Since I am a bit under the weather this week, I figured that I would post some photos I’ve had lying around since last September, and my impromptu visit to Denver. I’ve already posted two sets of photos from Denver’s light rail (see Part 1, Part 2), and this is the final one, including some more views of the system’s newest West Rail Line. In several photos you’ll note a plethora of graffiti-covered Union Pacific locomotives – that would be the Burnham Shops, which are right behind the 10th and Osage station.
In terms of Art-n-Transit, you’ll see Emanuel Martinez’s sculpture Mestizaje, also located at the 10th and Osage station. My personal favorite is the untitled mural at Decatur-Federal station by street artist Jolt. With assistants Omni and East, the Guerilla Garden project was completed in 2012. Although it isn’t the typical medium you’d see in a transit art program, graffiti and railroads have had a long, intertwined history, and it is undeniable that the piece brightens up the dull underpass in which it is located.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The untitled mural was painted before the new rail line was even complete – here is an in-progress view via the Art-n-Transit program, and a shot of the mural behind the rail line, still under construction, via the Guerilla Garden. At some point after the mural was completed, a handrail went up in front of it, making it a bit harder to take photos. The long panoramic shot below was stitched together by me, but using the Guerilla Garden’s photos, before the handrail was installed.
 
 
Hopefully next week I’ll be feeling a bit better and we’ll go check out some more interesting local spots. I have big plans for the year, and if all works out we’ll be visiting some interesting spots that few have ventured… including some adventures on the other side of the world.
Hi Emily,
I’m so glad I’ve discovered your website! This post brings me back some great memories on my first big train trip back in the late summer of 2008, right before my 4th year in college. I wandered aimlessly trying to ride as many trains as possible within the 12 or so days I had with an Eastern USA pass on Amtrak (such a thing ceased to exist later at some point in time, it had unlimited segments, and if it wasn’t for Hurricane Gustav, I would’ve done more than the 7,600 miles I was able to achieve). I arrived in Denver, by fluke, on the day of the Taste of Colorado, in the morning on the WB California Zephyr and left the same evening on the EB. I did have a chance to ride around on the LRT and I remembered getting off at 10th and Osage because I was mesmerized by the line of numerous SD90s on the UP shop track.
I have my own little blog about trains from a different perspective. It’s nowhere nearly as elaborate as your website and some posts are much lazier than others, but please feel free to have a look at your leisure. I enjoy arts but I don’t understand much of it, I like taking pictures of trains but I’m not particularly good at it. I do manage to, in my mind, pull of a good shot here and there a couple of times a year maybe. I can only imagine how much time and effort you have put into this site.
I’m a techie of mechanical engineering background and I currently work at a Class 1 Railroad in that capacity in Calgary, Alberta (on rail cars rather than locomotives though). Sadly there is no passenger train service within close proximity of Calgary, the closest station with daily service is Shelby or Cut Bank, MT. I grew up, for the most part, in and around the City of Toronto, one of the only cities left in Canada still served by a somewhat elaborate commuter and intercity rail system (Government of Ontario Transit, better known as GO Transit would be our commuter rail system). I went to university in the City of Kingston, halfway between Toronto and Montreal, where the 100 mph intercity trains stopped at a few times daily.
I really enjoy this website and keep up the great work!
Yi