"For purple mountains majesty”
Back in 2000 on one of my trips to Nebraska, I made
a southern trek to Colorado Springs, Colorado and took the Pike’s Peak cog
railway to the top of said peak. At over 14,200 feet, the view from up there
was spectacular.
Today, I was again looking at the purple mountains
but from a different standpoint. More on that later.
Day eleven began with a quick hop on I-80 to the city
of Laramie, about 45 miles due west of Cheyenne. I truly love to make this trek
when I am out here because this small stretch is one beautiful piece of highway
with matching scenery. The Union Pacific does parallel the Interstate in a few
places but the majority of the line is due south in the hills.
At 75 mph, I caught up with the head so fast that I
was able to pull off the interstate and get a few good pictures. As I have
mentioned in the past, this is mountain railroading and in some places, the
grades can easily get a fast train, like a double stack, down to a crawl-like
pace of about 10 mph. Such was the case when the train caught up to me. It would almost
be an hour later before this train would go speeding thru Laramie less than 35
miles away. Imagine trying to keep speed in a raging snowstorm.
As you head west on I-80, you reach a high point of
8640 feet above sea level before you go down the winding highway with a 5%
grade, which meets that for every 100 feet you travel, you drop 5 feet. And for
any eighteen-wheeler, it means to PLEASE keep your speed in check. One of
Wyoming’s finest was with us this morning doing just that.
I arrive in Laramie and head to my favorite
location: the pedestrian bridge over the Union Pacific yard at the end of Grand
Avenue.
A very long manifest freight is holding in the yard. A few minutes
later, I see the headlight of a double sack. What I thought was UP 8810 West
turned out be a train that was in front of him, UP 8172 West. Still a busy
morning in the yard.
Soon after, I work my way back to Cheyenne and the
Veloster is doing its best to stay at 75. Those 5% grades now going up and east
were taking their effect and I pretty much ran circles around the truckers as they
struggled to make some speed about 60.
About 10 miles out of Cheyenne, I see the village,
if you can call it that, of Buford, now Phen Deli, Wyoming:
From our friends at Wikipedia.Org.:
“Buford, now known after 2013 as PhinDeli, is an
unincorporated community in Albany County, Wyoming, United States. It is
located between Laramie and Cheyenne on Interstate 80. At 8,000 feet (2,400 m)
of elevation, this is the highest populated settlement along the First
Transcontinental Railroad (today's Overland Route) and the transcontinental
Interstate 80. This was originally named Buford (in honor of Major General John
Buford). The name was changed after the town was sold to Vietnamese owners.
“PhinDeli is a commercial promotional name tagged in
2013, by the store-owners to the town of Buford, founded in 1866 during the
construction of the Transcontinental Railroad in Wyoming. At its peak, the town
boasted a population of 2000. In 1900, a post office was built, which closed in
2004.
“Don Sammons moved to Buford in 1980 with his wife
and son. In 1992, he purchased the town.
His wife died in 1995, and his son moved away around 2007, making him
Buford's only resident. However, at a later time, seven residents lived within
the city, but moved away to larger municipalities.
“The town, consisting of a convenience store, gas
station, and modular home on 4 hectares (9.9 acres) of land, was put up for
sale after Don Sammons decided to move closer to his son. The town was put up for auction on April 5,
2012, with the highest bid of $900,000 by two unidentified Vietnamese men.
Later, it was revealed that one of them was Phạm Đình Nguyên.
“One change under the new owners is selling PhinDeli
brand of coffee, imported from Vietnam, in the convenience store.”
I got back in Cheyenne before noon and grabbed some
lunch before heading south to my second destination today. And today, I put
Google Maps to work on my iPad and made the journey to Buckhorn Mountain, home
to the main transmitter site of KUNC out of Greeley, Colorado. From their
website,
“KUNC is a community-licensed public radio station,
operated by Community Radio for Northern Colorado, Inc., a 501 (c) 3, Colorado
non-profit organization. CRNC came into existence in the winter of 2001 when a
group of community volunteers raised $2 million in 20 days to purchase KUNC's
license from the University of Northern Colorado and preserve the station's
independent voice.
“Instrumental in the fundraising campaign were many
members of the KUNC listening community, including the KUNC Advisory Council.
The Council had existed for many years providing community reaction and
guidance to the station staff.
“Following the sale of the station to the community
group, a Board of Directors was elected which oversees the operation of the
station. The KUNC Community Advisory Council continues to provide community
insights to the staff in matters of programming, community service and
fundraising.”
With the exception of a few “no service”
indications, the maps worked flawlessly and I was able to negotiate my way
through the winding roads, particularly the very winding Rist Canyon Road. When
I found Colorado Road 52E, it turned out to be this dirt-gravel road with quite
the grade. After about 5 minutes of slowing making it up the grade, I arrived
at the transmitter site.
Lots of the trees around here and as seen from Rist
Canyon Road are still getting over some bad fires that came through here last
year. Lots of blackened trees. But despite the trees, the views from up there
were just wow:
Once my pictures were taken, it was time to high
tale it out of there. And in 30 minutes, I am back in Bellvue and then heading
west to Denver. And this shot was gorgeous off of Douglas road in Bellvue:
Soon, the Denver skyline is in my view:
And, of course, this blog would not be complete without giving a shout-out to my youngest brother Jay's beloved Denver Broncos who play at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in downtown Denver. Nice job, Peyton, on NBC's Sunday Night Football.
I made it into Littleton, Colorado at about 4pm MDT.
I have dinner plans with an old family friend tonight. I’ll tell you more in
tomorrow’s installation.
Right now, it’s time to turn in after all of this
traveling today. Tomorrow we head back into the Rockies and hopefully make it to
Winter Park, Colorado, home to a great skiing resort and to Moffat Tunnel of
the Union Pacific. Partly sunny skies and 54 degrees. Glad I brought a heavier
jacket. And we’ll meet up with a couple of old ham radio friends. Keep it tuned right here.
I’m Philip J Zocco. On The Road. In Littleton,
Colorado.
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