Claude Wiatrowski, with photography by Claude Wiatrowski. Through informative text, sharp color photography, and historical black-and-white images, Railroads of Colorado invites you on a journey from the railroad's humble and hard-won beginnings to its status as a symbol of our past. Railroads of Colorado also includes ideas for exploring Colorado's railways; both the ghosts of long-gone trains that haunt the mountains and the preserved trains whose whistles still echo off those granite peaks. It also contains other helpful information--such as a map showing the routes of more than 30 Colorado rail lines and a "railroad directory," which lists the contact information for 13 operating passenger trains and trolleys.Explores the fascination these improbable railways inspire, providing the history of these unique railroads, the engineering that paved their way into the mountains, and the men who built and ran them.
For over 30 years, I’ve explored Colorado’s mountains searching for remnants of its historic railroads. I wanted to share the best of my photos with you and tell you the story of steel men who drove iron horses through granite mountains. Thousands of miles of old railroad tracks are now dirt roads or hiking trails. The scenery through which these trains ran is exciting enough but I would occasionally stumble on a water tank or station building or other historic artifact. It was 1973 and I stood atop a 10,000-foot mountain pass surrounded by golden Aspen trees separating a light dusting of bright white snow from Colorado’s deep blue sky. A narrow-gauge steam train chugged around the corner as it had since the nineteenth century and stopped in front of me to quench its thirst from an antique wooden water tank. At that moment, I knew I would be moving to Colorado! Fortunately, you and I can still ride many of these historic trains.
If you are looking for interesting vacation destinations, you’ll find them here. If you are a rail fan and not very familiar with the history of Colorado’s mountain railroads, this is the one book you should read. If you are lucky enough to live in Colorado and do not know the story of how railroads opened up the mountains, you’ll find that exciting saga in my book. After you are done reading, come to Colorado to ride its trains and explore its railroad heritage.
