Day#2 (8/24) - Climax We took one final photograph here of a sign talking about the Railroad History of a era of days gone by... End of Day #2
Day#3 (8/25) - Red Cliff Mining Area Day 3 begins and ends in Leadville, Colorado at 10,152 feet. We start off the morning traveling back towards Red Cliff that we passed on our way to Minturn the day before. Near this area the D&RGW track dropped deep into a canyon that begins in Red Cliff. We saw no way to stay within the canyon except by train or by river. A few miles down the highway we found a great little turn off that over looked Eagle Mine and the track below. - - -
Day#3 (8/25) - Leadville, Colorado and Southern We travel back to Leadville to play tourist around town and have lunch. Our afternoon plans are the true highlight of the day, a ride on the Leadville, Colorado and Southern.
Day#3 (8/25) - Leadville, Colorado and Southern We arrive early to pick up our tickets and take a few shots of Colorado and Southern Steam Engine #641 while the parking lot is mostly empty. - -
Day#3 (8/25) - Leadville, Colorado and Southern While I was videotaping the train, Lisa was busy taking several shots of the engine as it approached her position. Here is what I think was the best of the shots...
Day#3 (8/25) - Leadville, Colorado and Southern Well, you know I won't pass up an opportunity to update my photo collection of depots! [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT]
Roster Shots As with many tourist trains what they have tends to be from various railways and as in this case of unknown origin. Here are a few roster shots of the a Boxcar now turned into the Gift Shop / Snack Car as well as the caboose; none that have any markings beyond the LC&S lettering. [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT]
Engine #1714 ... and lets not forget to get a few shots of our host before we start our ride!!!!!!! [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT]
Leadville, Colorado & Southern While on the train, Lisa took a few shots while I was taking video. Here are her shots of the Spreader with various BN Cabooses, The Roundhouse with Engine #1918, the French Gulch Water Tank, and she also caught me taking video from just behind Engine #1714. [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT]
It's now Day#4 of our trip... We start the day NW of Leadville by taking a drive around Turquoise Lake. We look several small hikes as well as stop at the Charles H Boustead Tunnel (Water) and the Sugar Loaf Dam. We then swing by the Leadville National Fish Hatchery. We later head SW and drive over Independence Pass (12,095 ft.) and also stop at what's left of the old ghost town. Not to fear, our next stop is very much RR related as we head to Basalt. Here we photograph the Colorado Midland Depot [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT]
Basalt, CO Also here is Colorado and Southern Caboose #1050 and they have a nice historical sign outside that talks about it's history and how/when it came to rest here... [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT]
Rio Grande Trail As we drive up the highway we noticed something on a side road; track? Now we understand all that should have been gone so we doubled back to find the side road and sure enough there it was. A small section of the Rio Grande Trail still was a section of track. [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica][/FONT]
