ColoradoSeen October 2010

Colorado Seen October 2010

HIGH IRON THE GEORGETOWN LOOP RAILROAD

ALSO: I-76 SPEEDWAY n YOUNG RACERS

Colorado Seen October 2010 IRON HORSEMEN Phil Reader and Don Cummings’ teamwork guide Engine No. 12 through the twists and turns of the Georgetown Loop Railway. 6 HIGH IRON An essay on the textures and tones of the Georgetown Loop depot in Silver Plume. 26 SUMMER’s END at the Speedway On the Colorado Plains, dirt track racers take their last turn around the track for 2010. 32 STARTING YOUNG Dirt track racing is no longer just for grownups. 40 Departments From the Editor 5 Readers comments 5 Out of our past 50 On the cover Engine No. 12 chuffs its way across the Devil’s Gate Bridge westbound to Silver Plume on the Georgetown Loop railway.

At sunset on the final day of the racing season, a sprint car pulls into the pits of the I-76 Speedway in Fort Morgan.

Readers’ comments This is the BEST example of an online magazine I have seen, including some by bigname photojournalists.

And you have managed to publish two consecutive winning issues.That’s more of a milestone than you might at first realize.

Virtually any startup magazine will have a knockout first edition. But many find it difficult to maintain that quality on a regular schedule.Your second issue is at least the equal of the first, maybe a little better.

Bodes well for you.

For those of us who grew up on LIFE magazine and National Geographic, this translates very well indeed.

Tom Mosier

4

As a newer Doll, I am thrilled to see our sport and my new teammates getting so much exposure as well as reaching out to people who have never heard of the Denver Roller Dolls or Roller Derby in general.

People are getting excited about our sport, about our girls and our bouts.

The article really explains the sport of roller derby, which can

get confusing as one watches the bout.

I also appreciated how you gave a small history lesson in the sport and how its revived and made a come back through the Denver Roller Dolls.

Thanks for featuring the DRD!

From the Editor Once is happenstance.Twice is coincidence.The third time, it’s enemy action.

— Auric Goldfinger to James Bond, 007.

Goldfinger had it right. One can get lucky once or twice, but three times means something serious is happening.

I don’t know that ColoradoSeen constitutes ‘enemy action’ — ­ but we did get down in the trenches to cover the Lindsay C. Woltz subjects in our third issue.

You can almost smell Interesting the dirt-track dust, interface. locomotive oil, steam But I don’t much and engine grease that like the simulated fold filled our notebook, in the middle of the — literally. spread, fake reflections We’ve tweaked and all. the format slightly, It is not good for both to improve the pictures. the text size and readability Lars Berquist on a wider range of screens, and to better Stockholm, balance the cropping of vertical and Sweden horizontal pictures.

Enjoy!

Excellent Andy, I’ve added ‘Colorado Scene’ to my favourite websites list!

Steve Barnett

Derbyshire, UK Very nice concept and execution.

I will look forward to watch how ColoradoSeen evolves as I believe this sort of grassroots publishing will be a new way forward.

Mark Tomalty

Montreal, Canada

Colorado Seen A monthly internet magazine Editor & Publisher Andrew Piper We welcome comments and letters. Submit them to: coloradoseen@comcast.net To submit work or story ideas for consideration, send an e-mail to: coloradoseen@comcast.net If you would like to advertise in ColoradoSeen, send an e-mail to coloradoseen@comcast.net for information on rates and interactive links.

Copyright © 2010 ColoradoSeen

IRON HORSEMEN

Right hand on the brakes, left hand on the Johnson Bar, Engineer Phil Reader eases No. 12 down the 3.5-percent grade from Silver Plume to Georgetown.

Teamwork in the cab keeps the Georgetown Loop Railroad’s steam locomotive on track

“I

’m learning a new engineer,” says Don Cummings.

“This is our first run together.”

