Ritter / O’Brien Inaugural Special – Jan 13, 2007

As part of the inaugural tour of the state by new Colorado Governor Bill Ritter and Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien, Union Pacific ran a passenger special with the two on board between Greeley and Pueblo. Along the route, the train wold be making stops for meet-and-greet events with the newly-elected politicians. Also, seats were open to the public, at a low $300 each. (Honestly, for some seriously rare mileage, that’s probably a bargain.) Feeling a little broke, I figured I’d just photograph it instead, but even that came into doubt when the weather forecast was for snow and overcast skies.

The schedule for the train was published on the Governor’s website as follows:

Saturday, January 13, 2007 – 7:30 a.m.: Passengers arrive at Invesco Field in Denver for bus check-in.
8:15 a.m.: Buses depart Invesco Field for Greeley.
8:30 to 9:30 a.m.: Pancake breakfast at the Greeley Chamber of Commerce/Train Depot, 902 7th Ave.
10 a.m.: Train departs Greeley.
10:45 a.m.: Train arrives in Brighton. Rally at Brighton Depot, 269 E. Bridge St. Event takes place in a tent in the parking lot with outside space heaters to keep participants warm.
11:15 a.m.: Train departs Brighton.
11:30 a.m.: Train arrives in Denver. Visit with Gov. Ritter in the mezzanine level of Union Station and enjoy hot chocolate, coffee and cookies. The 17th Avenue All-Stars acapella group will perform.
12:30 p.m.: Train departs Denver.
2:30 p.m.: Train arrives in Colorado Springs. Event at Giuseppe?s Depot Restaurant, 10 S. Sierra Madre.
3 p.m.: Train departs Colorado Springs.
5:15 p.m.: Train arrives at the Pueblo Union Depot, 132 West B Street. Fireworks display begins.
5:30 to 7:30 p.m.: Reception and spaghetti dinner, Pueblo Union Depot.
7:30 p.m.: Buses depart Pueblo.
9:30 p.m.: Buses arrive back at Invesco Field.

Contrary to weather forecasts from Friday, Saturday was blue and sunny over the Front Range, although bitterly cold. Throughout the day, temperatures hovered in the mid-single digits. So, I headed out with a couple other fans from Colorado Springs around 1020h to go find this unusual move. The train was scheduled to leave Greeley at 1000h and be into Denver for the first whistle-stop event at 1130h. Whether it made it out on time I don’t know, but we made it to Union Station in plenty of time, as the special was 50 minutes down from the schedule upon arrival. The frigid cold hadn’t deterred many from the media or from the railfan community, though, as there were plenty of cameras on hand when the train arrived.

Anticipating problems staying ahead of the train through South Denver and Littleton, we headed down to a spot just north of Sedalia to await its passing. While there had been rumors of the train running the wrong way on the northbound main in order to go around the coal traffic, this was confirmed by finding a stopped coal drag at Louviers. So we staked out a previously-unconsidered spot along the northbound main with a nice long clear section of track and plenty of snow on the ground. Around 1420h, the special arrived, making good speed but even further down from the schedule.

We caught it a few more times between Sedalia and Colorado Springs, but as it was moving right along, that was a bit of a challenge. Even though running 95 minutes late at the Springs, it was still there in time to be seen in the last rays of the sun. There were also a number of buses waiting in front of Giuseppe’s (aka the old depot), so I suspect that some of the passengers may have completed the run on rubber tires so as to make the dinner in Pueblo on time.

For those interested, the consist was, from front to back:

UP 4898 – SD70M
UP 4965 – SD70M
UPP 208 – Power Car
UPP 202 – Cabarton
UPP 200 – Omaha
UPP 7001 – Columbine
UPP 5473 – Portland Rose
UPP 8004 – Colorado Eagle
UPP 4808 – City of Los Angeles
UPP 207 – Power Car
UPP 5468 – Katy Flyer
UPP 7011 – Missouri River Eagle
UPP 9005 – Walter Dean
UPP 102 – St. Louis

So this has nothing to do with the inaugural special - but what else were we going to do to kill time? The special was already nearly 50 minutes late getting into Denver, so we found this KCS SD70ACe on a northbound BNSF at Prospect Jct. — So this has nothing to do with the inaugural special – but what else were we going to do to kill time? The special was already nearly 50 minutes late getting into Denver, so we found this KCS SD70ACe on a northbound BNSF at Prospect Jct.

Arriving at Denver around 1220h after the trip from Greeley. Lead power is UP 4898 and 4965, followed by 10 passenger cars and two power cars.

Into Denver's Union Station with Union Pacific 102 - the St. Louis - bringing up the rear with Gov. Ritter and Lt. Gov. O'Brien on board. — Into Denver’s Union Station with Union Pacific 102 – the St. Louis – bringing up the rear with Gov. Ritter and Lt. Gov. O’Brien on board.

