Happy Veteran’s Day and thank you to all in this group who served our country!

On Saturday, November 11, the volunteers who worked today really covered a lot of ground on our projects. Dwight Maxey, Colin Mellin, Kendall Crouch, Reid Adams, Gary Carter, Polly Cotton, Dannis Hudson and Paul Brown all just kept going to get work completed. Gary Carter swung by with his welder and repaired the hinges on the battery compartment doors on Engine 104. Kendall, Colin, Dannis and Paul tackled the work to upgrade how we can attach our decorations to our cabooses. They removed old wires used in the past, and designed and installed a more secure wire and attachment point to which we can improve the method of how the decorations attach to each car. Polly and Reid, with some help from Dannis, started work inside our cabooses, to redo and update the decorations for the upcoming Christmas events. Dwight could be found checking on the battery charging on Engine 104, as well as installing a different power supply for the cab radio.

Towards the end of the day, we were able to check the batteries on the locomotive and had an unsuccessful cranking. Everyone in the group pitched in to attach the jumper cables from the batteries on the ground, and we finally got a successful start on Engine 104. We let the engine run for about an hour to recharge the batteries (we hope), and to warm up and circulate oil and coolant in the engine. We will have to attempt to start the locomotive a few more times over the next week or so to know if we have gained ground on our battery issue.

Also, want to mention John McDowell, the guy who designed and decorated our excellent Haunted Railcar, who is installing the Christmas lighting and decorations over in the collection area by our Gift Shop behind the Union Depot on B Street. Every year, he spends many hours making sure that our rail cars have the Christmas spirit.

These pictures only give a glimpse of the amount of work done today at the Pueblo Railway Museum.

– Paul

On Saturday, November 4, volunteers Dwight Maxey, Colin Mellin, Bruce Davis, Bryan Tong, Richard Doell and Paul Brown stayed busy finishing the caboose power wiring project, by adding some attachment brackets to the cables, installing box covers, and performing another live test with the generator. All wiring and outlets tested good, and the crew then installed an exhaust extension on the generator, so it could be installed with the start controls facing the outside of the car. In the meantime, Colin was working to revamp our battery connections on our Hi Rail truck. This had to be done to stop a drain on the batteries while the vehicle sits for extended times.

After a short break for lunch, the crew reassembled to work on checking the batteries on Engine 104. The unitized batteries installed in the locomotive had all cells checked with a hydrometer to help determine the condition of the battery. We also worked on the set of batteries removed last month to be able to determine if we can use those for a back up “jump” battery. All these checks showed that we need to recharge both battery sets for an extended period, which we will try to have done during the week. Stay tuned for more work to be done with the batteries next week.

I was able to catch a few pictures of the action which are attached here.

– Paul

On Saturday, October 28, the Museum hosted our Halloween event, which attracted 66 caboose riders and 25 locomotive riders, and some smaller goblins who got to ride for free! Thanks to volunteers Ron Roach, Maureen King in the ticket office, John McDowell for creating another spooky and Haunted Railcar, and Dwight Maxey, Justin Cesar, Colin Mellin, Reid Adams, Tyler Seeley, Dannis Hudson, Bryan Tong, and Paul Brown, for getting the train set ready for operation, and keeping it on the rails for the event. All the folks riding the train were smiling, and there were a lot of people seen leaving the Haunted Railcar screaming!!

Earlier in the day, the crew was at the shop getting last minute work completed on the caboose set for power, and wrapping up the battery swap in Engine 104. Unfortunately, we could not get Engine 104 started in time, so our “Pumpkin” locomotive had to be left behind, while The Patriot, Engine 102 stepped in to keep everything moving. This work made for a long day that stretched a full 12 hours for many. It is fun though and most of the volunteers were happy to be doing something they love to do…play with BIG trains!

I have included a few pictures of the work done early in the day, and a rare photo of Engines 102 and 104 coupled together, as we had to move 104 out to another track to get it out of our way.

– Paul

Come to the Pueblo Railway Museum on Saturday, October 28, for a ride on the Cemetery Express! Our special Haunted Caboose is ready for you to enter if you dare! This event will take place from 4PM to 8PM behind the Pueblo Union Depot. Train ride tickets are $15 for a ride in the engine, and $10 for a ride in one of the cabooses. Children under 3 ride the train free! Cash or check only, please. Train ride tickets can only be purchased during the event. Purchase your tickets at our Gift Shop, a converted caboose behind the Depot, near where the trains depart. Each train ride is approximately 20 minutes, so there will be multiple opportunities during the event to ride the train.

Steel City Café will be catering this event, providing tasty food choices for our visitors. The food cost is extra and is not included in the train ticket price.

There is no admission fee to attend the event itself. Charges are only for the train rides, or for purchases from Steel City Café.

For a list of all of our planned events in 2023, click here.

To receive news about our upcoming events, follow our blog. Enter your email address on the bottom of this web page and click the “follow” button.

