Steam & Excursion > Several Angles of Georgetown Loop (Colorado)

Back in October, I was able to line up my days off with the scheduled running of steam locomotive on the Pikes Peak Cog Railway, so I planned a one day/two nights visit to Colorado in advance in order to document it.

I called two days ahead to make a reservation, but the lady at the reservation desk said it won't run on that Thursday. I called again the morning of the run, and got the same response, but she said there might be a possible run the next day, Friday. I already had a foaming trip planned in Nevada, so instead of trying to change my flight to catch the Pikes Pieak Cog Railway steam, I came up with a Plan B right away. Instead of driving south to Colorado Springs, I decided to drive west to Georgetown.

It was my first time "chasing" and riding the Georgetown Loop Railroad, and what fun it was!

First video is of the 2-8-0 #111 running forward. I got the train departing Devil's Gate, going across the signature High Bridge, running by the Lebanon Mine Depot, climbing the High Fill, and arriving at Silver Plume. I was rewarded with both snow and Aspen's autumn colors that day.

About a week before I visited, andersonb109 posted a quick report:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,4129581

- Two snapshots of #111 at Silver Plume.
- Video of #111 pulling the train forward, climbing from Devil's Gate to Silver Plume.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/16 18:54 by cchan006.

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Georgetown is not too close to other main lines, closest being Winter Park (ex-DRGW Moffat Tunnel Sub) about 30 miles away, so I stayed put and enjoyed the Georgetown Loop some more.

Second video is of the #111 going backwards, descending from Silver Plume to Devil's Gate. It's not possible to "chase" the train in one shot on this ~3 mile line, but the train makes 3-5 roundtrips depending on the season, so it's possible to choose different locations for each run and make a "chase" out of it.

I got the backwards #111 descending the High Fill, crossing the High Bridge, and making a quick stop at Lebanon Mine.

- High Bridge and the nearby historic marker.
- Closer look at the historic marker.
- Video of #111 descending backwards.

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Excellent work Charles, your video locations are pretty darn cool!

Nice video. Too bad you didn't walk down the bike trail for an excellent shot of the train crossing the Devil's Gate Viaduct.


Chris

oyw Wrote:
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> Excellent work Charles, your video locations are
> pretty darn cool!

Thanks Bob. Here are some water tank shots at Silver Gate. There's more video with an interesting story that I'll be posting a little later.

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To end the day, I went to Silver Plume to buy a ticket for the last roundtrip for a fun little ride.

Here's a nifty "cab ride video" from gjc (a.k.a. Left Coast Rail Videos) when he visited the Georgetown Loop earlier this year. His trip used Shay #9, but the video shows the gist of what this fun, quick ride is about:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,4074740

A large group of international visitors came onboard the same train I was on, and the group paid for a Parlor Car, so an extra one was added at Silver Plume for their exclusive use. That led to an unexpected drama later at Devil's Gate.

First, the train was longer than the usual run and it was too much of a hassle to run around the train at Devil's Gate, so instead of pulling the train as usual, the crew decided to push the train out of Devil's Gate.

After descending past Devil's Gate to give the passengers a good look at the High Bridge, the crew realize that the train was just a bit too heavy, and the drivers kept slipping, despite generous use of sand. The engineer made several valiant efforts to get the train going, and almost got it couple of times, but unfortunately, he ran out of tracks.

We were stuck.

It looked like I was the only foamer onboard, listening carefully to my scanner. The crew did an excellent job of keeping the passengers updated, so I stayed quiet, but realized that the crew was asking anyone on duty at Silver Plume to grab a diesel as a helper.

GE 50 Tonner, GLRX 130 was picked for the rescue mission.

The 50 Tonner was able to pull the train out, but the engineer's pride was on the line, so he asked the helper to let go, so he could take the train from the first crossing past Devil's Gate all the way up to Silver Plume. GLRX 130 and the crew kept in touch on the radio to make sure the train was OK, and for the rest of the trip, #111 and the engineer did a fabulous job pushing the train.

The third and final video was taken onboard the train, first four clips with the diesel helper. The next clip is of the #111 pushing the train across the High Bridge, and the final clip is at the High Fill.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/16 19:30 by cchan006.

