A Short Train Trip
I did something interesting and unique yesterday, something that my grandfather did all the time without thinking about I took a short train trip. It showed me how lousy America’s railroad system is and how much we need to spend on it.
I paid $44 to ride the Ski Train from Union Station in Downtown Denver to Winter Park, a second tier ski resort about fifty miles from Denver. I did this for a number of reasons, I’m a native Coloradoan who loves the mountains (I grew up in them) and a rail buff who loves trains. I’m also a staunch rail advocate and not being a liberal I figure I should subject myself to what I preach for others.
The Ski Train is an interesting anachronism one of the few working private passenger trains left in America (it’s not a tourist attraction it’s a real train that hauls people from point a to point b).Basically the Ski Train a bunch of rail cars left over from the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad’s Zephyr that hauls skiers and now summer day trippers from Denver’s Union Station to Winter Park. Winter Park is an old school ski area (a place for people who want to ski or snowboard not vacation it’s developing a new rep as a place for serious mountain bikers) trying desperately to adjust itself to the modern age.
The minute you board the Ski Train you see how pathetic America’s rail system is the cars are fifty or sixty years old they lack such basic amenities as air conditioning. In contrast the light rail cars and buses operated by the Regional Transportation District are rolling refrigerators on a hot summer day I have a sneaking suspicion that when it really gets hot in Denver a lot of poor simply get on the bus and ride until their ticket expires it’s one of the few cool places in town and it’s cheaper than the movies.
The train trip from Denver to Winter Park is full of unpleasant surprises. The train itself is rather fun it’s sort of neat to be riding on an old fashioned train like my grandfather. Unless you think for a moment and say wait a minute I’d never buy a car that was just like my grandfather’s today and neither would my grandfather if he were still alive and car shopping today.
The trip especially the trip back was a real eye opener, the track hadn’t seen any real improvements since the 1950s. Union Pacific which owns the route is trying it’s best to improve it, double tracking as much of it as possible and adding welded rail but that’s still far from enough. The new track they’re adding is what should have been built when FDR was in the White House.
When we went through the six mile long Moffat Tunnel you couldn’t walk between cars because of diesel fumes. If they’d just electrified the route that wouldn’t be a problem, it’s something that wouldn’t be hard, the Russians have electrified the Trans Siberian from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. We Americans can’t electrify the fifty miles between Denver and Grand County.
Everything on the rails between Denver and Winter Park looks like something out of the 1930s or 40s. Highways still cross the track, trains still pull over to sidings to let other trains pass, the tunnels still look like something out of an old movie. Drivers on busy state highways still have to wait as the train goes past.
Even worse, the train stopped for about twenty minutes on the way back so the train crew could still get out and inspect the track ahead to see it was safe to run on. I’m not kidding this happened less than thirty miles from Downtown Denver. Even worse every twenty thirty miles the Ski Train would pass a stopped UP coal or freight train and every time we did the engineer on that train was out inspecting the track.
If that wasn’t bad enough when we returned to Denver I saw one of the engineers stop the train and get out to operate a manual switch by hand. This is the year 2007 not the year 1907. What isn’t wrong with this picture? My friend James Kunstler is right the United States has a railroad system Bulgaria would and should be ashamed of.
The train journey did give me infinite respect for America’s professional railroad operators. The only reason our trains sill move is that America has the best railroad people in the world. These professionals heirs to a great tradition, to great lengths to keep the trains moving. The people one the Ski Train were far more courteous and professional and friendlier than any airline crew I’ve flown with. (One suggestion I noticed a tip jar on the snack bar filled with one dollar bills airlines take note want Stewardesses to be friendly allow tipping). They went far out of their way to make our journey safe and comfortable. Interestingly enough many of them were volunteers the children of old time rail road people keeping what they see as a vital tradition alive?
The train trip also disgusted me almost everybody on the train was younger than I was, the average passengers seemed to be a thirty five year old couple with two kids searching for an alternative to the drive into the mountains. These people had come onto the train expecting some far better than what they got. They’re not old enough to remember the great trains of the past so like me they’ve experienced and enjoyed good train service elsewhere, say on America’s growing commuter train network. Like me a lot of them undoubtedly felt ripped off when the train returned to Union Station.
It was shorter than some of the commuter train trips I used to take on Southern California’s excellent Metrolink (for months I rode everyday from Riverside to San Luis Obispo over terrain every bit as rugged as that the Ski Train runs on the only delays we experienced were from freight trains that shared the track) and the Ski Train (the closest thing to it I’ve ever on is a Canadian train I rode from St. Catherine’s to Toronto as a teenager) was nowhere near as fast or as comfortable nor was it anything like the overseas trains in places like France and Japan I’ve read about.
After getting off the Ski Train I got on the RTD light rail which I ride to work everyday. The electric powered light rail was faster, more efficient and more comfortable than the Ski Train. The track was modern and well maintained and the cars were air conditioned. Maybe it’s time to turn the train to Winter Park and the Ski Country over to RTD they usually seem to do a good job and their equipment is modern.
After riding the Ski Train I have just one wish that as many Americans as possible in particular our so called political leaders would ride it and see how pathetic our rail system is. Then maybe they’d try to fix, for I have a feeling if they don’t there’s going to be hell to pay….
