Circa Early 1960’s or Maybe Late 50’s

The “old man” had long been homeless and enjoyed an occasional alcoholic beverage, or maybe more than one.  It is not to say he was an alcoholic, in fact little was known about the man even though he had lived in the valley for years.

What was known was that his past included time working for the railroad so the process of operating a diesel locomotive was not foreign to him.  The time it takes to get a locomotive ready for the rails from a cold start can often take hours so it was not uncommon to leave a locomotive idling in the rail yard for hours if not days.  On this particular day the yard crew had parked the locomotive on a siding while they headed into Carbondale for a meal.  When they returned from their meal, the locomotive was nowhere in sight.

The “Old Man” headed up valley towards Aspen from the Carbondale yard.  What the workers did know was what direction the locomotive had headed but the speed or intention of the hijacker was unknown.  With no other option, they quickly alerted the authorities.  The Roaring Fork Valley was and is still known to this day as a “rumor mill” or epic proportions and I am sure that the rumors of death and doom headed up valley faster than the “old man” and his ride.

The end of the line was just past the Rio Grande Yard in Aspen.  In earlier years the tracks completely circled town but as the mines shut down and the scrap iron was needed for the war efforts of World War One and Two the tracks were eventually taken up and the end was now by the old trestle along the river down by the Riverside Trailer Park, just below where the Aspen Eagles Club is located.  The Riverside Trailer Park was owned by Buck Buchannan who also happened to be the County’s surveyor at the time.

As some of the local authorities started looking for the missing locomotive others started blocking off intersections and evacuating the trailer park.  Convinced that the locomotive was headed straight for Aspen, they focused all of their efforts up valley.

Meanwhile back “down valley” the old man brought the locomotive slowly to a stop near the Woody Creek Store.  Without anyone noticing he”
tied down” or secured the locomotive walked a short distance to a nearby road and caught a ride the rest of the way into town.

It took some time for the authorities to work their way down the valley before locating the idling locomotive in Woody Creek.  The Hijacker
was long gone and probably finishing his second or third beer by then.  As days, perhaps weeks passed, some of the locals figured out who had committed the hijacking but no one was talking, especially the “old man.”