[COham] The True Story Of The Midland Terminal Ghost Train

[Paul Signorelli]

The True Story Of The Midland Terminal Ghost Train

Details of the Ghost Train from Cripple Creek to Manitou Springs
down Ute Pass.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midland_Terminal_Railway
By Vern Thompson, w6zju.

It was late in the afternoon a year after the last run of the
Midland Terminal train (1950),  My boss at Radio Station KRDO, Colorado
Springs, took me aside and asked if I would be available that night
for a special project such as running a ghost train through Manitou
Springs. I of course said yes, Due to past experience his special
projects were all very interesting and fun.
He explained that he had borrowed a powerful PA system with two
large horn speakers and a turntable on top of the amplifier that
operated 6 volts DC. Vehicles had 6-volt systems at that time. His
plan was to go to the Midland roadbed through a couple tunnels on the
southwest side of Manitou and make believe the train was coming down
the Ute pass. He needed my "48 Plymouth business coupe with the giant
trunk to transport the speakers. In his Studebaker we put the
amplifier with the turntable and an auxiliary input, a RCA cartridge
wire recorder (no tape recorders yet) and necessary cabling for power
and speakers.
We had a cartridge with the starting up and building up steam and
the pumps starting and releasing steam. The wire continues with
engine apply power to the drive wheels and slowly picking up speed as
it left the Cripple Creek station and continue moving into the
mountains north of Cripple Creek with the choo chooing and with
rumbling train sounds. This was actual sound recorded in the engine,
as the train was leave a year earlier. We had acetate disks with
various train sounds mostly whistles divided in to separate cuts so
they could be selected as appropriate. Leaving the station, a road
crossing, etc. and the last cut was the final releasing of the steam
and the engine's life ended in Colorado City.
We started for Manitou Springs, Joe Rohrer, the station owner,
said on our station two-way 26 Mc radio that we could probably make
it to Cripple Creek by midnight. "What do you thinks about extending
our plan and start at the beginning instead of just Manitou Springs."
Of course that was ok with me so off were to the Cripple Creek
station (which was no long there).
Arriving at the station site, which overlooked the town, we set
up, opening the Plymouth's big trunk and aimed the speakers toward
town and started the wire recording.
After a while a car drove up to us and it was the constable
investigating. He thought it was the greatest thing going. He said
the bars were loaded on that anniversary of the last run of the
Midland. Many of the patrons of the bars were also
loaded. Some even went up to the constable and volunteered to be
taken to jail as they were hearing things such as a train and must be
drunk. The track had been removed to the station area.
Joe was really flipping and asked if the constable would give him
a ride to town so he could observe the excitement. I had to back the
wire recorder up a couple time to keep the proper sound for the
engine just staying put. Joe was even more excited when he saw the
reaction to what they were hearing.
The whistle came from the wire and the train began leaving the
station and choo chooing began. We found that if we varied the base
and treble on the amplified it made it sound like the train was
moving through the mountain and of course reducing the volume until
the train was gone.
We packed up and left. There was a very small community a short
distance down the road so we went over to the tracks and connected up
and had the train fade in, blow the whistle, and fade out.
We drove down the pass to Manitou Springs turned up a road that
crossed the track bed and tuned on to the bed toward the pass. After
going through a couple of short tunnels (these track had also bee
removed) setup with the speakers aimed at the pass and ran the train
coming down Ute Pass, a few whistle blasts, slowly turning it louder
and messing with the tone controls for the fading sound and the train
come down the pass. Both of us wanted to hear what it sounded like so
we took the speakers out of the truck and Joe drove down into town
and cursed around. Then I took my turn. It sounded real.
Finally it came to an end with releasing all the steam. As Colorado
City is a short distance east of Manitou we aimed the speakers toward
the east.
Finally all was quiet. We packed up and headed home. As we leaving
the train bed and about to enter the road here comes a car speeding
up the road. He saw us. It was the policeman on duty. [An aside on
this. At night the police in Manitou Springs normally parked at a Y
intersection in the middle of town next to a pay phone. The pay phone
was listed as the nighttime number for the police department.] He
stopped and backed up to let us pass and followed us out of town.
When the train was running and Joe and I made our separate listening
tours of the town we both passed him at his phone station and I am
sure he saw my car go by both ways twice with different drivers. He
was standing out side his car listening when I passed.
The next morning there was a story about the ghost train in the
Denver's Rocky Mountain News.

