UP Tracks Between Denver and Cheyenne

[Golden grrl]

The depot in Cheyenne has been totally renovated.

http://www.cheyennedepotmuseum.org/

At least last week, this is where Amtrak was accommodating passengers. There was a picture in the local paper about it. Really neat art deco station to peek at if there's time. There's a brewpub in it and the local visitor's bureau, as well as the museum.

Back in the late 1800s, UP put a whale of a lot of money into that depot. At the time, they thought Cheyenne, not Denver, would be the major city and rail center between Chicago and the west coast.

By the time that grand depot was built, there already had been a lot of devastating fires in Cheyenne. What with the extreme wind speed there, duration of below freezing wind chills, and canvas/timber temporary housing and storefronts, any ignition source could quickly wipe out a block or two with rapidly spreading flames. So a non-combustible exterior was needed for something so near the locomotives. I think UP hauled the stone for the depot from northern Colorado.

The depot has been reno'd multiple times, has had bars and restaurants and gift shops there that came and went. Unfortunately, the area where it sits has suffered a number of flash floods, too, so some businesses inside the depot and near it have failed at times when that downtown area was destroyed.

I think eventually UP sold the building to the City of Cheyenne which now leases to the museum foundation and others.

Except for the two weeks of the Frontier Days Rodeo, Cheyenne doesn't get all that much tourism from vacationers intending to stay there. Most of the vacationers are heading to the Black Hills, Yellowstone and the Tetons, or to the Colorado Rockies. So, while they may overnight in Cheyenne, they don't stick around to spend a lot of money. There's been a lot of ideas for museums and such attractions in southeast Wyoming, but there's just not enough local population and tourist traffic to support them for long. Cheyenne's railroad museum is the one seeming exception, likely because of the heavy influence of the rails on Cheyenne's history and present economy.

I've been trying to find stories about the CZ's pass through Cheyenne, but the online editions of the Casper Star-Trib, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, and Denver Post haven't had much, at least not when I've been looking. Or it could be that my search voodoo isn't very powerful this week.

 

[jis]

Back in the 70s the SFZ actually used to go all the way to Cheyenne where it had a 25 minute stop. Been there a couple of times on the SFZ back then. The Borie Amslab came later.

 

[domefoamer]

GG wrote--

I've been trying to find stories about the CZ's pass through Cheyenne, but the online editions of the Casper Star-Trib, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, and Denver Post haven't had much, at least not when I've been looking. Or it could be that my search voodoo isn't very powerful this week.

The Denver Post has been slow and vague on this story, but their second article yesterday was much better. After I wrote them and referenced this site, and the posted photo of the washout at the first tunnels.

 

[jis]

Darn, so now they will be using stuff that we post without acknowledging where they got it from I suppose

 

[getbent]

Shoot, Cheyenne was a United hub back in the 50s. It was a transportation epicenter...until is wasn't.

 

[domefoamer]

Darn, so now they will be using stuff that we post without acknowledging where they got it from I suppose

Perhaps. But they need good sources, and the kind of young kids and overworked generalists I see in journalism these days may not have any sources in the RR industry at all. They might learn something here. If they write about it, and a reader puts "Amtrak" into a search engine, that ought to lead them back here, right? It's all good.

 

[Guinness835]

We are currently westbound on train 5 and I can confirm there are no smoke stops between Denver and Salt Lake City. I'm not a smoker, but if you are that's about 13 hours between breaks. The scenery in Wyoming is more plains, but there are a lot of antelope! Still better than the bus bridge. We left Denver about 9:45 am and are currently near Rock Springs, WY. We're told we will be in SLC about 10:30 pm.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Isn't that current Wyoming 225 the former US Route 30? Or Lincoln Highway?

 

[gmushial]

Isn't that current Wyoming 225 the former US Route 30? Or Lincoln Highway?

Old routing of US-30 (hence why it parallels the tracks) - 'tis the case.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Isn't that current Wyoming 225 the former US Route 30? Or Lincoln Highway?

Old routing of US-30 (hence why it parallels the tracks) - 'tis the case.

Thanks, that what I thought. I love looking back at the old roads to see where they went. I saw that Wyoming 225 continues from the section of US 30 in Cheyenne. I should have driven it back when I lived in DEN, it must be deserted now and a lot more fun than Interstate-80.

Shoot, Cheyenne was a United hub back in the 50s. It was a transportation epicenter...until is wasn't.

A United hub? Didn't they just pack up and move to Denver Stapleton? Back then United has got to be a lot better than now, they used to have Stratocruisers which were considered the top-tier of luxury flying and technology, despite engine problems.

 

[railiner]

Back in the 70s the SFZ actually used to go all the way to Cheyenne where it had a 25 minute stop. Been there a couple of times on the SFZ back then. The Borie Amslab came later.

The SFZ in the '70's when it ran to Cheyenne, was hauled backwards for the 100 or so miles from Denver. Otherwise, they would have had to 'wye' the train at both Denver and Cheyenne. Would have added even more time to the trip. Was quicker to change engines, and/or run them around the train.

When they rerouted to use Borie to serve Cheyenne passenger's, at first there was no station, only the slab. A chartered Greyhound MC-8 would run from the Cheyenne depot to Borie to meet each train, and serve as the 'waiting room'. Not only the passenger's, but the UP/Amtrak station agent would ride to handle the checked baggage. The bus would also make a couple of stops to take coach passengers or sleeper passengers to their boarding location once the train arrived.

 

[railiner]

Shoot, Cheyenne was a United hub back in the 50s. It was a transportation epicenter...until is wasn't.

Not really a 'hub' in the modern sense of hub and spoke operations....back then they ran some 'local' flights across their main line making several 'station stops' like a long haul train or bus...