After thanking the staff at the Pueblo Aircraft Museum for our overnight stay, we headed to Pueblo’s riverwalk area.
Finding free parking near the visitor’s center we set out on a walking tour of downtown.
Lots of signs called out the buildings and their history, like the 1917 City Hall.
The stately Vail Hotel was considered “the most modern hotel west of Chicago,” when it was built in 1910. It now houses elderly and disabled residents.
Public art, like this fountain, are scattered throughout downtown Pueblo.
The Riverwalk features shops, museums, restaurants, performance spaces, and 54 art installations, all accessible from walking paths along both banks. Constructed in the 1990’s it is on the historic downtown route of the Arkansas River. The actual river was diverted in the 1920’s due to flooding.
Concerned that it might be a partisan experience, we were pleasantly surprised by the Center for American Values.
The center houses a gallery displaying portraits of 120 congressional medal of honor recipients along with a quote from each. Docents are there to answer questions and point visitors towards more in-depth information about any recipient.
I chose one at random to share as an example.
Robert B. Nett
“The victories of yesteryear are just one key to the door of freedom, so that we can all be free here today. Education is essential to becoming good citizens and learning to appreciate others.”
It is a moving and inspirational gallery well worth an hour or more of anyone’s time.
One plaque on the riverwalk taught us that this area had been part of Spain and France, and served as a border between Mexico, Texas, Missouri, and Kansas before becoming part of the Colorado territory in 1861.
One source we use to find “off the beaten path” destinations is the Atlas Obscura website. Today’s find was a fenced lot in downtown Pueblo containing Hover and Maglev Trains. The cab of this experimental Grumman Hovertrain was just visible behind a tree and a fence.
The Tracked Air Cushion Research Vehicle was capable of 300 mph speeds floating on a cushion of air like a hovercraft. At that speed it took two miles to bring the vehicle to a stop.
The Garret LIMRV (Linear Induction Motor Research Vehicle) is the most conventional of the three trains. It rain on standard track with a center “reaction” rail added. Using a 3000 hp turbine generator to make electricity it reached a speed of 187.9 mph. After adding two jet engines it achieved a world record speed, for tracked vehicles, of 255.7 mph!
This ROHR Tracked Air Cusion Vehicle was one of the first designs to be tested in the 1970’s. It was capable of 150 mph, but used a huge amount of electricity to get there. A small section of the thin reaction rail can be seen centered under the back of the vehicle.
Funding for the test track in Pueblo dried up in the 1970’s and these experimental trains were donated to the aircraft museum. When that museum added a new hanger for aircraft, these trains were transferred to the Pueblo Railway Museum which hopes to build a facility to better display them in the future. For now, they can be seen behind a chain link fence on West D Street just past Lamkin Avenue.
After viewing “futuristic” trains, we walked down the street to the historic railroad district.
The impressive passenger station is now offices and an event space.
Stone, wood, and glass combine to make beautiful doors and windows.
The Pueblo Railway Museum is next door, but wasn’t open on the day of our visit.
Nothing stopped us from examining a few of the engines on display like this Santa Fe “Northern” 4-8-4 configuration steam engine that looked like it might be in operating condition.
The Department of Transportation owned this General Electric U30C diesel and used it in the Pueblo Test facility.
I’d love to see what the Locomotive Simulator Training Car had inside.
Beth pried me out of the train yard so we could make the hour drive to Colorado Springs.
Jack and Sue welcomed us to their home where we will spend a few days catching up with them and exploring the area. We are looking forward to spending time with these “old” friends from our time in Michigan.
Today was short drives on roads without any switchbacks or major grades.