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Mudrock Wrote:
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> Nice video. Too bad you didn't walk down the bike
> trail for an excellent shot of the train crossing
> the Devil's Gate Viaduct.
>
> Chris

Yup, that was a bummer. I might have gone for it, had there been 5 roundtrips + more daylight when I visited. There's always next time.

- GLRX 130, the GE 50 Tonner at Silver Plume, which ended up rescuing the train I was onboard.
- I think some of the passengers and many of the crew could have used some FREE BEER.

That's all folks.

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The diesels are cute, and functional, but that No.111 is the real deal.

Unfortunately, it looks like something from Mexico or Cuba rather than Colorado Narrow Gauge... But's it's still steam, and it has a great venue.

​Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

The_Chief_Way Wrote:
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> The diesels are cute, and functional, but that
> No.111 is the real deal.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/16 23:37 by wabash2800.

it sure reminds me of D&RGW's outside frame 2-8-0's

wabash2800 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Unfortunately, it looks like something from Mexico
> or Cuba rather than Colorado Narrow Gauge... But's
> it's still steam, and it has a great venue.
>
> ​Victor A. Baird
> http://www.erstwhilepublications.com
>
> The_Chief_Way Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The diesels are cute, and functional, but that
> > No.111 is the real deal.

And a sister to the 2 locos the previous GLRR operator used for nearly 30 years.

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it seems bigger, never thought i would see it steam when I played with trains at the Sundown and southern, and it sat in a blown down enginehouse.  Don Drawer (the savior and importer) is smiling from above!

Let us not forget the CB&Q 537. She ran on the "South Park" over 80 yhears ago. She was a outsde frame 2-8-0. wag216

Abolutely love the scenery this is my favorite time when the aspens have their yellows against the greens of pine trees and the white snow is added to the mix.  Just beautiful, thanks for sharing 

Great video work. Thanks for sharing. 

Jason Rose
Spring, TX
Rio Grande Explorations

Just like the prior #44 , the 111 is a really good looking 2-8-0.

I had miserable luck when it came to the GLRR.  First time there in 1988, we bought tickets at Georgetown and boarded the open gon right in back of the engine.  We left and the little 2-8-0 was doing a great job getting us up the hill, great exhaust and all.  I was videotaping with one of those old monster VHS on the shoulder machines and was taping as we approached the bridge.  About 150' from the bridge, the tender went on the ground.  The water hatch cover was bouncing up and down rattling and we came to a stop.  The trip was called and we walked down the hill to the parking lot and left.
Few days later we were coming from the west on I-70 and I stopped at an overlook.  There was a great spot to video the train going uphill.  I took the camcorder and walked over to a spot on the other side of the guardrail and waiting a minute and when the train started coming into view, I started taping and it ran for about three minutes,  light traffic noise, great exhaust and a beautiful view.
Shut down the camcorder got back in the car and was going to watch it while my wife was driving.   Turns out that when I got out of the car, I had hit the button and started taping.  When the train showed, I hit the button which stopped the taping.  So I had a great tape of me walking from and back to the car.  What a loser.

I guess 25 years is long enough to keep that story mum, 1522.

Probably still hurts to tell it though.  I had a similar experience In the
mid 80's at Georgetown.  Loaded film in Canon AE1, took lots of great
fall color / steam shots or so I thought.  Turns out later I noticed film count still on 0.  
I guess the film got loose from the take-up spool after closing the back hatch in the camera.



 

wabash2800 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Unfortunately, it looks like something from Mexico
> or Cuba rather than Colorado Narrow Gauge... But's
> it's still steam, and it has a great venue.
>
> ​Victor A. Baird
> http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

Here's a post from 5 years ago:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,2558825

I did a quick research back in October, a day after I visited Georgetown. Baldwin 2-8-0 #111 was built for the International Railway of Central America (IRCA) in Guatemala. I'm sure someone probably knows a more detailed history of this narrow gauge Consolidation.

Thanks for the great shots! Wish i was there. It should be noted that the Sea Bees rebuilt the "Loop" and trestle in 1970. We were on a narrow gauge search trip in 1970 to locate old ROW in Colorado. So knowing where to look we found the Silver Plume site on the weekend when they were on pass. No one around but found an old D&RGW ng reefer dripping fresh water from the drip tube as the ice reefer was being used to store their provisions. Wish we could have stayed to take photos of their working on the track and bridge.

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