Nostalgia & History > WAG Wednesday: A delightful Challenge!

Here’s a shot Bill Gibson took at Pullman Jct in Denver 56 years ago. Steam power isn’t quite dead, not just yet. This UP Challenger-led train is technically westbound, but is running mostly north as the crow flies. In the left hand background you can see the KP main line to Topeka & Kansas City is peeling off to the left. New block signals are in place, but the old semaphores are still in service. Those 2 stock cars on the head end & that string of ‘Swift’ reefers on the right evoke memories of the stock yards which are about 2 miles south of this point.

What a different time it was! There is no evidence Bill would have been hassled by any of the authorities for shooting pictures. The right of way is virtually free of litter & junk. There is none of the hideous tagging we are cursed with today. In short, this is a very delightful scene to today’s railfans! It would be quite a challenge to take a shot in this area today and produce a scene that will be delightful to a new generation of railfans a half century from now…

1. UP S 3959 on a manifest in Denver, CO on August 22, 1955.
(original slide by William A. Gibson Sr.)

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
Art Gibson (wag216)



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/22 03:41 by santafe199.

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This photo brings back some fond memories as a kid. Miss seeing the reefer blocks with a few stock cars at the lead. Thank for posting.

Cheers,
Larry​

Whoa !!  Take my breath away !

August 22, 1959 must have been the very tail end of steam ?

If I understand this image and perspective my thought is Bill was standing inside the KP wye ? So if Bill were there today the I-70 Overpass would be behind him ?

Which gives me pause as to the stock yards 2 miles south. Were they down by where the Freighthouse / Coors Field area is now ?  I recall a UP yard there but forget the name. Other stock yards are about a mile away on the CB&Q to the NW.

What a great photo !!
 

train1275 Wrote: > ...August 22, 1959 must have been...

That was a typo. The date should be 1955. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Lance

Beautiful...

Steve Mitchell
http://www.yardgoatimages.com 

Welcome back, WAG Wednesday !  Life just got a little better !

Ah yes Lance, Pullman Junction wye. Turned the 3985 and 844 there a few times in my life. What an awesome locomotive the Challenger was. I was very proud to have helped bring 3985 back to life. Ok, go ahead and inspire me to scan more steam trip photos. LOL

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

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What a great shot and so much to see.  You're right, no tagging and honest to God 40 freight cars.  Swift reefers and stock cars and a steam engine.  What's not to like.
I don't hardly look up when a contemporary train goes by.   Boring!
 

Bob3985 Wrote: > ...Ok, go ahead and inspire me to scan more steam trip photos...

My friend, I was thinking of you while I wrote the text for this thread! My smile was broad, and I'm glad you're inspired to do some more scanning.
Of course, this is testimony from one who has been down into your your railfan "dungeon"... (and LIVED to tell... ;^)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/15 11:12 by santafe199.

I have to admit this one is pretty breathtaking!

Lee Hower - Sacramento

Dad and I both had 6mos permits from the Union Pacific for many years. We both had AT&SF permits and I had a permit on the ARR for all of the two years when I lived there, (July 1956-July 1958). Now the ( NOT a nice word) folks at the railroads can not even spell locomotive, let alone know what it looks like !. wag216

> Here’s a shot Bill Gibson took at Pullman Jct in
> Denver 56 years ago. Steam power isn’t quite
> dead, not just yet. This UP Challenger-led train
> is technically westbound, but is running mostly
> north as the crow flies.

Lance,

Thanks for posting the photo, great action shot!

The train is most likely their symbol "DP", a westward guy out of Denver each morning with cars for West Coast points.  The yardmaster has routed the train up the "outbound" main track.  Denver had a two-track mainline with the tracks known as the "inbound" and the "outbound" (I suppose to minimize confusion due to their wierd directional orientation).  The engineer hasn't really opened up the throttle yet since the rear of the train is still snaking its way out of the yard. 


> ...Those 2 stock cars on the head end & that string of ‘Swift’ reefers on the right evoke memories of the stock yards which are about 2 miles south of this point.

That train often handled stock cars with cattle (from Q origins or loaded at the Denver Stock Yards) headed via Ogden/SLC to California destinations.  The stockyards, Swift and other packinghouses were located just about 1/4 mile to the photographer's right, northwest of his location at Pullman Jct.  The Swift reefers are sitting in a small UP yard they used to support local industry switching in the area, including the nearby stockyards.  UP's "stockyards lead" branched off of the DP main track just south (about 25 carlengths back in the train) of this location and led northwest across Wynkoop St & Brighton Blvd into the stock/packinghouse area.       

Take care,

Mark



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/15 16:30 by mamfahr.

Lance --
Thanks so much for posting this great photo!
I missed all that wonderful action because I was
not a railfan back then, and it is great when folks
post great photos from the steam era, such as this
one.

Yes, those Challengers are wonderful locomotives!

I read your narrative, then scrolled down to see the rest of the picture.  All I could think of (after I righted myself and my chair) was:

Every time I see your face
It reminds me of the places we used to go
But all I've got is a photograph
And I realize you're not coming back anymore.


Lance, that is a STUNNING  photo! 
 
 

Rathole Wrote: > ...But all I've got is a photograph > And I realize you're not coming back anymore.

Good call, my friend! Very apropriate lyrics. I betcha ya never knew Ringo was a railfan! (me, either... :^)

And to ALL of the other friends of 'WAG Wednesday': Art & I both appreciate the incredibly kinds words. Through Art's graciousness & my adoration & respect for his father Bill (WAG Sr) we have brought this familiar Wednesday morning calling card back for all to enjoy. That past 6 months have been a much needed break after a little bump in the road. With a new [read: higher quality] scanner I'll be able to post better quality images, and I have been rescanning some of the older WAG Wed. images already posted. I've also scanned quite a bit of B/W material. 2 major projects Art & I hope to have posted before the end of the year will be multi-part threads on both the Ark Valley Interurban & the Santa Fe's Alma Branch (in Kansas).

Lance/199 (part-time DJ Sir L)