On Saturday, October 21, Dwight Maxey, Bruce Davis, Colin Mellin, Dannis Hudson, Reid Adams and Paul Brown continued work on installing new power wiring on our caboose set and to change the batteries on Engine 104. A good part of the day was spent connecting the wiring installed on the cabooses, with Bruce and Dannis doing the grunt work, while Dwight directed the action. Paul completed the battery box cleanup work, and made the needed supports to hold the new batteries in Engine 104. In the meantime, Reid was assisting a crew from Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation, to swap some parts on Engine 2912. The PRM is helping Kentucky Steam get their operating steam engine back in service with the parts swap.

A lot of work was accomplished, but a few of us returned Sunday to get the work done. Dwight, Bruce, Reid and Paul worked a good portion of the day to complete the wiring on the cabooses, and to install the batteries into Engine 104. We also gave a bit of assistance to Kentucky Steam once again. When the crew ended work Sunday, we had tested the new power circuits, and cleaned up the tools and trash from the work completed.

I have included a few pictures of the weekend’s work.

– Paul

On Saturday, October 14, volunteers Dwight Maxey, Colin Mellin, Dannis Hudson, Reid Adams and Paul Brown worked to install electric cables under our cabooses, and to clean up the battery boxes on Engine 104. After stretching out the cable and cutting to length, Colin and Dannis teamed up to work on one caboose, and Dwight and Reid tackled the others. Paul got stuck cleaning out the rusty metal and dirt from Engine 104’s battery compartments. Good progress was made on both projects but we still have lots to do.

I have included some photos of today’s work to illustrate the work done and show the hard work our volunteers do to keep things running at the Museum.

– Paul

On Saturday, October 7, volunteers Dwight Maxey, Colin Mellin, Bruce Davis, Dannis Hudson and Paul Brown jumped on both of our scheduled projects. Dwight and Bruce concentrated on mounting junction boxes under our cabooses, to prepare for the power wire from our generator. These boxes will allow us to distribute the power from car to car, and provide the power for interior lights and exterior decorations. Meanwhile, Colin, Dannis and Paul concentrated on removing the cranking batteries from Engine 104. This required removing access doors, and unbolting the large cables from each battery. We were then able to lift the batteries out with the Bobcat. This is half the work required on this project. Next, the battery boxes need to be cleaned up, and flooring repaired to support the replacement batteries.

Following a quick lunch break, the whole group moved over to our display steam engine AT&SF 2912, to look at some things that our friends in Albuquerque with AT&SF 2926 had some questions about. This required climbing into the firebox of the locomotive. After this task was complete, we went back to Engine 104 to clean up from the day’s work.

Watch here next week for continuing work on this important project. I have included a few pictures to show the work completed today.

– Paul

On Saturday, September 23, Colin Mellin, Justin Cesar, John McDowell and Paul Brown did a little reshuffling of equipment to get things ready for next month’s Halloween event and other fall events. After getting engine 104 running after the summer off, the crew coupled up to the Haunted Railcar, and moved it out of the shop area over to the depot tracks. John McDowell, the creator of the Haunted Railcar, will be working to get this year’s frightening experience tuned up just right. After the car was in place, the crew rearranged the cabooses to line up following engine 104. This required using the Trackmobile to make the “run around” move. We then parked the equipment and took a lunch break.

After lunch, Colin, Justin and Paul headed out to make some repairs to one of the switches on the track leading into the shop. They did a bit of work to secure the points better when the switch is thrown. The crew tied up and headed home after a very nice first day of Fall.

I have included a few pictures of the equipment switching moves we made.

– Paul

On Saturday, September 16, the Museum hosted a train ride event to celebrate going Back to School! Volunteers Ron Roach, Maureen King, Dwight Maxey, Kendall Crouch, Colin Mellin, John McDowell and Paul Brown entertained about 70 guests with a short train ride in very pleasant weather, almost like Fall. We did see a bunch of children who seemed to be thrilled they were riding a train and not in the classroom! It was busy enough that I was only able to get a few pictures on a break between trips.

Please mark your Calendars for our next event, the Cemetery Express, on October 28, the Saturday before Halloween, and don’t forget we do three train ride events leading up to Christmas in the month of December. At this time, we don’t have an event scheduled for November.

– Paul

Enjoy a train ride on our red, white, and blue “Patriot” engine! This event is Saturday, September 16, from 11AM to 3PM behind the Pueblo Union Depot. Train ride tickets are $15 for a ride in the engine, or $10 for a ride in one of our three cabooses. Children under 3 ride free! Cash or check only, please. Train ride tickets can only be purchased during the event. Purchase your tickets at our Gift Shop, a converted caboose behind the Depot, near where the trains depart. Each train ride is approximately 20 minutes, so there will be multiple opportunities during the four-hour event to ride the trains.

There is no admission fee to attend the event itself. The charge is only for the train ride.

For a list of all of our planned events in 2023, click here.

To receive news about our upcoming events, follow our blog. Enter your email address on the bottom of this web page and click the “follow” button.