Note the special drumhead mounted to the rear for the occasion. Of course it's rather ironic that this looks like a stylized BNSF SD70MAC on a UP train, but only us train nerds would notice that. — Note the special drumhead mounted to the rear for the occasion. Of course it’s rather ironic that this looks like a stylized BNSF SD70MAC on a UP train, but only us train nerds would notice that.

The man of the day - new Colorado Governor Bill Ritter - heads off the car to go inside for the Denver meet and greet event. — The man of the day – new Colorado Governor Bill Ritter – heads off the car to go inside for the Denver meet and greet event.

Pulled into the track at Union Station with the iconic "Travel by Train" sign in the background. — Pulled into the track at Union Station with the iconic “Travel by Train” sign in the background.

We all figured that getting ahead of it through South Denver and Littleton traffic would be a bit of a pain, so we got our shots and went on south. Don't let the blue sky fool you - temperatures hovered in the single digits all day, and by this shot my face was numb. — We all figured that getting ahead of it through South Denver and Littleton traffic would be a bit of a pain, so we got our shots and went on south. Don’t let the blue sky fool you – temperatures hovered in the single digits all day, and by this shot my face was numb.

We'd heard a rumor that the train would run wrong-way on the northbound main from Littleton to Palmer Lake, but this confirmed it. It's a loaded coal train stopped at Louviers, awaiting helpers from Big Lift. No way they're putting a hot passenger special behind this slug. — We’d heard a rumor that the train would run wrong-way on the northbound main from Littleton to Palmer Lake, but this confirmed it. It’s a loaded coal train stopped at Louviers, awaiting helpers from Big Lift. No way they’re putting a hot passenger special behind this slug.

After some time (mostly spent in the car to stay warm), the special came cruising towards Sedalia around 1420h.

The regular southbound main is pretty easy to shoot at Larkspur, but trains running southbound on the northbound main pose a challenge. I still managed to get the bluff-in-the-background shot, though, just from a different spot. The scenery dwarfs the train, and this scenery is small by Colorado standards!

A slightly different angle at Larkspur. The train is really going at this point, and we won't catch it again until Palmer Lake. — A slightly different angle at Larkspur. The train is really going at this point, and we won’t catch it again until Palmer Lake.

With the backroad between Larkspur and Palmer closed, we rolled into Palmer Lake just ahead of the special. He came through the curve fairly slowly, so the mad dash up the hill wasn't exactly as necessary as we'd initially thought. — With the backroad between Larkspur and Palmer closed, we rolled into Palmer Lake just ahead of the special. He came through the curve fairly slowly, so the mad dash up the hill wasn’t exactly as necessary as we’d initially thought.

A wider shot at Palmer - I couldn't pick between 12 and 13, so you get to suffer through both. — A wider shot at Palmer – I couldn’t pick between 12 and 13, so you get to suffer through both.

The St. Louis (UPP 102) brings up the rear as they start down the grade towards Colorado Springs.

This is a total grab shot at the Monument downtown grade crossing.

Take a good look - the Bijou Street bridge in the background will soon be no more. As part of the freeway expansion, it's being demolished. It's about half gone now, and should be completely down in a week or two. — Take a good look – the Bijou Street bridge in the background will soon be no more. As part of the freeway expansion, it’s being demolished. It’s about half gone now, and should be completely down in a week or two.

Pulling into the Colorado Springs stop at the old depot, now Giuseppe's Old Depot Restaurant. The bad news is that they're about 95 minutes late at this point (scheduled arrival was 1430h, and it actually was 1605h). There were a number of busses out front, so I'm guessing that some passengers may have been bussed to Pueblo to arrive on schedule. — Pulling into the Colorado Springs stop at the old depot, now Giuseppe’s Old Depot Restaurant. The bad news is that they’re about 95 minutes late at this point (scheduled arrival was 1430h, and it actually was 1605h). There were a number of busses out front, so I’m guessing that some passengers may have been bussed to Pueblo to arrive on schedule.

After pulling up a bit from the original stop, they again put down the stepstool for those returning to the train. Note the balloons that were added. The train stopped for a while at North Colorado Springs, so my guess is part of that was to add the balloons and fix the flag-like things on each side.

I couldn't resist photographing this on the side of the CSU power that was sitting in the yard... — I couldn’t resist photographing this on the side of the CSU power that was sitting in the yard…

The sun has just sunk behind Pikes Peak and the special is waiting in the yard, awaiting a much-delayed departure from the Springs.

All photographs in this trip report were taken with a Canon EOS 20D using either a Canon 24-105mm F4 L IS/USM or a Canon 75-300mm f4-5.6 IS/USM.

This work is copyright 2022 by Nathan D. Holmes, but all text and images are licensed and reusable under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. Basically you’re welcome to use any of this as long as it’s not for commercial purposes, you credit me as the source, and you share any derivative works under the same license. I’d encourage others to consider similar licenses for their works.