I Had a Great 10th Birthday

My Colorado train trip was fantastic. Daddy and I rode 10 trains in 7 days. We rode 4 steam trains, 4 narrow gauge trains and an air powered mine train.

I got to drive a train backwards down the mountain on the diesel narrow gauge Rio Grande & Southern.

I threw the train track switch and rode in the cab of the Shay steam train on the Georgetown Loop.

I rode in both the caboose and engine on the diesel Leadville & Southern. I blew the train horn at a road crossing (and so did daddy).

I rode a double header (that's two steam engines pulling a train) on the narrow gauge steam Durango & Silverton and helped operate the turntable at the roundhouse.

I rode in a historic passenger car and got a special souvenir cup on the narrow gauge steam Cumbres & Toltec.

I had cheesecake on my birthday in an observation car on the diesel Royal Gorge.

I had a great ride in a really cute steam train on the narrow gauge Cripple Creek & Victor and rode in an old mine train at the bottom of a gold mine in Cripple Creek.

I rode to the top of Pikes Peak on the highest and longest cog railroad in the world. I ate a world-famous high-altitude donut at the train station on top of Pikes Peak at 14,114 feet above sea level.

Last but not least, I rode the train in the Denver Airport.

We drove nearly 1350 miles in our convertible Mustang, over many crazy mountain roads and saw so many exciting things along the way. I had a really fun time.

I had a great 10th birthday.

Christopher Drives the Train

August 11, 2012

Last night, we drove a million miles to ride the newest excursion train in Colorado. Earlier this week, the engine was broken, but the owner promised us it would be fixed by the weekend. It is a small diesel rail car called the Silver Streak that used to drive spikes into the track.

We stayed at a really neat old hotel in nearby Del Norte, which was restored with lots of help and love from local leaders. They had a great carriage in the lobby.

The new train line was named for a famous historic railroad - The Denver & Rio Grande R.R. The train was a small but very fun diesel work car, which the owners adapted for excursions on the historic route.

The ride was bouncy but very scenic. There were many great views of the Colorado mountains, but I loved the hill that looked like Snoopy on his dog house.

Here I am with Daddy riding the train.

We ate lunch in the mountains and I found this great relic from the past - a pay phone. There was no cell service in the mountains.

In fact, there was often no cell phone service in the mountains, on trains and on the roads.

This was once again my lucky day. On our return trip, I got to drive the train - backwards to the station. It was really fun.

Here is a short video of me sounding the horn as we crossed the river on a really old train bridge, which was originally part of a bridge built before the Civil War.

After the ride, we got to tour a private passenger car that President Taft rode on in his 1908 presidential campaign. The car is bring restored.

They also had a fantastic modern speedster built for rail travel. I wish we could have taken this guy out for a ride.

The Georgetown Loop Shay

August 9, 2012

After a wondrous ride in the Leadville Caboose and Engine, we rode the Georgetown Loop in the afternoon. Nothing could be more exciting than our special trip on the Leadville train, so I thought.

The engine at Georgetown was a Shay steam locomotive.

I was so excited to ride a Shay. Shay locomotives are rare and were used to climb steep slopes in the mountains. The Shay has three cylinder boxes that turn crank shafts that power the wheels.

Real train fans will love seeing the short video of the Shay in motion on the historic curved bridge and hear its terrific whistle.

Our conductor Dwight was impressed that I rode in the cab of Leadville train. He asked if I would help the crew hook up the Georgetown Shay for the next ride. 

I am a very helpful rider. Here I am walking up the tracks to the Shay.

After throwing the switch, I rode in the cab of the Shay and we drove the Shay back to the front of the train. It was really hot in the cab, but I got lots of great pictures on my camera Cece  Here I am hopping off the train.

Caboose and Engine

August 10, 2012

Last night, we stayed at Twin Lakes Roadhouse, near Leadville. It is a small rustic place, but the owner served some of the best homemade pasta and fresh baked bread for dinner. I really liked the porch, overlooking the lake. Here I am before dinner.

