Entering Colorado Springs

 

Modeling the AT&SF - D&RGW Joint Line through Colorado Springs from Milepost 70 to Milepost 80 circa 1978-1979

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Post 20: Progress Update Part 3, Entering Colorado Springs at last

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It's two miles of wide open running again south of Roswell with not much to mock-up, so we'll wrap up with photos of the prototype trains that are my inspiration for modeling the Joint Line through the Springs.

(Robert Harmen 1973)

The crew on board this Rock Island consist have just left Roswell and are in the final stretch of their run to downtown Colorado Springs, and from the looks of it the rear end crew is still rolling through the wye. Train length alone suggests that this is not the daily turn job, Train 51, rather almost certainly a detour train bound for Denver, but there are a couple other clues: the four unit lash-up instead of the normal two, with clear evidence that lead unit U25B 233 has bucked some heavy drifts on the way west, and the presence of at least four piggyback flats. Trains 50/51 did sometimes handle a pig flat carrying reefer trailers for dressed meat out of Knuckles Packing down in Pueblo, but they were usually set out at a TOFC ramp east of Roswell, with the trailers driven up and loaded there.

The north leg of the wye was a pretty sharp curve, and doubtless had not seen a lot of recent maintenance, making it risky to use it to turn the train northwards. The safer bet was to run the train south into Springs Yard, run the power and caboose around the train, and then head north up the Joint Line, likely with a Rio Grande pilot, if not a full Rio Grande crew.

 

 That's more like it for a typical Train 50, although maybe still a tad long. Here we see what is just out of the frame to the left in the top view, the side-by-side wood pile trestles that cross Mesa Creek, with the CTC signals governing the north end of Colorado Springs siding just beyond. Rio Grande bridge 73.30 has a ballasted deck, while Rock Island bridge 6080 has an open deck. I wish I had good photos of the bridges themselves, but they were replaced by a fill and culvert in the md-1980s when the siding was extended north. At least I have the D&RGW standard plans, so models of them will bridge the gully on the layout. I had to shorten the siding as there was not enough tangent track to fit the switch here, so the signals will be further south around the bend.

 
Santa Fe GP20 3103 was bound for Pikeview, running long hood first up the Rock Island past the D&RGW siding pot signal in 1978.

And in 1976 D&RGW SD40T-2 5360 was just a couple hundred feet south heading down the Rio Grande main with a coal train. Yes, that is the Rock Island mainline down in the weeds there. The white sign signifies that the junction with the Rio Grande is one mile south of this point.

(Robert Harmen 1976)

 

(Larry Green 1980)

BN U30C 2917 was northbound at the same curve in 1980, with the JCT sign poking in at far left.

(Colorado DOT 1960)

This 1960 aerial view north shows I-25 under construction, with the Rio Grande and Rock Island tracks, Monument Valley Park, and Monument Creek to the right. As I said, more open running.

 

D&RGW 137 was at the crossovers just north of the bridge over Monument Creek. The double pot signal governs the siding, while the single pot at right governs the Rock Island connection to the Rio Grande. This was the very end of the Rock Island mainline, and there was a phone box for the RI crew to call the Joint Line Dispatcher for the signal to enter the siding. Again, note the subtle track elevation differences, and the track hardware.

Here is my 1985 view of the crossovers, with the switch to the Rock Island main still in place. I don't have room for three tracks here, and I only need the northbound crossover, so this will be the north end of the siding on the layout. Trains setting out and picking up in Springs Yard will have to use the Rock Island main for headroom instead of the siding.

These two views show the extensive mature trees of Monument Valley Park along the tracks that I simulated in the teaser photo of my mock-up of this location.

 And finally, the Rio Grande crosses Monument Creek on this skewed four-span, ballasted double-track deck-girder bridge. I only have room for three spans on the layout, but it should still make for a picturesque signature entrance into Springs Yard.

 The yard tracks begin splitting off the main and siding immediately off the bridge and then they all duck under an overpass across the yard throat. See my post on Springs Yard.

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OK, that's it for the 2025 Year End update—I just squeaked it in under the wire. Time to get back to work now, as there's still a bit more benchwork to build, and then lots of track to lay and wire up. I'll post again when I have some real progress to show, unless I take a side trip into something interesting along the way to share with you.

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