On Saturday, February 11, a small group of volunteers, Dwight Maxey, Colin Mellin and Paul Brown, arrived at the Museum with one plan in mind, and in typical railroad fashion had a complete change in plans! The original plan was to work on replacing some cross ties in our running track, but due to the main hydraulic pump in our Bobcat tractor biting the dust we were left without our biggest tool. We do use the Bobcat a lot, and it finally gave in. We will now have to get an estimate for the cost of repairs.

OK then, we’ll just jump in the hi-rail tool truck, and roll out to do what we can to get prepared for replacing those ties. Not so fast now! Yep, the truck wouldn’t start, not even cranking. The brand new batteries we installed a few weeks back were flat dead. Break out the battery chargers and try that. Meanwhile we took our lunch break.

After lunch, we did get the truck to start and put it on the list to figure out what is draining the batteries! We also took advantage of the situation to fire up engine 104 to charge its batteries and circulate fluids. And we hooked up the locomotive battery charger to engine 103.

So, not a lost day but not what was planned. We will have to wait to get the prognosis on the Bobcat, and see how long repairs will take. Meanwhile, if you want to learn how to change out cross ties without heavy equipment, let us know and show up to help!

I have included some pictures of the days activities.

– Paul

On Saturday and Sunday, February 4 and 5, Kendall Crouch, Mike Walker, Gustavo Veed, and Paul Brown staffed a table at the TECO Train Show in Colorado Springs. We were invited to set up a table with info at the show, along with other Colorado rail museums and tourist railroads, as part of the show’s theme of “trains you can ride in Colorado.”

Our volunteers spent the time talking with visitors, letting them know about the Museum and what we have to offer to those interested in railroad history. We handed out flyers with information about the Museum, and a schedule of our events for 2023. We gave out over 30 schedules! We were also able to talk with a few visitors that may be interested in volunteering at the Museum. And we were able to speak with members of other museums to see what they are up to for the coming year.

I have included a picture of our table display and a panoramic photo of the show venue. It was kind of difficult to take pictures while talking with visitors!

– Paul

Several volunteers from the Pueblo Railway Museum will be at the TECO train show (Train Expo COlorado), taking place at the Colorado Springs Event Center, at the corner of Academy and Palmer Park Blvd, on Saturday and Sunday, February 4 and 5.

Hours for the show are 10-5 on Saturday, and 10-3 on Sunday. The regular entry fee to attend the show is $10. Because TECO promotes the hobby of model railroading, teens 13-18 are only $5, and kids 12 and under are free. For more information about the TECO train show, click here.

If you are in the Colorado Springs area this weekend, stop by to see all the model trains, and come visit us at our table for a chat with our members!

– Dave

On Saturday, January 28, Dwight Maxey, Colin Mellin, and Paul Brown got a little chilly while making the final material moves in the shop yard, to prepare for some future track construction. We were able to clean up some tie plates that needed organized, then moved a stack of switch points. We also finished moving the diamond crossing to a more long term spot out of the way, and moved some other odds and ends. Our next move regarding the shop yard will be to get rid of trash material and scrap metal. We will be moving on to track repair projects into early Spring if the weather allows. I have include a few pictures of the work today.

Next week, we will once again be taking a break away from the Museum while we man a table at the TECO show at the Colorado Springs Event Center located at Academy Blvd. and Palmer Park St. Drop by to see us and chat, and check out some model railroad activity as well.

– Paul

Unfortunately, Amazon is discontinuing the AmazonSmile program on February 20. Your opportunity to contribute to the PRF through your Amazon purchases is ending much sooner than we hoped!

There is still time for you to take advantage of this opportunity. Click on the banner below, choose the Pueblo Railway Foundation as your designated charity, shop at smile.amazon.com before February 20, and the Amazon Smile Foundation will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to our Museum. No hidden costs or fees, and the price of your Amazon items won’t change.

To get started on AmazonSmile, click on the banner below, start shopping at smile.amazon.com, and thanks for your support!

On Saturday, January 14, Dwight Maxey, Colin Mellin, Kendall Crouch and Paul Brown worked hard to move some more material in the Museum Shop yard, to make way for some future track construction. The group was able to move an old original switch from the M&PP Cog Railroad, a couple of crossing signals, several pallets full of rail material, and a diamond. The diamond was very heavy, and required both the Massey Ferguson and the Bobcat to lift, and some very careful maneuvering to get it moved out of the spot it has sat for at least the last eight years and maybe more.

Today’s work was the last big move of stored material in the shop yard to make way for new track construction. Now we are just waiting for the surveyors to come in and mark up the final line for the track run. Then we can start grading and lay out the ties. Don’t worry though as there is still plenty of track repair work to take care of on our running track to keep the volunteers very busy!

I have include some pictures so you can see what the diamond looks like!

– Paul

The 45 engines of the FEF Series were built for Union Pacific from 1937 to 1944, and were operated by the railroad until 1959.  They pulled passenger trains until the diesels took over, after which the engines were relegated to freight work.  The last steam locomotives built for Union Pacific, these engines represent the pinnacle of steam technology.  They were built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) specifically to address the power limitations of the 4-8-2’s common throughout the U.P. steam passenger fleet.

The engines were divided into three classes, FEF-1, FEF-2, and FEF-3, each represented by an engineering card below.  The only obvious difference between the classes from an outsider’s view is the 12-wheeled tender used by class FEF-1, while the later class tenders had 14 wheels.  Strikes following WWII affected coal supplies, prompting these engines to be converted from coal to fuel oil in 1945-46.

Four of these engines survive today.  #814 (FEF-1) and #833 (FEF-2) are preserved as static displays in Iowa and Utah respectively.  #844 (FEF-3) is operational, running excursion service in Wyoming, with #838 (also FEF-3) serving as “spare parts” for #844. The three engineering cards below are from The James N. Lhotak Digital Exhibition, recently donated to us at the Pueblo Railway Foundation.  We are in the process of posting photos of this collection on our Facebook and Instagram pages, as well as here on our blog.  We invite you to follow us on this journey through railroad history.

On Saturday, January 7, we had a small group of volunteers tackle the task at hand. Dwight Maxey, Colin Mellin and Paul Brown installed new batteries in our hi-rail maintenance truck, and solved the no-start problem. Colin was able to do some testing earlier in the week to determine that the old batteries were done. Since we didn’t spend as much time troubleshooting this issue, we were able to do some other clean-up work on the truck. There were some items under the dash in the cab that needed to be secured, and we did a fast clean-up in there as well. We operated the small crane, and lowered and raised the rail wheels to make sure everything worked. We did find some hydraulic system leaks that we will have to repair in the future, but now we have a maintenance truck that moves and we can use when we do track repairs. I have included a few pictures to show the truck if you are not familiar with this type of vehicle.

– Paul

On Saturday, December 31, we had a small group of volunteers work to remove Christmas lights from our train set, and do a bit of clean up work. Dwight Maxey, Colin Mellin, Tony Gherna, Roberta Elliott and Paul Brown got the lights removed, worked to clean the windows in our cabooses, and cleaned up and organized some track material. A great way to wind up a busy 2022, and get ready for the New Year 2023, where we will be very busy again doing projects and running the occasional trains for our guests.

I didn’t take many pictures today, but have included a few for you to enjoy.

– Paul