CZ to Winter Park

[ABDeh88]

My wife and I are taking the Zephyr to WIP for the day. It is one of two westbound destinations that has a return train the same day. The other is Granby. We wanted to do Glenwood but that would mean a hotel and two days off work. Maybe this summer.

We just left the Lincoln Light Rail station on the 614 E train to Union Station. Amtrak.com shows the CZ 5 arriving 20 min early.

Pics and more to follow!

 

[ABDeh88]

Oh yeah, you probably guessed from the light rail hint but were leaving from DEN.

 

[ABDeh88]

We are on board Coach 510! Leaving in a few minutes. Lounge is full. People staking out their seats though they were told on the PA not to camp out.

Just left with 190 and 62 on lead.

 

[Bob Dylan]

We are on board Coach 510! Leaving in a few minutes. Lounge is full. People staking out their seats though they were told on the PA not to camp out.

Just left with 190 and 62 on lead.

Lucky yall! Nice Day Trip, bet theres still lots of Snow left in the Mountains! And Generations are Born,Live and Die in the Sightseer Lounge on this Train! Look forward to your Trip Report, wish I was Aboard going All the Way to California! :wub:

 

[Railroad Bill]

What a great ride you must be having today

We have enjoyed that ride on the CZ several times in winter and summer. It never grows old :lol:

 

[ABDeh88]

Well we are (sadly) back home. Great trip. Pics and video will have to wait. My computer is not cooperating.

Where was I? As I mentioned, we got seats in 510. We were two of about ten people in the upper level. Pretty empty. I can't remember the seat numbers but it was the fifth row on the left. We went ahead and tried to find seats in the lounge and we were successful though it was still the left side. All the good views are on the right going west. We got a dose of "The Cafe Guy" I don't know his name but he was doing lounge announcements and was sure to let us know when he was going on his breakfast break.

At Plainview we pulled onto the siding for about 20 minutes to let a loaded eastbound UP coal train by. This put us into WP at 1015 instead of scheduled 1007. Not bad though. Besides, I took the train for the train ride. I was actually hoping for delays!

Beautiful views all the way up. I especially enjoyed Big Ten Curve and the dirt-filled hopper cars acting as a wind block from the up-to-100 mph winds. I didn't know how steep South Boulder Canyon was! Wow! Gross Dam and reservoir are beautiful! I've been along the route on the road from downtown to Moffat Tunnel but there are many areas, including almost all of the Tunnel District and the canyon and portion between Rollinsville and Pinecliffe.

Kari read her book most of the trip up but I didn't mind!

The tunnel was neat, too. Seemed to take forever. It always amazed me emerging from darkness into a sunny ski resort. Today I saw it firsthand.

WP was forecast to be about 40-45 degrees. The sun was out and I got to see Fraser's station, or lack thereof. We detrained and I shook Brian's, one of the attendants, hands. I think they are taken for granted and not always appreciated. We walked to the end of the platform and armed my phone video cam. We then walked past the shelter and platform and an unmanned "station".

Now, how do we get back to Winter Park? Fraser is kinda boring!

More (and pics) tomorrow!

 

[ABDeh88]

Ok it did post! More tomorrow!

 

[trainman74]

The sun was out and I got to see Fraser's station, or lack thereof.

Pretty nice platform, though -- much better to wait out there instead of in the "station" if the weather is cooperating.

A couple years ago I took the CZ from Fraser to Emeryville and was the only person on or off the train at Fraser. It's a great feeling to find out the train stopped just for you. (And the conductor and engineer spotted the train with the door to my sleeper right where I was standing.)

 

[ABDeh88]

That is true! We were two of five or six that detrained in WIP. I thought we were going to be the only ones.

 

[JayPea]

I enjoyed your report. The scenery on the Zephyr never gets old! I will be taking the Zephyr as the large majority of a Champaign-Seattle trip in August and am very much looking forward to it! I agree the platform at Fraser is nice, as far as platforms go. The last time I rode the Zephyr, in late March 2009, there was still snow on the ground and the howling winds were driving the snow sideways. I was glad to stay inside the warmth of the train! That particular day, those hoppers earned their keep as a windbreak!