Cummings is working as fireman in the cab of No. 12, a steam locomotive on the Georgetown Loop Railroad’s scenic run between Silver Plume and the Devil’s Gate depot near Georgetown, Colorado.

And what he is learning is the working style of his new partner, engineer Phil Reader, for it is Cummings’ responsibility to deliver the heat and steam pressure Reader needs to drive the train smoothly and efficiently.

It is a delicate interaction between two men — and what often seems like eight hands, flying over the levers and valves of old No. 12.

“Sometimes I’m doing three things at once,” says Cummings.

Especially on this run.

I

t’s only two miles from Silver Plume to Georgetown. But there is a 640-foor

Stor y & Pictures by Andy Piper

The Georgetown Loop Railroad’s locomotive No. 12 gets ready to start a working day.

Originally built for a railroad in Hawaii in 1928, the 2-62 (six driving wheels, with two smaller wheels front and back) weighs about 65 tons including her oil-andwater tender, and produces 15,411 pounds of tractive effort.

No. 12 boils off about 1,000 gallons of water on each trip.

Opposite, engineer Reader tops up the water tank in Silver Plume.

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Reader hoses down the tender that carries No. 12’s fuel oil and 1,600 gallons of water.

difference in elevation. A straight track would have to climb a continuous grade of over 6 per cent. So when the rails for this section were laid in the early 1880’s, they followed a twisting route of switchbacks — and one complete loop, from which the line gets its name — that total three and a half miles of gentler grades averaging three percent.

But even a three percent grade is a tough haul, and if the wheels slip, Cummings and Reader have to work fast, dropping sand, downshifting the Johnson Bar, and redirecting steam pressure before the suction of the cylinders pulls the fire right out of the firebox.

I

t’s a long way from the cane fields of Hawaii to the canyons of the Continental Divide. 3200 miles. 9,118 feet. A half-dozen rebuilds. And 82 years.

But that’s been No. 12’s journey.

Originally build by the Baldwin locomotive works for the Kahului Railroad in 1928, the little 2-6-2 narrowgauge locomo➤ Page 22

Silver Plume

Georgetown

Fireman Don Cummings sits in his cab window, above.

Opposite, engineer Reader is wrapped in steam as No. 12 waits for her return run to Silver Plume

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Fire in the hole The firebox glows orange as engineer Reader, right, works his throttle, brakes and Johnson Bar to control the locomotive’s thrust. The Johnson Bar acts like a car’s gears, controlling the steam valves feeding the piston cylinders to deliver long powerful puffs for acceleration, short efficient puffs for cruising, and even reversing the valves for backing up.

Fireman Cummings, above, adjusts fuel flow, and blower and atomizer pressures in a delicate dance to deliver just the right amount of steam the engineer needs. “Sometimes I’m doing three things at once.”

A spatula hanging from the boiler face, right, is a tradition on Georgetown Loop engines. “You could grill a steak on the firebox,” says Cummings.

Below, Cummings prefers to heat his lunch on the manifold atop the boiler that distributes steam pressure to brakes and other systems.

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In the golden glow of an aspen grove, Reader strikes a classic engineer’s pose as he oils the running gear that delivers power to No. 12’s six driving wheels.

The “loop” of the Georgetown Loop is formed by the High Bridge at the Devil’s Gate, where the railroad crosses itself as well as a highway and the gorge of Clear Creek to gain 95 feet of elevation.

From the High Bridge, Georgetown can be seen nestled in a valley at the mouth of the Devil’s Gate carved by Clear Creek, center.

tive hauled produce and passengers on the island until 1966.

“Some call her the ‘Pineapple Princess,’ but I’m not sure she ever hauled a pineapple in her life.

Mostly sugarcane,” says Eric Dowty, Asst.

Operations Manager for the railroad.

L

The trip from the Devil’s Gate back to Silver Plume begins with a run under the High Bridge. A few minutes later, the train completes the loop by going 22 across the High Bridge. opposite.

ike his engine, Reader is also a sea-level import to Colorado. He grew up, and learned railroading, near Santa Cruz, California.

