We are now on the top of Pikes Peak. I will walk around the Summit of Pikes Peak counter clockwise around the top of peak to show you the different views from this great mountain.
The views from the summit of Pikes Peak.
The trains at the summit of Pikes Peak. I went inside the Summit House for the bathroom and then a donut. Next it would be time for summit pictures at the sign.
The Pikes Peak Summit sign at 14,110 feet above sea level.
Christopher Dean Guenzler posed at the Pikes Peak Summit sign.
Elizabeth and I.
Elizabeth.
Sofie Navarro.
The Navarro family.
Me and the Navarro family.
Robin at the sign. A few minutes later, we all boarded the train for the trip down the mountain.
On the way back down, we passed trains at Windy Point. We returned to the base station at Manitou Springs and it was time to say goodbye to Navarro family. What were the odds that they could be on a train with me in Colorado and seated with me? It had been a fantastic trip on the Manitou and Pike's Peak Cog Railway.
The Trip back to DenverWe left Manitou Springs and headed east on US 24 but made a stop.
The Colorado Midland Railroad roundhouse, built in 1889, still stands in Colorado Springs but has a much different use today. Next we stopped by the Colorado Springs & Interurban Railway to get the ride we did not get last Saturday. Once there we met the same gentleman who had been there on Saturday and he agreed to give us the ride we did not get when we had visited their project before.
SEPTA PCC 2129 would give us a ride today. Now let's take two rides on the length of their track on this former Rock Island Railroad, so sit back and enjoy the trip.
After our two trips, we thanked our operator and flagman before we left for the Air Force Academy. Robin is a veteran and wanted to see the Chapel, which I did as well. We stopped at the North Gate where I had to show identification to get us in then we followed the signs to the Chapel and parked in the visitor parking lot. We then walked onto the grounds.
This was my first picture here.
Models of planes are on display.
This wing building is very interesting.
The Air Force Academy Chapel.
More of the model planes.
Real planes on display on the greens.
The Air Force Academy Chapel. Now let us go inside and enjoy the Protestant Chapel.
The inside of the Protestant Chapel which is on the upper level.
More real planes on display on the greens.
The Air Force Academy Chapel, Now down the stairs to the lower level for the Catholic Chapel.
The Catholic Chapel. There are also Jewish and Buddhist Temples on the lower level. It was sunny when we got here, but it was pouring rain as we walked back to my car. We left the Air Force Academy and drove via Palmer Lake before going around a traffic jam in Larkspur before we returned to drop Robin off at the Super 8 and Elizabeth and I checked into the Quality Inn next door.
Here the Internet worked extremely well. We wrote some stories but I updated my rail mileage. With Trainweb.org still down, I had not be able to upload stories but Steve Grande kept me informed of the process he was going through to fix the stories since my website only showed the stories up to November 2014. We worked to about 6:15 PM then went to the NRHS Banquet.
We walked to the Holiday Inn under stormy skies.
The 2016 Denver Convention NRHS Banquet
John Goodman welcomed us all to the 2016 Denver Convention NRHS Banquet.
Jim Ferris, of the C.P. Huntington Chapterr gave the invocation. The meals were served late and my portion of steak was much too small.
My tablemates for this banquet.
Carl Jensen then talked about the two NRHS Rail Camps which was followed by baskets being passed around to collect our donations for this program. We all gave $1,407.50, then someone wrote a check for the same amount, bringing the total to $2,907 for the evening.
NRHS President Al Weber then introduced our guest speaker, Union Pacific Railroad's Edgar E. Dickens who would tell us all about the complete rebuilding of Union Pacific 844 through a power point presentation.
Here is Ed Dickens starting to talk about the rebuilding.
He used slides to help tell the complete story.
Ed then answered some questions from the audience.
Skip Waters was taking it all in. After that the banquet was over and Robin, Elizabeth and I walked back to our hotels for the night.
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