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The Newsletter of the Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway Foundation
Letter from the President New Sign for the Trolleys Latest Equipment Arrival New Transit Center for Downtown Colorado Springs How Do You Pronounce L.A.U.S.? News from the Rock Island Railroad Festival Three The Caboose Car No. 59 Current SHS Grant Upcoming Events John's History Corner Membership Information CS&I
Car No. 59 Grant Award
Part of that decision involved a visit to our Roswell facility by Jim Joy and Rachael Simpson from the Colorado State Historical Fund (SHF). The SHF supplies grants up to $100,000 for historical restoration projects across Colorado. These grants are funded by taxes on the gaming in Cripple Creek, Blackhawk, and Central City. The SHF operates under the auspices of the State Historical Society. Jim and Rachael are preservation specialists. Their visit to our shops included examining all of our ongoing and possible future projects. We discussed the possibility of submitting for three grants in three successive years to complete the restoration of car no. 59. They stated that it was a feasible concept and encouraged us to make the necessary submission. The next step involved laying out the work over a three-year period. The grants would fund materials and work that could not be performed at the Roswell facility. The later items included rebuilding the 1924 Taylor trucks, acquiring brake components lost in 1932 when the car left service, including brake cylinder, compressor, rigging, brake stands and gauges, controllers, foundry work, replacing the Adams and Westlake curtains, and other items. With only five intact Laclede trolley cars in existence, getting original trucks was impossible. Replicas were cost prohibitive as well. Fortunately we were able to purchase the Taylor trucks, which came from the Boston Metropolitan Transit Authority. These trucks are much heavier than the Birney truck rebuilt by the Roswell crew. Outside resources would be needed. We submitted a request for an estimate to Ulrich Locomotive Works in Strasburg, Colorado. Rebuilding any type of railroad equipment truck is like rebuilding an automotive engine or old house. You do not really know all of the parts that will be needed or the work required until you take it apart. That means estimates must be conservative. The initial grant request would be for restoration of one truck, approximately half of the total grant request, with the remaining funding request for miscellaneous items, such as casting replicas of the Hale and Kilburn seat frames. If the truck restoration costs went past expectations, then the seat frames would not be purchased. A follow on grant for the second year would focus on the second truck with the third year grant aimed at the electrical and brake systems. Smaller items would be used to fill out the requests. Early this year we prepared all of the necessary paperwork, submitted it, and then waited, hoping. Criteria for grant awards include community support, historical significance of the project, organization financial paperwork being in proper order, and the organization’s ability to do the work and attention to historic detail including documentation and research. Well, we received the grant; however, the SHF grants are matching types. They provide 75 percent of the funding and the receiving organization must provide the other 25 percent. That means for our grant we need nearly a $25,000 match before the grant award in late October. Otherwise, we lose the entire grant. We are currently seeking corporate or other donors who could supply the matching funds for this year and the two follow-on years. An advantage for a potential donor is that they will see their $25,000 donation leveraged into $400,000, assuming we receive the follow-on grants as well. Back to Top
New
Sign for the Trolleys For some time, we have been keenly aware of the need for signing that would direct visitors to our museum and shops. Until now, we have had a small sign at the southeast corner of Fillmore and Tremont, and though inadequate, it has done an outstanding job, and we have no immediate plans to remove it. However, with the recent opening of Steel Drive through to Fillmore, more is required. Bill Johannson, a foundation member and owner of C&C Sand and Stone, did an admirable job of researching locations for a new sign in the intersection area. Our location of choice, of course, would have been Fillmore and Steel, but all available sites were under city ownership. The nearest available site of any value was the intersection of Steel and Polk. C&C Sand has placed their sign at the west side of this intersection, and Bill has allowed us to piggyback our 24-inch by 72-inch sign just below the C&C Sign on the same post. James Nimon, owner of Nimon Sign & Embroidery, has created our sign and given us a discount of $42, which allows for a total price of $228 for the sign. As this amount was not a budgeted item, we were required to raise the funds for this sign through a fund raising drive, which we have done. Those contributing to this project were: Vince Morris, Jim Shaw, Steve Pelles, Irene Bones, and Greg Roberts. Our hats off to all who have made this sign possible.
Latest
Equipment Arrival
New Transit Center for Downtown Colorado Springs By Bob Loevy A new Transit Center, which could include trolley cars, is planned for the northwest corner of Sawatch Street and Cucharras Street in Colorado Springs.
