12-31-2009, 10:59 AM
There is a working Challenger 4-8-8-4 in the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden. It was brought out last year for a run to the State Fair in Pueblo for the staff of the Denver Post, who used to traditionally attend the Fair by chartered train in the old days. It was one h*** of a show - absolutely nothing beats a Challenger pounding past at full bore, doing what it is designed to do best - hauling a load. It was like watching a symphony made up of steam, metal and moving parts, and the sound of that whistle is a lasting memory.
Ironically, trains require helpers to cross Monument Pass at over 7,000 feet, but with a full passenger train in tow, the Challenger never missed a beat through the entire 2,000 foot climb up from Denver. Special note to railroaders and geographers: Denver, the often-touted "Mile High City", is the low point on the Front Range. Water runs back to the north from Monument Pass. Here in my part of the state, we refer to Denverites as "flatlanders". 8-)
Ironically, trains require helpers to cross Monument Pass at over 7,000 feet, but with a full passenger train in tow, the Challenger never missed a beat through the entire 2,000 foot climb up from Denver. Special note to railroaders and geographers: Denver, the often-touted "Mile High City", is the low point on the Front Range. Water runs back to the north from Monument Pass. Here in my part of the state, we refer to Denverites as "flatlanders". 8-)