Cheyenne Depot

I'll have to update later with the details, but I made it to the wonderful old Union Pacific Depot and checked out the gift shop.  The depot building is huge, I couldn't stand far enough back to get a good shot of the whole sweep of the building, so I settled on grabbing a quick one of just the tower.

 

 

This is the roundhouse where Locomotive 844 is snoozin'.  I know she's in there, but she wouldn't come out to play today.

 

 

Update:  GPS routed me to the Depot ok, except it took me straight to the Union Pacific employee-only parking.  Stern signs warned of towing and fines.  This was frustrating, because there were plenty of parking spots there and I could tell that navigating to the other side of the Depot would be difficult and traffic laden.  I called the museum in the Depot and asked where the public parking was, but since I wasn't familiar with the area the answer I got from the nice lady manning the desk wasn't very  helpful.  I told her where I was and asked her if I'd really get towed.  She wouldn't give me any guarantees, but thought I'd be ok.

 

I had decided to chance it when I saw an obvious U.P. employee getting ready to leave after his shift.  I went up to him and told him the museum said I could get away with parking in the employee lot, and asked if he thought she was right.  He shook his head.  "You could get towed, coz' we got a lot of trains coming in and employees need to be able to park.  I'd hate to see that happen."

 

I thanked him and said I'd move.  And then, then was my chance to ask a real, live Cheyenne train yard U.P. employee the question I'd jokingly imagined I'd ask if I made it to the yard.  "Is 844 home today?"

 

He looked at me like I was crazy.  I giggled a little nervously and said, "You know.  Locomotive 844."

 

"Oh.  That's in the steam shop right now."  I asked him if it was in the roundhouse, and he said yes, it stayed there until it was ready to go out on a run.  I asked if there were ever tours to see it, and he said he thought there were, but I'd have to get the schedule at the museum.  I didn't offer him fifty bucks to sneak me in, but I thought about it.  I would have asked if I could put his picture in the blog, especially because he was a striking fellow who looked like he could be a Cheyenne indian, as well as a trainman.  But he was obviously ready to get home after his shift and get his weekend started, so I let the poor guy go.

 

I got back in the truck and after some unpleasant dealings with traffic, finally found my way to a public lot.  I had to walk back a bit to the Depot.  There was a nice little gift shop I browsed briefly, staffed by a very nice lady, and the Depot museum.  The museum admission was $7 and I decided to save that for my next trip to Wyoming.  A big private retirement event filled up a large part of the Depot, so after the gift shop there wasn't much to see.

 

I took a couple of pictures, and looked wistfully through the chain link fence at the roundhouse where I knew 844 was hiding.  It was an echo of my experience of the previous evening, when I'd gazed over the fence at the Remount Ranch.  The difference is, I can see 844 up close some day.  She'll be out on excursion shortly, but I won't have time to catch her at one of her stops.  One day, though, I will.