We woke up in our most comfortable bed and I converted the pictures and Elizabeth labelled them then wrote the story of the Georgetown Loop. After that, we checked e-mail and a few other things before going downstairs and out to the ticketing machine as we decided to ride the RTD commuter rail lines that were brand new to us. We purchased our regional day passes then made the plan. Our first train would be out to Wheatridge Ward Station on the G Line then Westminster on the B Line, both from Union Station so we would get the entire ride. We boarded the G Line train and it left on time. Our tickets were checked and masks were required to be worn at all times aboard the train. The train stopped at 41st and Fox, Pecos Junction, Clear Creek/Federal Station, 60th/Sheridan Arvada Gold Strike Station, Olde Town Arvada, Arvada Ridge to our last station at Wheatridge Ward. Here I took my first pictures of the morning.
The train at the end of the line at Wheatridge. Elizabeth and I sat on a bench on the platform and we checked various things on her phone that we would use later in the day.
The train returned to pick us up and took us back to Denver Union Station. Here, while we were waiting on Track 8, the operator of our train, Corey Granger, approached us as railfans and asked for a picture that I took of him operating the train at Wheatridge. I was happy to do so. After this, when the train from Westminster arrived and the operator saw us on Track 8, she told us to come to Track 6 which we did.
The train that we rode out here on heading back to Wheatridge.
Our train to Westminster.
Elizabeth and our train to Westminster. From Union Station, the B line stopped at 41st and Fox, Pecos Junction and the last station of Westminster.
The train at Westminster.
Future tracks will be built out to Bloomfield.
The Union Pacfic Dent Branch will be followed once construction takes place in the future. While we were waiting, we enjoyed the Westminster Station Park below us. Elizabeth checked the Facebook page of the Fort Collins Municipal Railway and while their website failed to mention this, the streetcar would not be operating at all in July. So we will have to make another trip back to Colorado sometime in the future so Elizabeth can go not only out to Fort Collins but also to Limon and the Forney Museum in Denver.
The train at Westminster that would take Elizabeth and I back to Denver. We tried to eat breakfast at the Snooze Restaurant in Union Station but were told the wait was an hour. Not wanting to do that, we went back to the room, packed and called the front desk who sent an excellent bellboy up to take our luggage out to the curb. I returned the key that Elizabeth had in her pocket and then we waited for about ten minutes for Elizabeth's car to be returned to us. The bellboy helped load the car and I tipped him for his outstanding service. Once on I-25 north, we first stopped at a Village Inn for a much-needed breakfast in northern Thornton. We then headed to Windsor to a new museum for Elizabeth, parked and visited the site.
Windsor Greeley, Salt Lake and Pacific (Colorado and Southern) station built in 1882.
Elizabeth and the Windsor Colorado and Southern station.
Great Western caboose 1010 is really Elgin, Joliet and Eastern 156 built in 1925.
Colorado and Southern boxcar 13787 built by Pullman in 1926 .
A track crane for moving track.
The Windsor sign inside the station which we toured for the first time.
Union Pacific speeder 3087 ex. Rio Grande.
Museum scene. From here we then drove north on Interstate 25 to the Terry Ranch and went into the gift shop and bought tickets for the 1:30 PM Bison Train. This was Elizabeth's first visit here and she was excited to see the bison and ride the train.
This is the engine that would pull our train today and it was a new engine for me to ride behind.
The train that we would be riding today.
The train taking the first curve of the trip.
The train ran by the fishing pond stocked with 1,000 trout.
Taking the next big curve.
The train with some of their other equipment off on a siding.
Some of the other equipment of the Terry Ranch Railroad.
Approaching the Peace sign.
The Peace sign.
The train and the camel.
More of the Terry Ranch railroad equipment.
The Tinker gravesite, the Terry Ranch's largest buffalo ever.
The train approaching the new (to me) tunnel.
The train entering the tunnel.
Bison sighted ahead of the train on both sides. Here we stopped and each car had a bucket of food which you could feed the bison out of your hand. Elizabeth and I both did this. Now I will show you the bison being fed by the other passengers.
The passengers feeding the bison and just views of the bison. With a few jerks of the train, we were then underway.
Elizabeth and the bison.
More views of the bison.
The train is about to enter Colorado. The Terry Ranch is two-thirds in Wyoming and one third in Colorado.
Trail riders returning from their ride to the Terry Ranch.
Taking the southern curve of the railroad.
The train about to return us into Wyoming.
The bison and the big sky country.
The Canadian Geese and the bison off in the distance.
The engine I rode in 2016. After a miniature horse show and the horse, Buckshot, could do arithmetic problems very well as he showed us. This was one of the most entertaining things I have ever seen, stomping his hoof with the answer. He also hops with both feet off the ground. After this show, we returned to the station area and detrained.
Elizabeth and the Bison Train of Terry Ranch.
Before we left, Elizabeth posed in one of the cut-outs and I photographed her. From here, we drove to Lions Park in Cheyenne so Elizabeth could get pictures of this steam engine.
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. From here, we drove north up Interstate 25 stopping at Chugwater for a bathroom break before driving the rest of the way to Douglas.
Douglas Railroad Museum
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 4-8-4 5633 built by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy in 1940.
Elizabeth and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 4-8-4 5633.
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy dining car 196 "Silver Salver" built by Budd in 1947.
Union Pacific bi-level livestock car 483300 built in 1914 from a box car.
Great Northern Empire Builder sleeper 1182 "Agassiz Glacier" built by Pullman-Standard in 1950.
Union Pacific Railway Express Agency baggage car 1897 built by Pullman in 1911 as Oregon Short Line 331.
The jackalope and Chicago and North Western station, built in 1886.
Chicago & North Western coach 1886 built by St. Louis Car Company in 1884.
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy wooden caboose 14140 built by the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad in 1884 at their shops in Plattsmouth, Nebraska. CB&Q later rebuilt it for branchline service, then retired and restored the caboose in 1958 for movement to Douglas.
Museum scene.
Chicago and North Western freighthouse, after which we drove to The Depot for dinner. But first a pair of pictures.
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy freight house in Douglas.
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Douglas station built in 1886. We went inside and were seated in a booth. I had a steak and Elizabeth had a pork chop. After dinner we gassed up the car before we checked into the Super 8 at Douglas. We wrote this story before relaxing for the evening.
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