Steam & Excursion > Colorado & Southern #638

I had posted in an earlier thread that my first recollection of riding a train was a City of Denver trip to Chicago in the 1960's...
however, upon coming across a few prints I realized that this ride was my first. My Mom and I rode from Denver to Longmont and return (don't remember much else) and this shot was taken by my Dad who in the course of his job had followed the train up to Longmont where he took this. He never admitted to being a railfan but he always pointed trains out to me when we were traveling together and I think he did pretty good capturing old #638 being serviced. Does anyone know the exact date of this excursion? All I have to go by is "July 1962" by the developer on the back of the print...I was seven at the time.

---

DTrainshooter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone know the exact date of this excursion? All I have to go by is "July 1962"
> by the developer on the back of the print.


I don't, but there was a rather long discussion about these trips either here, or at the narrow gauge discussion site. Try searching on the engine numbers 638 and 641 at both places.

I was surprised to find out that there had been excursions on the Moffatt line hauled by these engines in the early 1960s.

I don't have a date for sure but your 1962 date sounds correct. Here's the excursion southbound at Ft. Collins after turning on the wye.

Jim Burrill
Ft. Collins, CO

---

Looking at the second car, my photo appears to be a different car than yours. It's possible these were different excursions.

Here's the other shot of it I have...better angle. You're right about the first car behind the tender being different...would they have turned just #638 on the wye at Fort Collins and ran it around to the opposite end of the train for the return trip?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/12 11:57 by DTrainshooter.

---

The Wye was big enough for a train, but they may have cut and run to the house for service. It was at the switch up to the Rex branch, east? leg of the wye.

That is one oddly proportioned locomotive....looks like they took whatever was laying around the shop and threw it together.

Great photos.

In that Fort Collins photo, there seems to be quite a few tracks where there is only one now. Was there a small yard in that area at one time?

There was indeed a small yard at Ft. Collins at one time.

Also missing the spark arrestor in the first and last photo.

A fellow posted a list of 638 excursions in this thread:

http://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/read.php?1,55802,55968#msg-55968

There were excursions just to Longmont in May 1962 for Jefferson County Schools - could it have been one of those? The only excursion in July was a Rocky Mountain Railroad Club trip that went from Denver through Longmont and out the Lyons branch. Otto Perry's photos of the return trip show a coach behind the engine and the "baggage" at the rear as in your photos, but also show the spark arrestor.

http://cdm16079.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15330coll22/id/45170
http://cdm16079.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15330coll22/id/45171

nhiwwrr Wrote:

> That is one oddly proportioned locomotive....looks
> like they took whatever was laying around the shop
> and threw it together.

Compared to other excursion favorites like C&S 900 and CB&Q 4960, C&S 638's features are downright normal:

C&S 900: http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1725253
CB&Q 4960: http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2539655