As of 1887, three different railroads — the Denver & Rio Grande; Denver, Texas & Gulf (later Colorado & Southern); and Santa Fe — had lines from Denver to Pueblo. They competed until 1918, when the federal government temporarily took … Continue reading
In April, 1900, the fastest Burlington and Union Pacific Chicago-Denver trains were speeded up to about 27-1/2 hours. That was a big improvement over 1890, when the fastest trains were over 30 hours, and an even bigger improvement over 1882, … Continue reading
“The handsomest train ever seen in Denver steamed out of the Union Depot at 1:40 o’clock yesterday afternoon and disappeared down the tracks toward the east,” reported the Denver Post on May 4, 1899. “It was the first of a … Continue reading
In 1900, James J. Hill negotiated the purchase of nearly all of the stock of the Burlington Route, half of which was held by the Great Northern and half by the Northern Pacific. This created the co-marketing opportunities for the … Continue reading
The great era of railroad construction was almost over when this map was published. The map shows the Burlington Route as being almost completely built out. The main additional construction was a line from Kirby (near Cody) through Wind River … Continue reading
The Burlington Route made several expansions since the 1885 timetable presented here a month ago. Most importantly, it opened its own line from Chicago to the Twin Cities, ending its reliance on St. Paul Road tracks. In the West, it … Continue reading
Burlington was a very different railroad in 1885 from the one I am familiar with in the mid-20th century. Burlington’s lines to South Dakota, Wyoming, Texas, Kentucky, and even Minnesota were all in the future. Click image to download a … Continue reading
Yesterday’s Colorado Room beverage menu had wild rose and lupin on the cover. Today’s has buttercup, anemone, and fringed gentian, the same as this dinner menu. Click image to download a 230-KB PDF of this menu. This particular menu, however, … Continue reading
Nine years ago, when I presented a beverage menu for the vista-dome Denver Zephyr with a columbine and deer vine painting on the cover, I noted that I had also seen one with wild rose and lupin. I then forgot … Continue reading
These memo timetables show the schedules of the Kansas City Zephyr and American Royal Zephyr along with several unnamed trains that only went from Chicago to Galesburg. They also show connecting trains from Kansas City to St. Joseph — some … Continue reading