The hummingbirds were my favorite. They were always humming around the porch looking for some nectar.

Our first destination today is the Leadville & Southern Railroad, a diesel excursion that starts at 10,700 feet and travels along the Arkansas river gorge. We rode in super duper deluxe class on the train.

For the first half of the journey, my daddy and I rode in the caboose, as the engine pushed the train up toward the mountain. Here we are before the journey started.

The caboose has two cabs. You have to climb ladders to get into the cabs. The comfy chair and high perch are the perfect way to watch over the train and tracks.

The train makes one 180 degree turn, and you can see the entire train.

Anna, the brakeman, rode with us in the caboose. Because the train was going backwards, Anna radioed the engineer in the engine cab at every mile and every half mile marker. She also blew the train horn at each crossing. The views from the back of the caboose were terrific. Thank you Anna for the great ride.

On the return trip, we rode in the engine with Eric, the engineer. It was so exciting to see all the switches, gauges and equipment in the engine cab.

We got to go outside on the front of the engine while the train was in motion on its journey back to Leadville.

Did I mention that I got to sound the train horn at a road crossing? At each crossing, the train sounds two long blasts, then one short blast and finally a third long blast.  Every train does this at road crossings.

Yes, I got to blow the horn on the Leadville & Southern Railroad. What a treat. Here is a 9 second video.

My daddy also got to blow the horn at the next crossing. Eric the engineer was such a nice host. Thank you Eric.

The engine only uses about 45 gallons of diesel for the two hour ride. The engine was really quiet. Eric used the dynamic brake to slow the train on most of the downhill trip. The engine is the dynamic brake, and we only used the air brakes when we slowed to a stop at the station.

The Roundhouse Tour

August 8, 2012

Riding the Durango & Silverton was terrific. Touring the Roundhouse was even better.

First, we saw the train yard and the shop where cars are serviced and rebuilt. Here I am in front of the truck for a passenger car, which is getting its wheels reground, brakes checked and other parts inspected.

Then we saw the outside of the roundhouse and the turntable.

I got to operate the turntable in the 55 second video below. I never thought I would work a real turntable.

The inside of the roundhouse was really cool. Here is a picture of the old section, complete with wooden timbers and a crazy diesel they have been building from parts for years.

They service the steam trains every couple of weeks, here in the roundhouse. This lets them rest while the other half of the fleet carries passengers.

On the tender of one steam engine is a doghouse. It is the wooden box on top of the tender in the photo below.

Our guide says this is where the phrase "in the doghouse" comes from. The least liked crew member rode in the doghouse and watched over the cars as the train travelled through freezing rain and snow. There is no heat in the doghouse. It did not sound like a fun job.

I loved their Frankensteins. These are engines built from spare parts.  Like the monster, a Frankenstein is an ugly engine that does not look like a real life engine. None of the Frankensteins at Durango & Silverton have come back to life yet.

This was a really fun tour, and if you ever come to Durango, you should take it too.

Durango & Silverton

August 7, 2012

When I was a little baby, my favorite book was about the roundhouse and trains of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. I have seen many videos about the trains.  I even have a G-Scale Durango & Silverton passenger train that I love to run, when it works.

When my daddy asked if I wanted to go to Colorado to ride the Durango & Silverton, I said yes!

Last night, we arrived in Durango and stayed at the famous Strater Hotel, one block from the Durango & Silverton station. This is the lobby. We had a yummy steak dinner in our fancy room, watching the Olympics. Thank you Mommy for treating us to dinner.

I thought nothing could be better than riding the Durango & Silverton, until the conductor announced that the train would be pulled by two stream locomotives. The train needed more power because extra cars were added for all the passengers. This was very special and it doesn't happen very often. Even the conductor was excited.