Although the newspaper article did not mention trolley service, the new Transit Center is close to the area to be served by the Pike’s Peak Historical Street Railway’s proposed trolley service south of downtown Colorado Springs. The new Transit Center is to be a multi-use facility with businesses and residences included along with the transportation facilities. There will also be a parking lot. Colorado Springs already has a bus station at Kiowa Street and Nevada Avenue, but City officials consider it out-of-date and inconvenient for arriving and departing buses. The new Transit Center will cost $11 million, with 80 percent of the cost paid by the U.S. Government’s Federal Transit Administration. The new Transit Center would open in 2007. It would be a public-private partnership, with the City building the transportation facilities and private developers putting in restaurants, shops, movie theaters, offices, and apartments. How Do You Pronounce L.A.U.S.? By William K. Viekman Editor’s Note: The late William K. Viekman, former President of the Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway Foundation, had this to say of his esteemed career: “Long a freelance writer, and transport consultant, William K. Viekman, 67, was technical advisor to the Japan National Railways, 1958-62, and Asian Editor of the International Railway Journal, 1960-62. “They’re liable to blow it in L.A. Is this because new METROLINK commuter lines may extend from suburb to suburb? Not exactly. However, the word is out that, in this process, planners might downplay or bypass Los Angeles Union Station (L.A.U.S.) as the fulcrum of these services. Reason given: Only about 5% of area riders still work in town. Oh, the devastation of such an unfortunate argument. Let’s set the record straight. Said pitiful five percent actually represents a latter day confession that the automobile has, indeed, shattered our American cities. Urban L.A., together with war-zone Detroit, illustrates the havoc of 40-plus years of unrestrained freeway building. To hear the highwaymen tell it during those damaging decades, the air could “actually stand much more polluting.” (No kidding: From a Moto City exec’s letter to the New York Times.) And metropolitan centers outside of Gotham, Chicago, Boston, or Philadelphia “just aren’t big enough for rail transit.” Sure, the black flood-tide of that asphalt era is well behind us, but won’t the damage last forever? Frankly, NO! What does seem to linger, however, is the tailpipe doctrine that our inner cities have had it. In fact, this “core” city concept is best translated as what you discard after eating the apple. Anyway, enough of this gas-exhausted logic. On to a forgotten definition from history, with its relevant strategy for these exciting days. First of all, “DOWNTOWN” per se was never really vital to the automotive scheme of things. It was merely tolerated or denigrated...right down to that miserable five percent. Detroit preferred that you threw the clutch buggy into high gear, and, with tongue hanging out, headed for the open road. Alas, from this widely hailed “freedom” evolved the ruinous bondage of the now familiar strip cities, gridlock, poisoned air and the ever more massive, nine-year-average-lifespan, far-out shopping malls. We’ve been had! No, “DOWNTOWN” implied an “UPTOWN”, or neat suburban villages. It was a designation befitting transit operations and commuter lines. In times past, it begat the orderly formation of L.A.’s suburbs and satellites, from “DOWNTOWN” outward, by one Mr. Huntington. He’d extend a given Pacific Electric segment by, say, three miles. Residential and related construction would quickly follow, whereupon the empire builder would then commit himself to the next three miles of expansion...and so on. His interurbans were the instruments of intelligent development, and the principle still applies in this new age of railways. Such a corridor-related strategy permits of dynamic and well-controlled economic growth, both along given rights-of-way, and certainly, “DOWNTOWN.” ITEM: The smart money promptly takes advantage of open doors to commercial opportunities. Thus, the lingering wounds can be treated and the sickening damage reversed. A classic example (previously reported by RTN—Rail Travel News) comes from Portland, Oregon, where plans for more downtown parking facilities are being frowned upon, since light rail is really IN: A department store owner, watching the arrival of those new MAX streetcars from suburbs and UPTOWN, was overheard to remark how good it felt to see 50 people alighting...with 10 of them heading straight for his emporium. ‘Nuff sed. In transport matters, the City of Angels is finally moving in the right direction. It would now be a tragic mistake for leadership to underestimate the implications of this for “DOWNTOWN.” Los Angeles Union Station (L.A.U.S.)? Don’t say “LOSS,” or “LAWS,” or “LOUSE.” But pronounce it “L.A. US”! Our day has come.” News from the Rock Island Railroad Festival Three From the third annual Rock Island Railroad Festival, the historic Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Roswell roundhouse, now Colorado Springs and Interurban Railway shops: What is the history of these grounds? The Foundation leases approximately 2 ½ acres from Colorado Springs Utilities. This and another approximately 3 acres make up the area once occupied by the Rock Island. From 1888 their roundhouse, car repair, Roswell station, and Pullman commissary occupied this area with facilities being torn down until only the roundhouse remained in the early 1980s when the Rock ceased operations forever. See the 1917 I.C.C. Valuation Map in the museum for the layout then. What was a roundhouse used for? This building, constructed of massive white oak timbers, an oak foundation and stone in 1888, originally contained 16 tracks, each track extending off the turntable into what were called stalls in the roundhouse. The final 70-foot turntable was removed after World War II. The