A note on the rails that we rode on.

The rails between Colorado City and Cripple Creek were standard
gauge so it was possible to drive a car, with the correct wheel
spacing such as my Plymouth or Joe's Studebaker, the entire length of
the track before portions were removed. Before starting out on a rail
trip of any length I would want to load two railroad ties in the
trunk just in case I ran off the rails. They would be, and were, used
to lie along side of the tracks to drive back on them. The tire
pressure needed to be lowered to about 15 to 20 pounds, which made
the tires stay on the track. No steering was needed, just a steadying
of the steering wheel so it would not tend to oscillate. If you
wanted to go the direction a switch was not set for you would use the
steering wheel to make it go the way you want to go.
In the main line switch yard in Colorado Springs switch yard I came
off the track at a switch with full tire pressure and had a tire
wedged between the tracks of the switch. That was a job for the jack
and letting air out of the tire to get it free. Glad I had a couple
guys with me to get it back on the tracks and get out of there never
to return. That was rather scary as we did not know if we were on the
main line track.
Another time, after a fraternity meeting we used to play ditch'em
on the way to a diner north of town. On the road going north the main
line from Denver crossed the road at about 45 degrees and the other
guys were in hot pursuit. My tires were at low pressure I steered on
to the tracks going north. As the tracks were curving to the north I
could not see the tracks in the distance but I could see a light
flashing on the trees and structures on the left. The engines had a
rotating headlamp to give a flashing effect. The rides on the main
line tracks were very smooth when I had occasion to use them. But I
quickly got off at the next street and whizzz, the regular scheduled
train passed by.
As a sidelight to that, the next day at the radio station they
knew all about my close call. It so happen a gal that worked at the
station lived in a house that backed up to the track where this took
place. She had just driven up behind the house and heard the train
coming so she stayed in her car to avoid the dust the train would
throw up as it passes. While waiting for the train and watching for
it she saw Vern drive by on the main line just a short time before
the train passed.
The only other problem I had was running off the track from San
Bernardino to Arrowhead Spring where they used to load the tanks of
water for delivery to the bottling plant. This was no main line
track. Wide space ties, not much grave around them. I came of the
track at the beginning of a bridge about 8 feet high. I was about ten
feet onto the bridge. There were bolts sticking through the ties that
held them on the wooden framed bridge. That was about a five-hour job
of jacking and pushing the car so it would move sideways, both front
and back, to be able to drive back off the bridge. When I got off the
bridge where the ties were wide space I had to fill in between the
ties with what ever I could find so the tires would no drop down and
leave me high center on the rail I was straddling. I surely could
have used a shovel. This was probably about 1949. I would quite often
get on the track in San Bernardino and leave the track where they
crossed Highway 18 going up to Crestline. I was always fun watching
the people on the high looking at me while I was waiting for an
opening to get on the road.


The Boss Goofs Up Below Cripple Creek

Not long after the last run of the Midland train the Boss, his wife,
and an announcer and his wife drove up to Cripple Creek for dinner
and some beverages. As they were leaving Joe decide to take the
tracks home. This would have been entirely possible but in their
state it was a bad idea. Not having the best of balance, he came off
the track with no ties to get back on. He probably did not reduce the
air pressure of the tires. A really bad night but the announcer made
it to the station for the 6 am sign on.


Vern Thompson
w6zju
-o-
via w0rw