Daddy asked if they knew it was my birthday? Here are the dueling steamies.

The train chugs along the Animas River, often hugging rock cliffs far above the river. The river is way down in the gorge in this picture.

On the way back, we rode in an open air car and nearly froze to death in the cold rain. We bought the one and only Durango & Silverton blanket on the train. Brrrr.

The sun finally came out and here I am with my penguino, Icy Cold Blue Feet.

Daddy likes this art shot of Icy Cold.

You know how much I like it when a steam train blows off steam. Today, the train kept making crazy rainbows when it blew off steam.

I am a very happy 10 year old boy.

The High Railroad

August 6, 2012

Today I rode the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad from Antonito, Colorado to Chama, New Mexico. We crossed the state line 10 times during the ride and went through Cumbres Pass at 10, 015 feet. This is the highest crossing for any narrow gauge train.

The Cumbres & Toltec was once part of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway that connected many of the towns in Colorado and north New Mexico. It is an amazing narrow gauge train.

We rode in Deluxe Tourist Class and were the only passengers in our car for the first half of our trip. We really liked the fancy car. It had golden ceilings.

We stopped at Osier for lunch and had a really fun time. Here I am on the balcony of the last train car at Osier.

Daddy and I waited for Engine 488 to depart Osier.

The Cumbres route used to haul cattle and other freight, as well as passengers. I am passing by old cattle pens.

Toward the end of the journey, the engineer blew off steam several times, which dramatically shows the power of a steam engine.

A Very Busy Day

August 5, 2012

Today was my birthday and I turned 10 years old.

We spent the previous night in Victor Colorado. We stayed at a creepy old "historic" hotel in this small gold mining town. It was mostly a ghost town, but the pizza and Olympics was good at Dirty Sallie's.

This terrific trolley lives at the visitors center in Victor.

Cripple Creek & Victor has an enormous strip mine that features 27 foot tall monster dump trucks that haul rocks out of the mine and dump them to form huge man-made mountains.

Here I am inside an old dump truck tire.

The next mine we went to was the Kathleen gold mine in Cripple Creek. This was a shaft mine from the late 1800's.

We got to ride an air powered train in the mine. It was really loud and dark!

We came to Cripple Creek to ride the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad. It was a really cool train with tiny crazy steam engines. This train brought miners from the mines to Cripple Creek for fun on the weekends - and all week long.

Last but not least, we rode the Royal Gorge. We rode in a special dome car that used to ride the rails in Alaska. It was really fun. We were pulled by two diesel engines through a canyon with lots of rafters.

For my birthday, I had six sauce cheese cake.

It was a really fun 10th birthday.

Day 1: Denver and Pikes Peak

We travelled to Denver today on a Frontier Airlines Airbus. Our plane was named Sarge, who is an Eagle painted on the tail.

We got to watch the Olympics on the plane. I love Frontier Airlines.

Here I am in the Denver Airport with my friend Flat Stanley.

Our first train ride was the tram from the terminal to the baggage claim. It was crowded and busy.

We rode the Pikes Peak Cog Railway to 14,115 feet. It is the highest and longest cog train in the world.

I liked the way the train looked and sounded. This me at the top of the mountain. Brrrr, it was cold.

The train travelled at up to a 25% grade.

I can't wait to travel on the Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railway. We saw the engines tonight and they are so cute. Goodnight.

7 Trains in 7 Days

Hi.  I am Christopher Cheek.  For my 10th Birthday, I am going to ride 7 trains in 7 days in Colorado!  Am I excited?

My daddy and I leave for Denver tomorrow, Saturday August 4, 2012.

You can see our route here.  Click on each train icon on the map and you can link to the website for each train.

Please enjoy following our journey.  Love, Christopher.

Hi!

I am Christopher Cheek. I live in Nashville and I love trains, the beach and traveling.

Here is one of my favorite trains.  This is "Roger E. Broggie" from Disneyworld.