After a couple of days in Denver, it was back on the train and the continuation of my journey on the California Zephyr. The next day and a half or so would treat me to some of the more beautiful scenery on the rails. This next part covers the portion of the Zephyr from Denver to roughly Salt Lake City. The portion that goes through western Colorado is really nice.
As I said before, they are in the process of renovating the Denver Station so they are using a temporary station. This is a shot of the train as we get ready to board.
The Denver rail yards is a major hub for the BNSF railroad.
The BNSF railroad stands for the Burlington-Northern-Santa Fe railroad and is a merger of the Chicago-Burlington and Quincy, Great Northern and Atchison-Topeka-Santa Fe Railroads. It is the second largest railroad in the country. The railroad itself dates all the way back to 1849 with the creation of the Aurora Railroard which eventually grew into the CB &Q. The ATSF was formed in 1859.
Denver is also a major hub for the Union Pacific Railroad which is the largest in the country. This railroad was incorporated in 1862 and was one of the railroads involved in the golden spike.
These engines are operated by the Union Pacific but are still in the livery of their former names. The Rio Grande was the original owner of the Zephyr line. The Denver Rio Grande and Western was incorporated in 1870. It originally used narrow gage rail to cut costs and construction times. It went from Denver to El Paso. In 1996, it merged with the Union Pacific.
The Southern Pacific was founded in 1865 as a land holding company. It eventually acquired the Central Pacific. It was taken over by the Rio Grande in 1988.
Looking down a valley from the mountains.
Looking at another valley. One of the things I find pretty cool about Colorado is the mountains.
Another mountain.
I'm not sure what river this is but I think it may be a tributary of the Colorado.
Looking at the side of another mountain.
I was amazed to still see snow on the mountains.
There was still a bit of fog an mist as we were leaving. I kind of liked the effect, so I took a picture of it.
A snow covered mountain.
This is as we were stopped in Fraser, Colorado. Fraser is the stop for the Rocky Mountain National Park.
This train was pretty amazing. It had three engines at the front, three in the middle and two in the back.
I thought this mountain was pretty neat. I liked the red rocks.
I believe this is the Colorado River. I didn't see too many rafters on the river this time so didn't get any surprises.
Another shot of the Colorado River.
Looking through another valley.
I really liked this shot for the contrast. The nice blue sky, the red rocks in the foreground, the darker mountain in the background with the snow caps.
Another shot of the Colorado River. We followed the Colorado River for a long time.
I kind of liked the look of this bridge. One of the annoying parts about taking the train is that I can't stop when I see something I like.
Another mountain.
A canyon. I really like this shot.
Another shot that I like.
This is a shot of Glenwood Springs as we stopped again.
A shot of the train station in Glenwood Springs. It looks like they restored the old train station which is nice as so many of the stations are not.
I kind of liked the looks of this mountain.
I believe this is in Eastern Utah. You can see the snowcapped mountain off in the distance.
As it was getting later.
Sunset over Utah. I didn't have a good shot of the train station in Salt Lake City though.
Fantastic!
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