Visit to Georgetown Loop

While in Colorado we had to visit the Georgetown Loop railroad, which is running steam again on a very scenic narrow-gauge route. I wanted to ride, and we got there early in the morning, but tickets were sold out until 3pm that day, and we couldn't wait that long. Next time we'll plan ahead. So that was unfortunate, but it's good to see that the operation is very successful in attracting passengers. Here's a brief view of the operation.

Service is being provided by 2-6-2 #12. It's a long steep grade up the mountain, with many curves, so the engine really has to work.

The upper end of the line is at Silver Plume, where the shops are located. You can just see the barrel of the Shay inside the building, with the trucks sitting outside. The Shay is being reworked for operation, with extensive boiler work in progress. Here we see a brand-new superheater assembly which just arrived. The running gear is basically in good shape, with new brasses for the drive train planned.



The display building has three historic passenger cars. All of them ran on the C&S, and were displayed by the Burlington at the NY World's Fair and the Chicago Railroad Fair. They operated on the Black Hills Central from 1956 to 1988, and were then moved to Silver Plume for display. This business car was built in 1872 by the UP.

The coach was built for the C&S by ACF in 1900.

Finally, this narrow gauge RPO was built in 1880 (builder not specified).

And there are several pieces stored outside in the yard at Silver Plume. For luxurious accommodations, there's nothing quite like a narrow gauge box car made into a sleeper.