On Colorado Day, August 1st,
in 1938 a crowd gathered in Antlers Park, Colorado Springs, to dedicate a
monument - the retired Denver & Rio Grande Western
Railroad (D&RGW) Steam Locomotive #168 - in honor of the railroads
founder, Civil war General William Jackson
Palmer, who died in 1909.
Rather than sell the Locomotive for $300 in scrap, officials of the
D&RGW approached
the City offering to move it across the street from the train station and erect
it in the Park on a set of Palmer's original narrow-gauge rails that were
imported from Sheffield, England, and placed them on a bed of marble from the
Colorado quarry that produced stone for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Along comes the Cumbres & Toltec
Scenic Railroad (C&TS) that in 1970 formed a heritage railroad partnership operating
steam trains between Antonito, Colorado and Chama, New Mexico.
In March 2015,
the City Council of Colorado Springs approved a lease agreement between the City
and the C&TS Railroad for the restoration of Steam Locomotive #168 for a
new life on tracks it proudly once ran on.
Bernie's Colorado Journeys;
learns about Colorado Springs Steam Engine #168 getting a new lease on life
For everything Bernie’s
Journeys start at Bernie's Colorado Journeys in the official state web site for
Colorado Tourism.
http://www.colorado.com/tours/bernies-colorado-journeys
http://www.colorado.com/tours/bernies-colorado-journeys