building formed a 270-degree arc around the turntable pit. Each track could accommodate one locomotive or now up to two streetcars in each of the remaining two stalls. The pits between the rails enabled a person to inspect and service the underside of the locomotives. Steam locomotives, although they would operate either forward or in reverse, were designed only to operate at full speed forward. In front of every roundhouse a turntable enabled turning a locomotive so it would face in the proper direction. The roundhouse itself provided storage for the locomotives between runs, as well as a place to service the engines and perform minor repairs. The black soot marks on the bottom of the roundhouse roof in the shop area came from those locomotives. Over the years, as the use of steam locomotives declined, stalls were removed to reduce tax and maintenance expenses. The same fate befell the other facilities on the site, until only the roundhouse with four stalls remained. In the mid 1950s the building was sold to the Simpson Grain Company, who in turn sold it to El Paso Drywall. In 1995, Colorado Springs Utilities purchased the property. The PPHSRF then leased 2 ½ acres. The roundhouse received a major rebuilding effort by the volunteers and many area businesses. Today it contains two former stalls housing the museum and general office and two stalls that house our shop area. Rock Island Displays: You will find many Rock Island displays, with different gauge model railroads as well as memorabilia in the museum and shop area. Please feel free to visit each of the displays and ask the tour guides or volunteers concerning the displays or about the history of the area or Rock Island history in general. Should you have any historical knowledge of this area or artifacts to contribute we are always interested in the history of this site. Most of the displays in the museum came from such donors. By Greg Roberts They were called everything from cage to way car, or especially to non-railroaders, just plain old caboose1. For over 100 years they punctuated every freight train in America. In fact a locomotive with a caboose constituted a train while locomotives hauling 100 cars without a caboose did not qualify as a train. Then a number of things including technology and cost have just about eliminated the caboose from trains. Now we have FRED for Flashing Red End Device. Sorry FRED but you have no romance, no history, and even if you last a thousand years you never will. You don’t have the caboose’s appeal or functionality. Imagine the warmth the caboose afforded the conductor and brakeman on a cold day. Think of the smell of hot coffee with bacon and eggs cooking on a cold morning as the caboose jaunted behind a freight moving across the seemingly endless American prairie behind a Union Pacific, Rock Island, Santa Fe, or Great Northern, or a train on any number of other lines. Consider the view from the cupola perusing at everything from the industrialized urban East to the vast expanses of the West. Places still exist that no automobile can go and where even passenger trains either did not pass or typically passed in the night. Riders of the humble caboose saw those vistas. Places like the lonely Modoc line in northeastern California where the temperature in winter hits 40 below and the wind howls across the barren landscape. Only the cab of the locomotive and the caboose provided shelter. Train crews on the Denver and Rio Grande Western freights viewed nine canyons between Denver and Glenwood Springs from their cupolas before anybody ever thought of dome cars. They also saw the magnificent Royal Gorge and Eagle Canyon behind the sounds of 2-8-8-2 helpers working the steep Tennessee Pass line.
No. 1501 is in excellent condition. It recently received a new exterior paint job and brake job. The interior requires some washing to remove grime, some cleanup where some batteries leaked, and a little bit of paint on the inside. The railroad removed the side windows some time ago to save money. Unfortunately FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) rules now require glass on cabooses, locomotives, and passenger cars be bullet resistant. Like many things in our society the great majority of law abiding citizens, including sportsmen who would never think of trying to “bag” a caboose, must take precautions against the lawless and inconsiderate few. As time and funds permit, the owner of No. 1501 intends to restore the original side windows, bullet resistant and all. After all a caboose is to look out of. The possibility even exists that No. 1501 may become Amtrak certified (and hopefully Amtrak will survive). At a minimum this will require a 40 year inspection of the trucks plus adding a 440 volt power pass through cable and connectors. If that occurs it would mean for the required number of tickets No. 1501 could travel behind passenger trains. It would elevate a humble crummy to first class status as a private rail car. Kind of fitting, wouldn’t you say? 1 Railroader terms for caboose included cage, bouncer, bed house, chariot, clown wagon, crummy, dog-house, hack, hut, monkey house, parlor, shanty, and way car. Work continues on the current grant that we have from the State Historical Society for car #59. Granted, this is now greatly overshadowed by the announcement of the recent award of the new grant that will be funded in October. The new grant will allow us to continue on with the car #59 work. However, the previous grant is covering the work that is now in progress and which is moving along smoothly and to the point that we are beginning to see real progress being made. This work will continue now on a regular basis, and we will see not only Greg Roberts but also other people assisting him on this car as work increases and becomes more difficult. We will be putting together a printed sheet that we can hand out to visitors, which will give a history of the car, the work that is being done on it, and a description of its future use.
