Trains in Colorado

We saw a bunch of trains in Colorado Springs. We saw some trains at Monument Valley Park, and then, when the rest of the crew arrived, we decided to have a picnic at a park we had never been to before, America the Beautiful Park. "America the Beautiful" was written in 1893 by Katherine Lee Bates who was teaching at Colorado College in downtown Colorado Springs. The "purple mountain majesties" refers to Bates' trip up Pikes Peak. The park has a fabulous view of those purple mountains.

On the east side of the park are the train tracks. This was pure luck, we didn't know the tracks ran right by the park when we planned the excursion. Several freight trains with hopper cars and tank cars rumbled by while we were there. Grandpa took the boys to see the trains.

After the picnic, we thought, "hey, while we're down here lets go see the train outside of Giuseppe's." Giuseppe's is an Italian restaurant located in the old train station. Taggart poses with the station in the background:

Across the street from the station is Engine No. 168. It's a narrow gauge engine that pulled the first Denver & Rio Grande passenger train from Denver, Colorado to Ogden, Utah on May 21, 1883. The engine ran for 50 years and was retired in 1933. It's a pretty engine, and what's even more interesting is that Nate's grandfather, who grew up in Ogden, could have seen it in action.

Beckett says, "this train runs on coal."

Before we left for our picnic Beckett and Andrew had been playing with playdough and cookie cutters. Beckett was so fond of the train cookie cutter that he just had to bring it along and drive it by the real engine.

Beckett loved the engine so much that he didn't want to leave. (Shocking, I know.)