Denver > Cheyenne Tourist Train

[Red_Squirrel]

I've wondering if anyone here has ever ridden or heard much about the Denver > Cheyenne tourist steam trains that run during Cheyenne Frontier Days?

The Denver Post runs a return trip Denver > Cheyenne > Denver, one day only. This year on Saturday, July 21.

Ticket prices for this year aren't up yet, but I think they were around $250 last year. That includes return trip (3-4 hours each way), front seats at the rodeo, and various meals during the day.

http://www.cfdtrain.com/CFDTrain/Welcome_2012.html

The following day, the Cheyenne Depot Museum runs a trip from Denver to Cheyenne. It's $130, though one-way only and without the trimmings.

http://www.cheyennedepotmuseum.org/plaza-event/2012-steam-train-excursion

I wonder if this would be something worth doing? Not sure there would be much scenery between Denver and Cheyenne, but it's a part of the country you won't normally get to see by rail, and the steam engine looks cool

 

[RSG]

IMHO, there is just as much scenery between Denver & Cheyenne as there is most places that Amtrak goes. True, you probably wouldn't see photos of that route published in, say, Amtrak timetables or promotional materials; but then most of the routes Amtrak goes have interesting scenery, just not spectacular wow-isn't-this-great scenery.

Don't know a lot about the CFD train, but I believe it's mainly a promotional event for The Denver Post, as well as a way for those in the Denver metro area who want to attend Colorado Day at CFD to go without having to drive the oh-so-burdensome 100 miles to do so (or who may wish to have a few adult beverages to imbibe while north without fear of driving back).

EDIT: I should clarify that the reason it's one-day-only is because the day it runs is Colorado Day at CFD.

I've wondering if anyone here has ever ridden or heard much about the Denver > Cheyenne tourist steam trains that run during Cheyenne Frontier Days?

The Denver Post runs a return trip Denver > Cheyenne > Denver, one day only. This year on Saturday, July 21.

Ticket prices for this year aren't up yet, but I think they were around $250 last year. That includes return trip (3-4 hours each way), front seats at the rodeo, and various meals during the day.

http://www.cfdtrain....lcome_2012.html

The following day, the Cheyenne Depot Museum runs a trip from Denver to Cheyenne. It's $130, though one-way only and without the trimmings.

http://www.cheyenned...train-excursion

I wonder if this would be something worth doing? Not sure there would be much scenery between Denver and Cheyenne, but it's a part of the country you won't normally get to see by rail, and the steam engine looks cool

 

[Opiatephoto]

As a bonus, it is one of the few steam trains that will run at track speed instead of shuffling around at 25 mph. I've a friend who clocked 844 at 75 a couple years back.

 

[Alice]

I've taken that trip several times. The first time, I planned it as a "once in a lifetime" thing. But it was about the most fun I've ever had on a steam excursion. Being that I was only going to do the trip once, I sprang for the dome the first time, a choice I highly recommend if you are only planning on this once.

It is easier to get tickets if you go by yourself. The few available to the public sell out in a couple of hours. The first time, I started logging in to the sale site before midnight on sale day, and kept clicking "refresh" until I got in. After you've been on the trip, you get first dibbs on tickets the next year. There is very little turnover in passengers which is why newcomers have a tough time getting tickets.

The scenery and trackside wildlife (bison, elk, etc.) are great but are not the point of the trip, and neither is railfanning; this is a party train. Fare also includes admission to the rodeo and museum at Frontier Days, and BBQ on the fairgrounds. When the train is on time, it pulls into the Cheyenne Depot as the Frontier Days parade starts in downtown Cheyenne. You also get cute tchotchkes and a box breakfast.

There are also trips from the museum as you have noted, and a couple of one-way trips to get the train to and from Denver from its home in Cheyenne. I have not been on them but probably will one of these years. Those tickets are pretty easy to get if you know the right people. I think joining the Cheyenne rail museum is the key there, but am not positive.

 

[Anderson]

Mark this down as a steam excursion that I actually have an interest in. As a rule, I'm..."meh" about steam in a vacuum. With that said...a steam excursion that runs at full track speed has a strong appeal to me, even in the broad sense of my love of things that have taken their operational life expectancy and beaten it several times over (witness my love of the Heritage diners...and a similar admiration of Via's Budd fleet, which is only tempered by trouble getting up to Canada). The fact that 844 is in, if not "regular" service, at least occasional/passing freight use stands out.