*Board Members Work Day: Let’s make this an excellent turnout! Our primary project will be to make this area look spic and span for our October membership day. We will be painting, doing yard work, and whatever else required. We need your help! Bring your own work gloves. Everything else will be provided. - Howard Noble
SUMMER & THE 14-BENCH OPEN CARS by John Haney Although the trolley system used open cars in the 1890's, as the area's population grew, they really came into their own with the purchase and in-house manufacturing of new, larger vehicles in the early 1900's. Built by J.G. Brill & Company of Philadelphia and the CS&I shops in Colorado Springs, eighteen of these cars could seat 70 persons each. They ran off most of their mileage on the Tejon Street-Canon-Broadmoor runs, where they served Zoo Park and Boulevard Park (built for professional baseball) and Stratton Park. They also filled in as extra equipment required by special events at Stratton Park, the Municipal Golf Course (today's Patty Jewett Golf Course), and race meets at the Roswell track. After World War I they were used to supplement the closed motors and trailers on the Manitou line. One of these cars was used for the daily "Seeing Colorado Springs" tour, that day's version of a "Gray Line Tour" to give tourists a great view of the Colorado Springs area. Our Foundation possesses many of these open car benches, as well as open car parts, photos and other information for the fabrication of another important element of Colorado Springs' transit history. Back to TopYes! I/We support the work of the Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway
Foundation! Our choice of support is marked below. Individual Memberships: Corporate Memberships: c Friend $20 c Corporate Friend $100 c Sponsor $30 c Corporate Supporter $250 c Patron $50 c Corporate Sponsor $500 and up c Benefactor $100 and up Contributions may be Tax Deductiblec Additional contribution to help PPHSRF to meet ongoing expenses: $_________________________c Additional contribution for a special project: $______________ Project: _____________________________c Please contact us about volunteering. The best day and time to call is: _______________ Bus. Phone: ( )____________Name:__________________________________________________________ Home Phone: ( )_____________ Address: ____________________________________________ (Please include street, city, state, and zip code) E-mail address: _____________________ Date: _________________ Copyright © 2002 by the Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway Foundation. All rights reserved. |
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Copyright © 2006, Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway Foundation
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Features
Almost
every group seeing Colorado Springs and Interurban Railway Car No. 59 for the
first time asks when the restoration will be completed. At the project beginning
we were still determining the requirements to restore the car and seeking
sources for materials and skills. These searches get daunting at times. For
example, only one loom still exists in the world that can make transit weave
rattan for seats that won’t pucker. That loom is located in Canton, China.
Several organizations are working to get a batch of material woven for
restoration projects. Although these searches continue, we reached a level of
knowledge late last year that enabled making a decision to go for a three-year
plan to complete the restoration.
Recently,
Mr. Daniel Quiet of Denver, CO, owner of numerous pieces of Denver & Rio
Grand Western Railway rolling stock, donated a former Southern Pacific Railroad
70-foot baggage car to the Foundation. The car, #6777, is currently stored in
Grand Junction, CO, and was last used in revenue service when it was chartered
by the National Football League. After the SP dropped all passenger service, the
car was assigned to Maintenance of Way service as a supply car and was so used
until withdrawn from service several years ago, when it was stored in Grand
Junction. The car is in excellent condition and is painted in its original gray
passenger color scheme. The car has two double doors on either side and end
doors on both ends, and will make an excellent storage car for Roswell. The car
may also be used on the car line itself in work service, because at some point
we envision building a motorized flat car that would be capable of pulling this
car as a supply car carrying tools, equipment, and material for use in work
projects along the line. The car will be routed Union Pacific to destination,
which will be our Roswell shops.
According
to the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph newspaper, the new Transit Center will
include a bus station. If passenger rail service is established along the
Colorado Front Range, the Transit Center will be extended westward one block to
existing railroad tracks.
One
of the D&RGW cabooses will soon visit Roswell. Built by the International
Car Company in 1966, D&RGW No. 1501 will be attached to our box car from the
same line. This series of cars with the bright Rio Grande yellow paint trimmed
in black and silver and the Mainline of the Rockies herald probably qualify as
the most dazzling paint scheme ever applied to a caboose. It definitely elevates
No. 1501 above the terms crummy or shack.