UP: Steam

UP: Steam

Lysite Wyoming

This is the railhead at Lysite, Wyoming, with photographs also including the J. B. Okie structure, built in 1919.

Lysite is a very small town, although it's seen some rejuvenation recently due to a major natural gas processing plant having been built just outside of town.  It was originally, however, a local agricultural town and it is located quite near Okie's town of Lost Cabin.  Okie had hoped the rail line would go through Lost Cabin, and was disappointed when it did not, but he obviously adjusted and had this structure built near the rail line.  I don't know its original function, but as Okie was a major sheepman, I suspect it was for shipping wool.  Okie had stores in Lysite, Lost Cabin and Arminto as well.

Today this is is a Burlington Northern line.

U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library

U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library

40 Hommes et 8 Chevals

World War One era French boxcar, at American Legion Post in Cheyenne. This boxcar is of the type in which American troops were hauled in World War One, and examples were presented by the French government to American Legion posts after the war.

Union Pacific Big Boy, Cheyenne Wyoming

A Union Pacific roundhouse in Evanston Wyoming.  One of very few left.  This one is now a museum.

Stock Crossing or Railroad Crossing?

The Burlington Northern (CB&Q) in Sherdan, Wyoming

These photographs depict two Burlington Northern depots, or rather former depots, in Sheridan, Wyoming.  The wooden structure is the older of the two, being a 19th Century depot.  It's in private ownership today, and is actually currently for sale.

The brick structure is much later, and it bears a striking resemblance to the BN depot in Casper, Wyoming.  Apparently Burlington Northern depots were built to a standard set of plans. This substantial depot is also no longer a BN depot, but is now a bar and grill in Sheridan.

Also depicted is a decommissioned BN locomotive, built in 1940.

Where the tracks no longer run

This area had tracks up until just recently, although now it's hard to tell unless you walk the ground.  This was the location of a sidetrack serving the Casper Air Base during World War Two. Regarded as a potential asset, as they still lead to the airport grounds up until recently, that feeling obviously no longer exists, and they were recently taken out.

Specialized steam engine, PIke's Peak Colorado

I don't know anything about this small engine, other than that it was on display in 1958 at Pike's Peak, Colorado.  It was obviously built at an angle anticipating being used on steep grades.  This is a cog wheel engine, which basically uses a geared wheel to climb a steep grade.

Union Pacific Terminal, Cheyenne Wyoming

Central Avenue, or what  becomes the South Greeley Highway, has an overpass over the substantial Union Pacific yard in Cheyenne.  This modern railroad terminal features a tower, much like an airport tower, which is bisected by Central Avenue, making the UP tower an island in the automobile traffic.

Union Pacific Rail Yard and Depot, Cheyenne Wyoming

This is the Union Pacific Depot in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  Built in 1887, and renovated and added on to in 1922 and 1929, today it houses a railroad museum and a restaurant.  It remains a major Cheyenne landmark.  These photographs were rather obviously taken fairly early on a March morning.

And this is the Union Pacific roundhouse in the rail yard. The railyard itself is a major Union Pacific rail yard.  The roundhouse is the home to Union Pacific 844, 838, 5511 and UP Challenger 3985, all steam locomotives.

Railhead: Union Pacific Railroad Rail Yard

I recently updated this older entry.  The reason is that I went and scanned the original negatives, rather than the prints, and the old photographs are, therefore, much more clear than they had been previously.

Railhead: Union Pacific Railroad Rail Yard:

Union Pacific, Albany County, 1985

Laramie Wyoming Union Pacific Station

Railhead: Union Pacific Railroad Rail Yard

Updated, depicting a 26 year gap:

Railhead: Union Pacific Railroad Rail Yard: These photographs depict the Union Pacific Railyard in 2112, and 1986. The 2012 photos are cell phone photos, and unfortunately my finger s...

Painted Bricks: Natrona Transfer & Storage Company

This thread was originally posted on our original blog, noted below, but is being reposted here as it shows how this facility, a transfer and storage company, once had direct rail frontage via a sidetrack.

Painted Bricks: Natrona Transfer & Storage Company:

Natrona Storage & Moving Company was a moving and storage company that dated back many decades. Their substantial building was built just off of the Burlington Northern Railroad, which made for easy shipping in the days when the company relied upon horse drawn wagons to move freight.