I paid $44 to ride the Ski Train from Union Station in Downtown Denver to Winter Park, a second tier ski resort about fifty miles from Denver. I did this for a number of reasons, I’m a native Coloradoan who loves the mountains (I grew up in them) and a rail buff who loves trains. I’m also a staunch rail advocate and not being a liberal I figure I should subject myself to what I preach for others.
The Ski Train is an interesting anachronism one of the few working private passenger trains left in America (it’s not a tourist attraction it’s a real train that hauls people from point a to point b).Basically the Ski Train a bunch of rail cars left over from the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad’s Zephyr that hauls skiers and now summer day trippers from Denver’s Union Station to Winter Park. Winter Park is an old school ski area (a place for people who want to ski or snowboard not vacation it’s developing a new rep as a place for serious mountain bikers) trying desperately to adjust itself to the modern age.
The minute you board the Ski Train you see how pathetic America’s rail system is the cars are fifty or sixty years old they lack such basic amenities as air conditioning. In contrast the light rail cars and buses operated by the Regional Transportation District are rolling refrigerators on a hot summer day I have a sneaking suspicion that when it really gets hot in Denver a lot of poor simply get on the bus and ride until their ticket expires it’s one of the few cool places in town and it’s cheaper than the movies.
The train trip from Denver to Winter Park is full of unpleasant surprises. The train itself is rather fun it’s sort of neat to be riding on an old fashioned train like my grandfather. Unless you think for a moment and say wait a minute I’d never buy a car that was just like my grandfather’s today and neither would my grandfather if he were still alive and car shopping today.
The trip especially the trip back was a real eye opener, the track hadn’t seen any real improvements since the 1950s. Union Pacific which owns the route is trying it’s best to improve it, double tracking as much of it as possible and adding welded rail but that’s still far from enough. The new track they’re adding is what should have been built when FDR was in the White House.
When we went through the six mile long Moffat Tunnel you couldn’t walk between cars because of diesel fumes. If they’d just electrified the route that wouldn’t be a problem, it’s something that wouldn’t be hard, the Russians have electrified the Trans Siberian from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. We Americans can’t electrify the fifty miles between Denver and Grand County.
Everything on the rails between Denver and Winter Park looks like something out of the 1930s or 40s. Highways still cross the track, trains still pull over to sidings to let other trains pass, the tunnels still look like something out of an old movie. Drivers on busy state highways still have to wait as the train goes past.
Even worse, the train stopped for about twenty minutes on the way back so the train crew could still get out and inspect the track ahead to see it was safe to run on. I’m not kidding this happened less than thirty miles from Downtown Denver. Even worse every twenty thirty miles the Ski Train would pass a stopped UP coal or freight train and every time we did the engineer on that train was out inspecting the track.
If that wasn’t bad enough when we returned to Denver I saw one of the engineers stop the train and get out to operate a manual switch by hand. This is the year 2007 not the year 1907. What isn’t wrong with this picture? My friend James Kunstler is right the United States has a railroad system Bulgaria would and should be ashamed of.
The train journey did give me infinite respect for America’s professional railroad operators. The only reason our trains sill move is that America has the best railroad people in the world. These professionals heirs to a great tradition, to great lengths to keep the trains moving. The people one the Ski Train were far more courteous and professional and friendlier than any airline crew I’ve flown with. (One suggestion I noticed a tip jar on the snack bar filled with one dollar bills airlines take note want Stewardesses to be friendly allow tipping). They went far out of their way to make our journey safe and comfortable. Interestingly enough many of them were volunteers the children of old time rail road people keeping what they see as a vital tradition alive?
The train trip also disgusted me almost everybody on the train was younger than I was, the average passengers seemed to be a thirty five year old couple with two kids searching for an alternative to the drive into the mountains. These people had come onto the train expecting some far better than what they got. They’re not old enough to remember the great trains of the past so like me they’ve experienced and enjoyed good train service elsewhere, say on America’s growing commuter train network. Like me a lot of them undoubtedly felt ripped off when the train returned to Union Station.
It was shorter than some of the commuter train trips I used to take on Southern California’s excellent Metrolink (for months I rode everyday from Riverside to San Luis Obispo over terrain every bit as rugged as that the Ski Train runs on the only delays we experienced were from freight trains that shared the track) and the Ski Train (the closest thing to it I’ve ever on is a Canadian train I rode from St. Catherine’s to Toronto as a teenager) was nowhere near as fast or as comfortable nor was it anything like the overseas trains in places like France and Japan I’ve read about.
After getting off the Ski Train I got on the RTD light rail which I ride to work everyday. The electric powered light rail was faster, more efficient and more comfortable than the Ski Train. The track was modern and well maintained and the cars were air conditioned. Maybe it’s time to turn the train to Winter Park and the Ski Country over to RTD they usually seem to do a good job and their equipment is modern.
After riding the Ski Train I have just one wish that as many Americans as possible in particular our so called political leaders would ride it and see how pathetic our rail system is. Then maybe they’d try to fix, for I have a feeling if they don’t there’s going to be hell to pay….
posted by great one at 10:06 AM
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