Following my visit to the Colorado Railroad Museum, it was time to head towards Laramie for the night. After I escaped Arvada, I drove north on Colorado Highway 121 to Broomfield, where the road became US Highway 287. When I came to the BNSF tracks in Longmont, I saw the station.
The former Colorado & Southern station in Longmont built in 1898.
BNSF power here.
Someone wishes this could be true! I then stopped at Arby's in Fort Collins before driving north on a very scenic road into Wyoming and took the road to Hermosa on the west side of Sherman Hill for a few pictures.
First this Union Pacific eastbound freight came east with a Canadian National unit in its consist.
The rear DPU was working hard pushing the train the last few miles to the summit of Sherman Hill.
Next another eastbound Union Pacific freight came with a patched Southern Pacific engine in its consist.
The Southern Pacific locomotive still looked good going away.
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The DPU working hard. By the way, that silver vehicle is my rental car.
A few minutes later, this westbound Union Pacific freight passed and I decided to follow him to Laramie.
I managed to beat him to the road crossing by seconds.
I just arrived at this rural crossing for my final picture and won the race with the train into Laramie, where I found Motel 6 for the night.
7/09/2009 The next morning, I drove east over Sherman Hill through some fog but turned off at the exit to the Ames Monument.
I parked the car and walked towards it.
This sign explains why it is located here.
The Ames Monument. Completed in 1882 at a cost of $65,000, this monolithic, 60-foot high granite pyramid was built by the Union Pacific Railroad Company. It stands on the highest elevation (8,247 feet) of the original transcontinental railroad route. Trains passed close by the north side of the monument where the rail-town of Sherman once stood. In 1901 the railroad route was relocated several miles to the south leaving the pyramid as a marker of the original route.
The monument serves as a memorial to the Ames brothers of Massachusetts. Oakes (1804-1873) and Oliver (1807-1877), whose wealth, influence, talent and work were key factors in the construction of the first coast-to-coast railroad in North America. The contribution made by Oakes was especially significant despite being implicated in an 1873 scandal involving the financing of the railroad construction.
Ames Monument was designed by the distinguished American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886). Located further west than any of his works, this memorial typifies the Richardsonian style by its energetic, elemental characteristics. His love for native construction materials is demonstrated by the monument's great, rough-hewn granite blocks, quarried from "Reed's Rock" one-half mile west. A Richardson biographer has called the monument, "Perhaps the finest memorial in America...one of Richardson's least known and most perfect works." The bas-relief medallions of the Ames brothers were done by the prominent American sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
One last picture then I drove across Sherman Hill to Cheyenne and arrived at the Sinclair petrol station in time to fill up the rental car before it ran out of fuel. It only had an eleven gallon tank as I soon learned. I drove to the Little America Hotel parking lot then found the Union Pacific Historical Society room and picked up my train ticket for tomorrow, as well as paying for my 11:45 AM shop tour this morning. I drove to Cheyenne to the former Union Pacific station which now houses a museum and visitor center, where I received directions to Lions Park and the other steam engine on display in town. I then walked across the bridge over the yard.
The Union Pacific Cheyenne station built in 1887.
There were two passenger trains in town; one was for our trip to Yoder tomorrow.
Overview of the Union Pacific Cheyenne Roundhouse area.
Chicago and North Western F7A 401, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1949 as Chicago and North Western 4087A.
The last DD40AX on the Union Pacific Railroad sits on the turntable for the shop tour.
Union Pacific business car 140 "Stanford", nee Southern Pacific 140 "Sunset" built by Pullman in 1927.
Southern Pacific caboose 4641 built by Pacific Car and Foundry in 1978.
The Union Pacific Steam Shop building.
A westbound Union Pacific freight is seen departing Cheyenne in this picture.
The Union Pacific Railroad Historical Society Shop Tour first group. I walked back to the car and drove east to McDonald's for breakfast then stopped at Holliday Park to see an old friend.
Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 4004 built by Alco in 1941. It made its last revenue run on October 31st, 1958 and was then placed in storage before being officially retired in 1962. The following year, it was donated to the City of Cheyenne and was moved to Holliday Park by UP track crew on June 28th, 1963.
A sign on the engine.
Rear views.
Signs and a marker about the steam engine.
A final view of Union Pacific 4004. I drove next to Lions Park.
In Lions Park is this sign about Union Pacific 1242.
Union Pacific 2-6-0 1242 built by Cooke Locomotive and Machine Works 1890. It was donated to the City of Cheyenne in 1955 and is one of the oldest surviving locomotives from the Union Pacific roster. It is one of only two surviving engines owned by the Union Pacific from the era when E. H. Harriman controlled the railroad.
Next I decided to find some trains.
As I turned onto the Lincoln Highway, I saw a headlight, parked and caught this train passing under the former Colorado & Southern bridge. I drove west of Cheyenne, went to a rural grade crossing and waited.
This eastbound Union Pacific came passed, after which I decided to drive west to Borie and went to the bridge over the tracks.
Again it did not take long for this eastbound Union Pacific stack train to pass by.
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Next was a Union Pacific ballast train with a pair of BNSF engines.
This was certainly an interesting train. I returned to the Little America Hotel to wait for my shop tour.
The Union Pacific Mini Train was here giving rides to anyone who wanted one. We soon saw the bus approaching and was looking forward to my tour.