This building was in use up until quite recently, although it apparently no longer is being used. In recent years, as the "Allied" sign indicates, the company engaged in interstate moving, as well as local moving and storage.
This photograph was added those above were posted. This photos shows the railroad sidetrack that once served this building.

The painted signs on this building are, in fact, no longer there. Since the original photographs were taken, the building was substantially overhauled and no remnant of the original signs now exists.

Retired rail cars, Casper Wyoming

A sidetrack in Casper Wyoming, just off of the Burlington Northern, with retired rail cars.

Rails to Trails, Casper Wyoming

Casper is presently served only by the  Burlington Northern Railroad, whose rail line separates North Casper from the rest of Casper. But this wasn't always the case. At one time, Casper had a second rail provider, that being the Chicago and North Western Railroad.

The North Western line was distinctly different than the BNs.  It ran right through downtown, and did so diagonally.  Additionally it's rail yard, a much smaller yard than the BN's, was more or less in downtown, near an industrial area of downtown.  The rail line was essentially a downtown feature, running right past the Sears store, right next to two banks, and right past the back of the library. And it ran through the town diagonally, bisecting city blocks at an angle, and in some cases making for some oddly shaped small city blocks, one of which became Veteran's Park.  Going west, the rail line ran through what was then the Standard Oil Refinery and out the other end (the refinery no doubt also had connecting lines to the BN.  The line ran all the way to Lander Wyoming and in its early days provided passenger service to Lander.

In Casper, people who like trains got to see them a lot.  People who do not like trains also got to see them a lot.

In the late 80s or early 90s, this rail line pulled out of Casper, and the North Western ceased to exist entirely when the company was purchased by the Union Pacific..  The rails were ultimately pulled, and the line has become a "trail", under the rails to trails program in the Casper area.  It's an extremely long trail, running all the way through downtown Casper, into Evansville, and out of town.  It's several miles in length.  Downtown, such as here near its terminus, it's quite improved, but elsewhere its basically a gravel trail.

These photographs trace the trail in the areas in Casper where it is a concrete walkway, some of which has only recently been created. This basically takes us all the way to the west past Ash Street and all the way to the east to Veteran's Park.  It is only a fraction of the trail, but it's the improved downtown portion of the trail, which makes for a very nice walkway in downtown Casper.  These photographs go from West to East, with photographs looking both directions.  In a way, the viewer sees some scenes that were only visible to those on trains before, but at the same time this section of Casper has been heavily altered since the days the last North Western train ran on the tracks.

This is the western most portion off the trail, looking West down the old railroad bed.  From here, the rail line would have gone another couple of blocks before entering the Standard Refinery, which is now a golf course.

Same location as above, looking East.  This would have been in an old industrial area, just a block or so from the old rail yard.  The rail yard had a small turntable now gone.

Looking west.

Looking towards downtown Casper.

Same location, looking west.

One block further east, looking east.  On the right is the Goodstein Building, which was there during the train days.  Its' a significant downtown office building.  The old Sears building, now a furniture store, is visible to the far left.

From the Goodstein Building, on the right, looking west.

 Looking East from Center Street.  The building on the left is a bookstore now, but was built as a hardware store and was a hardware store when trains ran here.  The tall building to the right in the distance is "the Towers", Casper's first apartment building for senior citizens.  Trains ran for the first two decades of its existence.

 

 Looking West from Center Street, Goodstein Building on right. 

 Same view as immediately above.  The building on the left was a hardware store for many years, but is now a used bookstore.  The building on the right was the train station for this line, but I was not aware of that at the time I took these photographs.

Same view, from across the street.

 One block to the east. This location was where the rail line went right behind a bank, which is still there, and crossed Wolcott Street.  The building to the right was a Safeway for decades, but is now a furniture store.  The building to the left was a large hardware store, but is now a Thai restaurant.  The large building to the rights is The Towers, the first senior citizens home in Casper.

Same location, looking west.

An example of the decorative details of the street lamps, in this case memorializing the rail line.

 Across the street, looking east.

One block to the east.  The Natrona County library is to the left, and has been for many decades.

Another example of a decorative street lamp, this one depicting a hand cart.

Looking east towards the Nicolaysen art museum, the older part of which was the a lumber store, and the foreground was a lumber yard, for much of the time that the rail line ran by here in later years.

View of park near the towers.  This was not a through street when the railroad was still in operation.

Trail near Monument Park.

Trail where railroad once crossed over to Veteran's Park.

Looking west.

View looking south from trail, St. Anthony's Catholic Church in background.