As engineer, Reader is responsible for the throttle, the brakes, the transmission-like Johnson Bar, a sand valve to improve traction - and the whistle.

“I learned my whistle etiquette from Southern Pacific crew,” he says.

“In built-up areas, you just do what the job requires. But out here, I play it up a little. The whistle is part of the experience.”

He hauls on the cord, and grins as the whistle echoes one more time among the rock walls of Clear Creek and the Devil’s Gate. n

‘Running on the trees,’ engine No. 12 pulls its load into the Big Fill switchback about halfway through its return from Devil’s Gate to Silver Plume. n

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HIGH Iron Restored in 1985, the Silver Plume depot of the Georgetown Loop Railroad abounds with the textures and materials of the 19th Century.

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Steel cables hold the silvery spout of the water tank out of the way of engines until needed, while an iron chain and handle control the flow. Rolling stock is clothed in textures of old wood and fading paint.

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A chalk-dusted blackboard records the railroad timetable above an antique office chair. Telegraph insulators perch on the crossbeams. Chains and a replica sign direct passengers to the correct platform.

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SUMMER’S END AT THE Pictures by Andy Piper

SPEEDWAY

On a late-summer evening, Sport Modified cars race at a rural I-76 Speedway outside Fort Morgan, Colorado.

Fort Morgan

“Dirt is for racing — asphalt’s for getting there. Mud decorates a car grill after a race.

Under a fingernail moon, a spectator watches races from the pit fence.

A LateModel class custom‑built car lines up for a race.

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Stripped to the bare essentials of power and control, Bob Goetschel’s Sport Modified car catches the setting sun while running practice laps.

Butch Speicher, owner of the I-76 Speedway, addresses drivers before the racing begins on the last night of the 2010 season.

T here is not much to distinguish Sean

McFarland from the other racers at the I-76 Speedway.

He drives a Hornet-class 4-cylinder Chevy Cavalier, stock except for the gutted interior and roll bar.

He wears a full safety helmet, left. Both of which have come in handy, since he’s also rolled his car once.

He usually finishes somewhere in the middle of each race.

But there is one difference. Off the racetrack, he can’t drive legally for another four years.

Sean is 12, just one of several kids at the track who are. . .

Sean McFarland, 12, slips through the rollcage of his Chevy Cavalier Hornet-class race car.

Starting Young

Sean strikes a standard driver pose with his car and friends Alex Kahler and Austin Krosko, both 11.

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Lauren Slack, 8, runs her own races on a makeshift oval track of authentic dirt in the pits. That’s when she is not working as crew for her father, Mark, by rolling a blown tire to the service shack for patching, left.

At right, Lauren rescues a wayward model dragster from her dad’s hood as the cars are called to the track.

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Lauren Slack’s older brother Ryan, 10, also helps dad in the pits, replacing a wheel by lantern light as the evening grows late.

Next year, he will likely drive a race car of his own.

“I just got texted by a chick in the stands!”

Rick Kees

Direct communication with fans is nothing unusual for today’s young drivers, raised on cell phones.

Rick Kees, 19, drives a Hornet in the same class as 12-year-old McFarland. He hopes to move up to a bigger car.

Kees negotiates with pit neighbor Karin Slack, who wants to buy his Hornet-class car for her sone Ryan (see previous spread) to drive next season, as fellow Hornet competitor McFarland and friends hang out.

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Alas, a collision in the final race puts Kees into an ambulance, left, for observation, But Kees is more worried about the condition of his car than his headache and dizziness. Maybe the sale is off?

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The pits now empty until next year, Kees works late to replace a bent wheel while he waits for a tow truck.

The damage is minor, so the Slacks still want to buy the car. n

Out of our past: October 7, 2000

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Native American activist Russell Means speaks to the press on the steps of the Denver City & County Building after leading a demonstration against the city’s first Columbus Day parade in nine years.

Andy Piper/ColoradoSeen

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