 

[ABDeh88]

Ok, back. It looks like I can't edit my first section. Still getting used to this forum style. I will add pics to this post for the first section, then I will continue with posts and pics as I finish the report. Thanks for bearing with me!

So here are pics from the first part I already typed up. My rechargeable AAs are shot I think. They were charged but my camera kept saying they were dead so most my pics are from my camera phone. Clicking on any pic will bring you to my webshots page with more pics.

DEN station and #5 ready to go



Heading up Little and Big Ten Curves



Our lead locomotive #190. A 2001 GE P42DC with 4250hp.



Link to video of CZ #5 leaving WIP

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3082012150064685427cgrfNi

Just across the parking area from the WIP/Fraser platform, an old Tucker Sno-Cat with me posing. Cats are one my other interests. This one needed work!



Ok. Back to where I left off. How to get to Winter Park. Well, fortunately, there is a shuttle bus service, because WIP station is NOT in Winter Park, but north of it in Fraser, and a bit of a hike if you want to visit the actual resort and town of Winter Park.

We caught a bus and headed to Winter Park to eat some NY style pizza. We then hopped the shuttle directly to the Village and instantly hopped on the Winter Park cabriolet shuttle that goes from base to parking lot. This is yet one of my other loves, ropeways! We just rode without even getting off at the lot. Nothing to see there but cars!





Continued...

 

[ABDeh88]

We hung out in the Village. Window shopped at the overpriced tourist shops, but made it a priority to find Kari a new coffee/hot chocolate mug for her birthday. Hers broke. We couldn't find anything suitable until we got to Starbucks and found a nice double-walled version and she got some cider or something, I dunno.

Kari hanging out at 'Bucks



We also checked out the Zephyr chairlift. Guess what that is named after! Winter Park also has quite a few railroad-related ski runs. It has a lot of railroad history, though many don't realize it.

We walked over to the West Portal and took a pic. Denver Water was there, working IN the water pipe. The guy I talked to said it was not a fun job. That's the green pipe in the pic. It goes from Jones Pass through the mountains and emerges above ground for a bit, then back into its own tunnel close to the Moffat.



We heard a freight coming so we ran over to the tunnel. I wasn't sure which direction it was going. We got in sight and I just missed the lead units going east into the portal. Oh well, I was still able to see the three middle DPUs and the trailing DPU. So I shot a video. In it you will hear Kari say, "It's a long one." Then me saying, "That's what she said." What can I say? We've been watching a lot of The Office lately! Link to video

http://good-times.we...host=good-times

 

[ABDeh88]

After that we shopped a bit more. One of the stores had some Mammut brand clothes. I picked up a pair of ski/mountaineering gloves for 50% off. Score!

We then waited for a shuttle and I videod the cabriolet doing its thing! Link:

http://community.webshots.com/album/580049269tEIHhM?vhost=community&start=60

We hopped the shuttle and headed back to the station. It is unattended so you have to hang out and wait for the train and the conductor will check tickets. We waited with a large group from Lincoln, Nebraska. They came out to ski and decided the train cheapest. I think there were 11 or so. Most had camo fleece hoodies on with "Team Redneck" in safety orange. Funny. They were very nice and we talked economics of the train vs driving.

Here is a link to a video of the CZ #6 coming into the platform:

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3084863610064685427NGeMxC

The 6 was scheduled for a 3:50pm arrival but it showed up about 4:01. We left at 4:09 with a scheduled DEN arrival of 6:38pm.

We got our tix checked and went into our seats. We chose 1 and 2 in the 610 coach. Those were the furthest back two seats on the left. Two of the group, teenage boys, sat next to us and played games on their phones. They didn't seem to care about the train at all. We didn't even bother with the lounge. We were both actually tired and had good views out of our coach window. Plus, it was getting overcast.

Here are some photos from the way back.

Canyon and creek



Out of the last of the tunnels. It is on the left of the photo. We went over Coal Creek Canyon and then a grade crossing before heading back to the Curve



We passed Gross Dam and Reservoir again so I had to take some video. That is a pretty good size dam! Link:

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3043098150064685427MTYUuS

And I had to get a video of the hopper wind break! Link:

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3097323490064685427DKBHTU

We headed back into Denver and into the BNSF yards. Plenty of different freight cars. Mostly well and spine cars.





