the platform was just that, a platform. No railings, just a wooden platform that the SeaBees built in anticipation of the mine tour which would commence the following season. But as for the platform not being there, maybe, maybe not. But the Lebanon Mine and its buildings certainly were, even though the buldings there today are reconstructions.
Back to the track. Each weekend the track would go farther. Out of the rock cut it was to the Lebanon Mine stop, then over the turntable bridge, then around the corner to Hall Tunnel. All the while, this was done with spike mauls, hand track gauges, lining bars, shovels and tamping bars, and lots and lots of man power. When it came to the upgrade of the line after the initial construction, you can thank the concessionaire and a number of volunteer groups, most notably the Boulder Model Railroad Club, who would come up on weekends and donate many hours to tamping, lining and raising the track. All by hand. there was even one time when tracklaying was shut down because we lost the rail drill, which was also hand powered
A Note to Todd Hackett, the dip and rise in the track west of the High Fill was put there by the Seabees. Prior to laying track it was found that there had been a slide which covered the track at that particular point. The Seabees dozed it then used the low spot as practice for putting in a culvert. The culvert was a bit too big, thus the jhump in the track
Ah, the terminal that never existed. You mean Silver Plume? Feel lucky that the depot still exists. It used to sit where the west abutment of the Interstate 70 bridge is.
No, the terminal is much smaller now than it was when the C&S ran there, and with one helluva lot more traffic.
How historically correct is the Loop? Considering what it had been abandoned for almost 40 years and subject to the whims and wishes of highway departments, it's pretty damn close.
Rose colored glasses? Not hardly. It was a lot of sweat, muscle and labor by a lot of people for over 30 years.
Now on the 9.
First, it probably did have a red roof when it went to the 1939 World's Fair. That was the standard Burlington Color Scheme at the time, and that's when it got its current Burlington-style number plate, two years after it ceased running to Leadville on a regular basis. the photos taken before the fair show the 9 with a standard Burlington paint job, all the way down to the "Burlington Route" on the tender. That was probably the paint that Marlin Urich found under the "Chief Crazy Horse" red. The Stack? Take a good, close look at the spec. sheets. The stack had 6" cut off of it when the Ridgeway Patent Spark Arrestor was applied. So Spark Arrestor or not, it is what it is.
But it runs, and from what I understand, runs well. I truly wish that the restoration would have taken place 13 years earlier instead of under the cloud that it happened under. Not a good thing for the reputation of the CHS, but no pox on Railstar.
Now it's time for Don to sip on me for stirring up crap again.
Rick Steele
