Edge of the Burlington Northern Yard, Casper Wyoming

 

Industrial History: BNSF coal train derailment north of Pueblo, CO, ki...

Industrial History: BNSF coal train derailment north of Pueblo, CO, ki...: ( Satellite ) I quit documenting derailments because they are too frequent. But this one is special for two reasons: it had a fatality (truc...

Lex Anteinternet: September 27, 1923. Disaster at Cole Creek.

Lex Anteinternet: September 27, 1923. Disaster at Cole Creek.: 

September 27, 1923. Disaster at Cole Creek.

Today In Wyoming's History: September 27: 1923  Thirty railroad passengers were killed when a CB&Q train wrecked at the Cole Creek Bridge, which had been washed out due to a flood, in Natrona County.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

It was a horrific event.

Flooding had taken out the railroad bridge over Cole Creek near Casper Wyoming, which was unknown to the railroad.   The night train to Denver approached the bridge on a blind curve, and the headlights detected its absence too late to stop the train.  Half of the people on the train were killed.

It's the worst disaster in Wyoming's railroad history.

Friday, September 28, 1923. The terrible news.

The news of the prior day was in the paper, much of it horrific locally.

Saturday, September 29, 1923. Mandates and Floods.

The British Mandate for Palestine went into effect, as did the French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon.

With this, the British Empire, and I'd guess French Empire reached their maximum territorial extents.

The grim news kept coming in on the recent Cole Creek disaster.

Apparently the floods occured almost everywhere in Wyoming, and into Nebraska.

Towns and Nature: Gillette, WY: 1907 CB&Q Roundhouse and Water Tower

Towns and Nature: Gillette, WY: 1907 CB&Q Roundhouse and Water Tower: ( Satellite , the roundhouse was removed by 1970. There are no obvious remnants.) Note the water tower on the left. The building with the de...

Billings Montana Railyard

These photos depict, from a distance, the Billings Montana Railyard.  The vintage station is visible in the photo above, on the far left, and the following photo goes from that point, to the right.

Billings is served by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

Closer photograph of the station.

 

Lex Anteinternet: Burlington Northern to layoff 130 and to close two...

Lex Anteinternet: Burlington Northern to layoff 130 and to close two...:

Burlington Northern to layoff 130 and to close two maintenance facilities in Wyoming.

The facilities are in Rozet and Guernsey.  

The slow down in the economy is being cited for the reason, brought about by the COVID 19 pandemic. Combined with that, the BNSF heavily relies upon coal hauling, which has been in decline with the decline in coal.

Suffice it to say, bad news for the employees and for the state as well.

Stop at Powder River.

The Burlington Northern stops frequently near Powder River Wyoming. 

Not at a station. There isn't a station anymore, but just before the small town.  This long coal train was resting there when we went by the other day.

Abandoned Chicago & Northwestern line, Powder River, Wyoming

This is an unusual picture if you know what you are looking at.  In the distance, you can see an abandoned Chicago & Northwestern rail bed.  The line provided rail service from Casper to Lander starting in 1906, but its fortunes declined when it lost the U.S. Mail freight in 1943.   Shortly after that the Chicago & North Western began to run on the Burlington Northern line between Casper and Shoshoni, which still exists and most of the rail pulled.  In 1972 the portion of the rail between Lander and Shoshoni was abandoned for the most part, although a small local line still runs in the Shoshoni area.

This photograph not only shows the 1906 to 1943 rail bed, but also part of the original state highway that has been moved here and there in favor of a better road grade, as well as the current highway.   The old highway is to the right, the new one to the left.  The Burlington Northern is just a few miles to the north, but of course can't be seen in this south facing photograph.

This photo has made me realize how many rail locations I pass by all the time and haven't posted here.  This entire line is one I frequently encounter and could have posted long ago, and its not the only one.

Burlington Northern, Wind River Canyon, Wyoming.

These are photographs of the Burlington Northern as it runs through the Wind River Canyon, or rather at the head of the canyon.   The canyon is fairly long and the rail line, and the State highway, run throughout its length.

Transportation juxtaposition

BNSF rail tunnels on left, Wyoming Highway Department tunnels on the right.

Wind River Canyon, Wyoming.

Lonely rail, Natrona County Wyoming

Taken, of course, from one of rail's competitors, a commercial airliner.

Union Station, Denver Colorado

Union Station as viewed from in front of Denver's Oxford Hotel.

 

This is Denver's Union Station.  This large railroad station was built in 1914 and was called Union Station as a predecessor station connected  the Union Pacific, the Denver & Rio Grande Western, the Denver, South Park & Pacific, and the Colorado Central.  This 1914 terminal connected the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe, the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy, the Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific, the Colorado & Southern, the Union Pacific, and the Denver & Rio Grande Western.  The new 1914 station incorporated part of the previous 1881 depot.  Today the station serves Amtrak and Denver's local RTD area commuter rail.

Construction is ongoing at the terminal as RTD is expanding and a substantial hotel is being added to the terminal.

I recently was in downtown Denver and had the opportunity to take some additional photographs of the now rebuilt station.  It's pretty impressive.

 

Quite impressive and very well done.

Caboose on display, Thermopolis Wyoming.

This is a Burlington Northern caboose on display as the Thermopolis Historical Museum.

Frankly, I don't know what to think of a display like this.  The caboose is no doubt relevant to the history of Thermopolis, but it's stuffed in a little yard that's jam backed with all sorts of old stuff of all types.  All of which is no doubt relevant to the history of the town, but with a display so packed, the appearance is not attractive and the message doesn't come through.

Burlington Northern Station, Thermopolis Wyoming

The former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy station in Thermopolis, which now belongs to the Burlington Northern.  I don't know the age of this station, but as all BN stations were built basically to a set plan, chances are that almost all of these that have this appearance were built at the same time.

While this is the first time a Thermopolis railroad feature has been featured here, the photo that appears at the top of this blog depicts Thermopolis in earlier times.

Some Gave All: James Bridger's Ferry (Orin Junction Railroad Bridge).

We recently posted this item on our monuments blog on James Bridger's Ferry.

We repost this item here, due to the last photograph in this set, which demonstrates how locations that were fords, become later crossings for railroads and highways.  Quite a tribute to instinctive engineering, being followed as it is sometimes by actual engineering.

This is one of Wyoming's many roadside monuments that's not longer really road side.

This monument is on the old highway that ran from Orin Junction to Wheatland.  When the Interstate was built, Orin Junction was bypassed and for that matter, the Interstate zips through, not into, Wheatland.  Many such monuments exist, a few of which are now completely marooned.  This one commemorates Jim Bridger's ferry across the North Platte River, which was placed in 1864.

A Burlington Norther Railroad Bridge, which itself isn't youthful, very near where the ferry once was.

The Coal Train

Lex Anteinternet: Travelling through (on) time.

Lex Anteinternet: Travelling through (on) time.: I recently had the occasion to ride in a Ford Trimotor airplane. Ford Trimotor at the Natrona County International Airport. Even ...

Burlington Northern Depot, Casper Wyoming

 

This is the Burlington Northern Depot in Casper Wyoming.  It was built in 1916, which would place this building solidly in the era of the petroleum and livestock fueled economic boom that happened in Casper during World War One.

The following photographs were taken in June 2015 from a Ford Trimotor airplane.