33. Still Denver

Day 33:  Friday, July 24, 1981
Denver

I didn't sleep very well last night.  It was hot and humid, and I'm not used to sleeping inside.  The two bottles of Coke I had shortly before bedtime probably didn't help, either.

Anyway, I awoke at 6:00, out of habit.  I tried to sleep in, but it was no use.  Everyone has to wake up at 7:30 in this hostel, anyway.

The screen in the front door had been broken out, so I chose its repair as my morning duty.  Actually, it will suffice as three days' duty.  I worked on it for three hours this morning, and I'm still not done.

The famous Consolidation 346.
Built for D&RG 1881.
Wrecked in 1936 in runaway on Kenosha Pass.
Rebuilt by CB&Q RR.

 Jack stayed around the hostel today, while Rick and I took the bus to Golden, west of Denver, to tour the Colorado Railway Museum.  Although they don't have much land, it was an impressive exhibit, concentrating on Colorado's narrow-gauge railroads, such as the Denver & Rio Grande and the Colorado Southern.



 

I built a model of this caboose.

The inside of caboose 0404

They had Rio Grande Southern caboose 0404 - I built a model of that caboose two years ago!  They also have one operating narrow-gauge locomotive, another under restoration, galloping goose No. 2 from D&RGW, quite a bit of rolling stock, and three trolley cars.  Very interesting.  We spent almost four hours there.

Working on the railroad

On the way back to the hostel, Rick and I stopped at an arcade and squandered $5 on pinball and electronic games.

Jack fixed supper this evening while I worked on the screen door.  We had pork chops in tomato sauce with mashed potatoes.  Just like home.


Guy's bike was stolen today.  He was visiting the Museum of Natural History when it happened.  His lock had been stolen in Missoula, and he didn't think anyone would steal the bike, because it had a 28-inch frame that was too big for most people to ride (Guy is 6'8").  We don't know yet whether he'll be able to continue the trip with us.