This is where they end C.T.C., by the way, haha



Some track maintenance equipment



Freights





We pulled through the yard and into the wye



Kari and I



That is it for pics and videos. We arrived in station at 6:18, 20 minutes early! The boys next to us saw a McDonalds near the BNSF yard and said they should go there to eat since they had a 45 minute stop in Denver. I told them they wouldn't make it. We still had to back up on the 3rd section of the wye, about a half mile backwards!

Kari and departed the train, said bye to the Lincoln group and walked from the temp station platform to the ligt rail and caught the C line to Broadway, changing to the E line a few minutes later to take us to Lincoln Station.

While waiting on the platform, guess what we see? The loaded coal train that I recorded going into the Moffat in WIP. Kari told me I should make the horn honking sign like you give a trucker. I told her to do it. So she did, and the engineer did the "Shave and a haircut, two bits" for us. Very cool!

We caught the E and headed home! Nice trip!

Thanks for reading!

 

[Steve4031]

Interesting report. How often does the shuttle bus run? I might do this someday.

 

[ABDeh88]

Interesting report. How often does the shuttle bus run? I might do this someday.

Hi! Thanks! They run every 15 minutes or so. There are four or five lines/routes. They are old schoolbuses painted grey. You can't miss them!

 

[railiner]

Enjoyed your photography and commentary. Thanks for taking us along!

I noted with interest the detail you showed of the two very different Superliner trucks. The fabricated one in the second photo is the type I remember from the last time I was on one. Is the one that looks like a more conventional cast type on a Superliner II by any chance?

 

[ABDeh88]

Enjoyed your photography and commentary. Thanks for taking us along!

I noted with interest the detail you showed of the two very different Superliner trucks. The fabricated one in the second photo is the type I remember from the last time I was on one. Is the one that looks like a more conventional cast type on a Superliner II by any chance?

Thanks for reading and thanks for the compliments!

Yes, the left (first) picture in the album is the General Steel Castings truck from the Superliner II. That was on the 510 coach baggage I rode in. The right (second) pic is a German-designed truck from the Superliner I and that truck is on the transition sleeper 540. The first Super after the baggage. 510 was after that.

 

[railiner]

Enjoyed your photography and commentary. Thanks for taking us along!

I noted with interest the detail you showed of the two very different Superliner trucks. The fabricated one in the second photo is the type I remember from the last time I was on one. Is the one that looks like a more conventional cast type on a Superliner II by any chance?

Thanks for reading and thanks for the compliments!

Yes, the left (first) picture in the album is the General Steel Castings truck from the Superliner II. That was on the 510 coach baggage I rode in. The right (second) pic is a German-designed truck from the Superliner I and that truck is on the transition sleeper 540. The first Super after the baggage. 510 was after that.

I never rode on an 'S-II', is there any discernible difference in ride quality between the two truck types, aside from one perhaps being in newer condition than the other?

 

[ABDeh88]

I never rode on an 'S-II', is there any discernible difference in ride quality between the two truck types, aside from one perhaps being in newer condition than the other?

This was only my second Amtrak trip. First was also the CZ6 back in 1997 and unfortunately I can't remember much about it. Sorry!

I will however think of it next time I ride and make notes of trucks vs ride quality.

 

[AlanB]

Yes, the left (first) picture in the album is the General Steel Castings truck from the Superliner II. That was on the 510 coach baggage I rode in. The right (second) pic is a German-designed truck from the Superliner I and that truck is on the transition sleeper 540. The first Super after the baggage. 510 was after that.

While I'm far from an expert on trucks, something doesn't add up here.

All Trans/Dorms are Superliner II cars; there are no Superliner I Trans/Dorms. So the Trans/Dorm wouldn't be riding on a Superliner I truck.

 

[ABDeh88]

You caught me! I realized, after looking through my pics again, that those pics are both of coaches. The 510 coach baggage and 520 coach.