Nostalgia & History > C&S's 'Nightcrawler' Boulder, CO 1967

With CB&Q E8A #9940A on the point, C&S Train 30 heads south (I think back then it was called RR east) out of Boulder, CO toward Denver. The overnight run between Billings, MT and Denver earned the moniker 'The Nightcrawler'. Mar. 28, 1967

The C&S Boulder depot is in the right background.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/14 08:30 by valmont.

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Thanks for posting this. A rare shot of this train in action.

It also brings out a point made in Frailey's "Twilight of the
Great Trains" about the equipment on the Burlington. While we
all remember the various "Zephyrs" and their stainless steel
exteriors, the Q ran a lot of heavyweight equipment well into
the 60s. On this train, there's only one lightweight car,
while everything else, even the coach, is a heavyweight.

And, the "Zephyrs" weren't exempt from this. Both the "Denver
Zephyr" and the "California Zephyr" carried heavyweights for
part of their trip. The DZ from Chicago to Burlington where
the cars, coaches, were dropped. The CZ from Omaha to Denver
for mail service. A couple of those cars were dropped in
McCook, NE. I would love to see a picture of #17 arriving
in Denver with one of those heavyweights. That would be a
priceless shot.

Thanks again, Vince.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

Thanks, Valmont. #29 and #30 were my favorites on the C&S standard-gauge lines. My granddad used them during WW2, Denver to Cody. in the Pullman service (a 10-1-2 I think). A great memory! wag216

Thanks for the photo. I could have got on the North Coast Hiawatha in Deer Lodge to Billings to transfer to the Nightcrawler so I could go to college in Boulder. The trains did not last long enough to give it a try and I could see more trains if I drove.

Posted from Windows Phone OS 7

Very nice!

fbe Wrote:
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> Thanks for the photo. I could have got on the
> North Coast Hiawatha in Deer Lodge to Billings to
> transfer to the Nightcrawler so I could go to
> college in Boulder. The trains did not last long
> enough to give it a try and I could see more
> trains if I drove.
>
> Posted from Windows Phone OS 7


North Coast Limited; Hiawatha was post Amtrak. Anyone recall when the "Nightcrawler" was discontinued? I don't recall that it lasted into the BN era, but could be wrong.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/14 12:18 by czephyr17.

I posted a Howard Fogg pic of the last run which was 9/2/67. My post was on 6/5/13 (I think!)

valmont Wrote:
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> I posted a Howard Fogg pic of the last run which
> was 9/2/67. My post was on 6/5/13 (I think!)


year 1913?

Impressive head end traffic, great shot, long gone world.

Out

I've often wondered what this train looked like near the end, as I worked for BN at the Billings end of the run about a decade later. All of that head end traffic suggests to me that the train must have been a victim of the Post Office later in 1967 (?).

- E.O.

That must have been an interesting ride, half way between Wendover and Cheyenne the track gets kinda primitive with climbs and loops and such. At night with a single headlight and log wheelbase it must have been just hold-on and see where you land.

You must be thinking of Altus hill, although the climb right out of Wendover to Dwyer is a steep one too; that's a hill we also doubled on occasion. It's not hard to understand why the BN decided to run the Denver-bound coal traffic the long way around, through Sterling, rather than settling on the more direct C&S route.

terrybaker Wrote:
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> You must be thinking of Altus hill, although the
> climb right out of Wendover to Dwyer is a steep
> one too; that's a hill we also doubled on
> occasion. It's not hard to understand why the BN
> decided to run the Denver-bound coal traffic the
> long way around, through Sterling, rather than
> settling on the more direct C&S route.


There was also a lot of politics back when coal traffic from Wyoming started to really grow and even the Governor got involved since routing them over the C&S would have them running through some northern Colorado Front Range cities like street running through Ft. Collins and Longmont and running through the middle of Loveland, Boulder and Louisville.

Yep, Altus hill. I was very surprised when I found it, numerous loops, tight curves and no railfans. Just me and the cows watching. Must be something to see a unit train winding it's way through there.

TCnR Wrote:
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> Yep, Altus hill. I was very surprised when I found
> it, numerous loops, tight curves and no railfans.
> Just me and the cows watching. Must be something
> to see a unit train winding it's way through
> there.
****************************************************
A sparsely populated part of a sparsely populated state. The top of Altus Hill was the only place you could hear the McCook dispatcher in 72-73.

This train picked up a mail storage car at Ft. Collins and Boulder southbound and dropped them off northbound. They were unloaded - loaded during the night. Typical consist was four cars north of Ft. Collins.

Burlington Route operating crews on the Night Crawler were based out of Denver, CO and worked between Denver and Cheyenne, WY

Are you saying the last car (the coach) is a heavyweight? It looks like a lightweight car to me.

ntharalson Wrote:
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> Thanks for posting this. A rare shot of this
> On this train, there's only one
> lightweight car,
> while everything else, even the coach, is a
> heavyweight.

it is a heavy weight the train is C&$

So is the light-colored car a heavyweight rebuilt with a smooth side?

dan Wrote:
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> it is a heavy weight the train is C&$